The global usage-based insurance (“UBI”) market saw rapid growth in 2018, reaching 24.8 million active UBI policies, according to research from PTOLEMUS Consulting Group.
Mobile-based UBI remained the main driver of this growth, increasing by 160 percent in 2018, according to PTOLEMUS.
PTOLEMUS added that the main telematics insurers globally in terms of number of policies were Italy's UnipolSai and the U.S.-based Progressive and State Farm.
On the supply side, Octo Telematics, Cambridge Mobile Telematics (“CMT”), and IMS were the major telematics service providers (“TSPs”). According to PTOLEMUS, Octo Telematics remained the top global supplier but CMT's mobile-centric approach to the UBI market paid off with huge success, seeing over 50 percent growth in the number of policies supported.
Meanwhile, PTOLEMUS continued, MetaSystem, Xirgo, and Danlaw held a firm grip on the device supply market.
PTOLEMUS also found that the key insurance telematics market trends from 2018 were:
- North America and Europe still accounted for the majority of the UBI market;
- In the United States, mobile UBI added significant volume to the total number of UBI policies;
- The United Kingdom players continued to demonstrate innovation through exploring dash camera-based solutions; and
- Some of the nascent markets began to take off slowly:
- The Nordic market finally began to gain traction;
- Two OEM programs were launched in Latin America; and
- The markets in the West Indies, Cyprus, and Uruguay also opened up to UBI.
PTOLEMUS said that it expected the expansion of the UBI geographical footprint to continue in 2019.
Victoria Spears
Victoria Prussen Spears is senior vice president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn Law School, Ms. Spears was an attorney at a leading New York City law firm before joining Meyerowitz Communications. She may be contacted at [email protected].