One in every three consumers is aware of usage-based insurance(UBI), tripling its awareness in the last three years, according toa new research from LexisNexis RiskSolutions, although only three percent of respondents to theLexisNexis study are “aware and use” telematics.

The number of consumers who are aware of what UBI is hassteadily increased over the last three years. LexisNexis reportsonly 10 percent of consumers were aware of it in 2010 with thatnumber at 36 percent this year.

The study found discounts are the number one driver for UBIenrollment with 50 percent of consumers likely to sign up fortelematics in exchange for a 10 percent premium discount while 36percent of consumers would change carriers to receive a 10 percentdiscount.

A telematics program shares information about when, how much,and how your car is driven. This information is automaticallycollected and stored and is available for an insurance company toreview in order to determine if a driver is eligible for discountson premiums.

The study also found that:

• 61 percent are more likely to accept telematics if insurersoffer a trial period for three months, while 72 percent of driversare more likely to accept if an insurer offers an automaticdiscount of 10 percent for the first six months.

• One in every three consumers finds the idea appealing and islikely to use a personal smartphone to collect and transmittelematics data.

“While UBI continues to become more mainstream, many consumersalso find the use of their smartphone in UBI appealing,” says AshHassib, senior vice president and general manager, auto insurance,LexisNexis. “For insurers, this creates an opportunity to offerprograms that fit consumers' lifestyles such as smartphone use,value-added services based on their interests, and captureimportant information to gauge future driver risk.”

The report listed several factors that would increase interestfor UBI with the largest being the ability to opt out withoutpenalty (80 percent); receive discount (79 percent); choose theinformation provided to the insurer (77 percent); control over whatyou pay (75 percent); and information is saved for a short time (69percent).

LexisNexis also learned from the survey that consumer behaviorsupports the success of a telematics mobile app. Sixty-threepercent of respondents to the survey have smartphones and estimatesare that 81 percent of households will have smartphones in2014.

The survey also showed that one insurance carrier has a clearlead in awareness of UBI among consumers. Progressive dominatedthat aspect of the study with 78 percent while Allstate was ateight percent and State Farm at six percent.