Drivers insured with 21 of the top 25 US auto insurance companies will save lives and money with new services from a leader in telematics technology.
Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT), founded in 2010 on the basis of research and development at MIT since 2004, launched three programs last fall aimed at reducing claims through driver education and rapid response to car accidents. CMT is already seeing results from the programs, says Matt Fiorentino, senior director of marketing at the company whose technology is being used by these top insurers.
DriveWell Crash & Claims uses telematics technology to detect accidents and take action long before an insurer receives an initial claim report. “A driver in Tennessee had a heart attack and hit a tree and passed out,” Fiorentino said. “Paramedics found him face down in a ditch next to the road. They were able to revive him and take him to the nearest hospital. The technology basically saved his life.”
Aside from providing a life-saving response, DriveWell Crash & Claims provides data for insurance adjusters to work with. “An accident itself changes your position as an insurer from waiting for the call to knowing when the accident happened and being in touch with the customer,” says Fiorentino. “Then you get all the data from the crime scene, knowing the speed of impact, the location, the weather and the time of the crash. This creates a lot of efficiencies in the backend for the experts and agents. The average processing time is significantly reduced.”
The data provided by this service is also used to educate drivers about their habits and reduce their risk. This in turn can give them discounts on coverage depending on the provider. “Most people consider themselves better than average drivers,” says Fiortentino. “When they engage in these programs, they find that they haven’t thought about how often they use the phone while driving or how often they speed. Then you see that on a trip, 50% of the time you were 10 miles speeding. You see that drivers are actually changing their behavior to leave the house earlier so they don’t have to speed. According to Fiorentino, rebates can range from $200 to $300 per six or 12-month term of coverage, also depending on the airline.
Speeding reduction will feed into another new CMT service, FuelStar, a free app that shows drivers how to drive more efficiently by similarly adjusting their driving behavior. “FuelStar measures your fuel efficiency and tells you whether you’re overpaying or underpaying for gas,” Fiorentino said, adding that speeding usually lowers fuel efficiency. “If you’re supposed to be doing 35 miles per gallon and you’re going way too fast and you only get 20 miles per gallon, that gets converted into dollars and cents so you understand exactly how much you’re paying or overpaying and will coach you to be more efficient.” ride.”
The third program, Hard Brake Alerts, takes previous technology that provided warning sounds for drivers who brake too hard and too quickly and streams them into an app, either independently or with the driver’s insurer. CMT tests showed drivers’ hard braking decreased by 14% when using the new service because, like FuelStar, it alerts drivers to their habits, according to Fiorentino. “Calculate that back into the cost of loss, and it’s three to four points less than the cost of loss,” he said. “Depending on the book of accounts, that’s a significant savings.”
Overall, CMT’s three new telematics services encourage collaboration with policyholders, says Fiorentino. “That commitment translates into safer driving,” he adds. “CMT’s entire mission is to make the world’s roads and drivers safer. If you see that kind of commitment, and actually making drivers safer, there will be fewer accidents and fewer claims costs for insurers to deal with. Then the streets will be safer, which is a win for everyone.”
