You can't wander very far at an insurance technology conference without someone mentioning telematics. OK, maybe I was the one that brought it up, but still, the subject is at the top of many people's minds.

I got the UK angle on this subject from Jamie Macgregor of Celent who explained that British insurers have a slightly different approach to the subject than insurers operating in the Colonies.

Insurers in England are targeting young drivers and offering telematics as an option to allow them to actually prove to the insurers that they are not awful drivers and older drivers that need to prove they are still young enough to operate a vehicle safely..

American insurers are working from a different angle. They believe good drivers are interested in analytics in order to get discounts on their premium.

Macgregor pointed out that young British drivers pay a higher upfront premium and get their money back as they prove they are quality drivers. American insurers, as we all well know, are aghast at such a concept.

Stuart Rose of SAS is working with American insurers on telematics, but he admits there is much confusion right now because insurers are “not sure what they are looking for” from the mountains of data they are collecting on the performance of their drivers.

Rose and SAS, of course, are masters of analytics and are looking for ways to deal with the challenges that the influx of driving data is bringing their way.

Both Macgregor and Rose agree that telematics will likely change the way personal auto insurance is sold throughout the world, whether it is for good drivers seeking rewards—in the form of discounts—or for poor drivers seeking to prove they can change their ways.

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