Cheaper car insurance

OUTsurance puts new spin on traditional car insurance product

Safe_Driver@OUT-to-reward-safer-driving-behaviour

OUTsurance recently expanded their product offering to include Safe_Driver@OUT, a brand-new addition to the OUTsurance car insurance product range that adjusts clients’ premiums based on their specific driving habits and mileage.
“This product provides a new spin on an already-familiar concept in the South African car insurance market” says Ernst Gouws, Chief Executive of OUTsurance. “Traditionally, a tracking device will be fitted to your car to provide the insurer with a report on a few select  indicators such as the distance you travel or your average driving speed.

“Although these factors are certainly very important, it proves to be somewhat limited in its application. In light of this, we’ve decided to differentiate our product offering by recording as much data as possible to ensure that drivers who’ve adopted a conservative driving style and who keep to the rules of the road ,will see a direct and significant benefit in their insurance premium. In fact, safe drivers can expect a saving of up to 20% on their insurance costs.”

“We have also been able to negotiate really affordable prices on tracking options for OUTsurance clients by cutting out commissions, redundant features and by using our buying power,” he adds.

A Tracker Skytrax tracking device will be fitted to your vehicle to provide OUTsurance with detailed data on the number of kilometres you travel on a daily basis; the position of your vehicle; your driving speed; whether or not you accelerate or brake harshly; the speed at which you take corners; as well as the time of day or night you’re on the road.

The scores measured for an insured driver over a twelve month period are used to determine what adjustment should be made to his or her premium. In the case that this person is considered a very safe driver based on these metrics, his or her premium will be decreased at the anniversary of the facility.

Safe_Driver@OUT clients will also be able to monitor their driving behaviour by logging in on the OUTsurance website.

In closing, Gouws comments that “although our short-term goal is to incentivise drivers to practise defensive driving and to keep to the rules of the road, we hope that this product will ultimately reduce the large number of road accidents and fatalities that are caused by the countless instances of speeding and reckless driving on our roads”

For more information on this product, please visit the OUTsurance website at www.outsurance.co.za/personal/car-insurance/safedriver-at-out/.

Also view:

Outsurance activates technology to reward safe driving behaviour

Vehicle and Insurance Telematics

What is Insurance Telematics and how will it impact on Car Insurance?

Pay as You Drive and Car Insurance

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Escalating petrol prices will force vehicle owners into review of insurance costs as well!

pertol_increaseThe Volksblad has included a rather revealing display in the newspaper on the impact that fast escalating petrol prices will have on average household expenses. The increase in costs has been compared with the litres of milk or amount of bread that could have been bought with the extra money that now has to go into filling the tank with petrol!

Petrol prices will increase the costs of driving – and there is little the average bloke can do to prevent this. Natural disasters and the war in Libya are not amongst those things we can control. What we can however control includes:

  • The amount of driving we do
  • Reducing unnecessary travels
  • Reducing other vehicle costs such as car insurance

Many vehicle owners believe that they simply have to pay and shut-up. They are ignorant to the fact that car insurance premiums can be reduced with a bit more attention to detail.

If you are driving less – or have a vehicle that is standing in the garage without going on the road regularly – you can save significant amounts in car insurance premiums by insuring that vehicle on a Pay As You Drive basis!

We would like to urge all those road users confronted by escalating costs of travelling to find more information about the benefits of Pay As You Drive insurance.

Do not pay more than you have to!!

Also view: Pay As You Drive and Car Insurance

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Big Brother vehicle telematics can deliver cheaper car insurance premiums

B18 Hollard_PAYD_300x250The car insurance industry is highly competitive and it is a constant battle to deliver affordable insurance products whilst also focusing on risk. More and more insurers are looking at vehicle and insurance telematics as a way to better evaluate risks – and are rewarding those drivers who drive safely in an effort to avoid incurring claims risks.

We have discussed on the car insurance blog the terms Pay As You Drive, Usage based insurance etc. We also predicted that as vehicle telematics becomes more advanced – the insurance industry is likely to include the benefits of this technology in their insurance product design.

Earlier today I came across interesting insights on the Moneyweb website in a story titled “Santam’s big-brother device”

This story featured some revelations made during the results announcement of South Africa’s largest insurer, Santam.

I would like to quote:

“If Short-term insurer Santam’s experiment pays off policyholders could get a discount of up to 15% on their premium payments.

The insurer is experimenting with a driver behaviour technology that monitors the speed, time and places an insured policyholder drives to.

The product won’t be suitable for those who consider it as a “big brother” device but will help those prepared to examine their risk behaviour on their vehicles. For those interested the product can be added on to an existing insurance policy.

“I think what’s quite interesting is we are experimenting currently with some driver behaviour technology. The device is not just to assist in the recovery of the vehicle for theft and hijackings, but it also monitors the driver behaviour. It indicates whether speed is being exceeded, whether driving takes place at an unusual time and also manages the amount of kilometres covered,” Santam CEO Ian Kirk said following the company’s interim results on Tuesday.

“That I think could innovate quite a lot in terms of being able to reduce premiums giving credit to policyholders who practice good risk management. We will phase it in over a period of time… we anticipate about 5 000 sales in the year. That is not substantial in a Santam context, but it will give us substantial coverage to see if this is viable,” he added.

The monthly charge for the product would be around R160 and people would get premium discounts of around 10-15% after a device is installed in the insured car. On the direction of motor insurance premiums this year, Kirk said there will be some selective increases depending on risk profiles, but across the board it will not be over 5%.”

It is expected that many more insurer will benefit from the use of vehicle telematics. Later this month there will be an Insurance Telematics conference in Europe where industry leaders will provide more insights on the latest technology and how this is about to change the insurance industry!

Telematics-ConferenceAlso view:

Vehicle and Insurance Telematics

What is Insurance Telematics and how will it impact on Car Insurance?
Vehicle Telematics boosted by interest in Pay As You Drive Car Insurance

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Why should women drivers consider Pay As You Drive car insurance?

How-do-car-insurance-claims-by-men-and-women-differA topic discussed on many blogs in recent weeks has been the legality of “women only insurance”. On Insurance Chat there has been reference to the fact that on the 1st of March, a decision will be made in Europe about the legality of using gender to determine insurance premiums. The European Court of Justice will rule on whether or not it’s legal to consider gender when calculating insurance premiums.

This decision will affect how many insurers conduct their business – especially the “women only” insurance companies. I doubt whether such a finding can be made as there is in my opinion much statistical data providing evidence as to why women drivers should qualify for cheaper car insurance premiums!

Data on car insurance claims has revealed that there is a lesser risk of insurance claims from women drivers. Women are seen as “safer and more mature motorists”. The car insurance premiums for women are both cheaper and decrease with age at a faster rate than men’s.

On this Blog we have previously tried to identify why women are submitting fewer accident claims, and I would like to quote

“I believe that the testosterone driven male species might pose a greater accident risk as a result of the following contributing factors;

* Over-confidence

* Showing-off

* Excessive speeding

* More instances of drunk driving and late night driving

* Greater vulnerability to road rage etc

I am also convinced that the lower risk posed by female drivers could be as a result of:

* Driving shorter distances

* Driving at lower speeds

* Greater responsibility in transporting children in urban areas

* Less driving late at night and whilst intoxicated

* The ability of many non-permanently employed women / stay-at-home moms [not many nowadays] to structure their driving away from rush hour and dangerous areas.”

It is most important for women to know that if they are driving a lot less than their male counterparts – they could benefit from car insurance products that are developed around the use of their vehicles!

Usage based or distance based car insurance products such as Pay As You Drive recognizes that less driving amounts to less risks and therefore qualifies for reduced car insurance premiums.

Irrespective of whether the European Court finds that women only car insurance is discriminatory or not – there will always be cheaper car insurance for those who drive less!!

It might be a good time to reflect on your driving behaviour and find a car insurance product that reflects that behaviour!!

Also view:
- Do women deserve cheaper car insurance premiums?
- Does cheaper car insurance imply women are better drivers?
- Why do some car insurers focus on women only?

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Fewer used cars sold in South Africa in 2010

Written on January 18th, 2011 by jonckie@arrivealive.co.za
Categories: Car Statistics, Cheaper car insurance, Did you know?

Traffic congestiongrgrasmereFewer used vehicles were sold, and those that were fetched lower prices in the last quarter of 2010, according to the results of a vehicle pricing index released on Monday.

“Used vehicle prices continued their downward slide in the last quarter of 2010 despite a slight increase in new car prices for the same period,” vehicle risk intelligence company TransUnion Auto Information Solutions said on the release of its vehicle pricing index (VPI).

The quarterly VPI measures the year-on-year price inflation of a market weighted basket of new and used vehicles.

“And while new car sales continued to increase, sales of used vehicles slowed,” TransUnion said.

Mike von Höne, CEO of TransUnion Auto Information Solutions, said the slight increase in new vehicle price inflation in the last quarter of 2010 was partly due to nominal annual vehicle price increases, but the impact of the carbon emission tax introduced in September 2010 had a significant effect.

“While this was the first significant upward shift in new car pricing in the past 18 months, TransUnion Auto does not expect this trend to continue into 2011,” he said.

“The change in new car pricing came on the back of very high new vehicle price adjustments during 2009.

“This provided sufficient cushioning for manufacturers to keep new vehicle price increases to a minimum through 2010 – and there is little to suggest that this will change in the foreseeable future.”

He predicted that used vehicle prices would decline further in 2011 because of the need to keep a price differential between new and used cars, coupled with an increase in used stock levels.

“This, however, is likely to be offset by growing consumer interest in these models, thus providing a competitive environment for used car dealers to trade in.”

TransUnion found there was a smaller increase of 7% in the number of used vehicle financing contracts registered in the fourth quarter, compared to the 23 percent rise in the number of new vehicle financing registrations in the same period.

New vehicles had become more affordable because of various discounts and financial packages, contributing to the slowdown in used vehicle sales.

“As a result, the annual 2010 ratio of 1.79 used vehicles for each new vehicle sold is significantly lower than the 2009 figure of 2.16 used for each new vehicle.” TransUnion said. [Sapa]

Also view:

Car Statistics and Car Insurance

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Reduced driving the safest way to finding cheap car insurance!

Smart Car

A regular visitor to the Arrive Alive road safety website emailed 2 images of a Smart Car – with 2 seperate messages!

Photo 1: A new vehicle with a beautiful background and the message:

Save Money and the Environment – Drive a Smart Car!

Smart Car 2

Photo 2: An horrific accident scene near New Orleans involving two trucks and a “Smart Car”.

The message attached to this photo reads “F**k the environment”.

There can be now doubt that few vehicles would have been safe in such an accident – and even though we doubt whether anyone would have survived in another vehicle, it does beg the question what the relationship might be between safety and savings on car insurance?

The vehicle that you drive is a contributing factor to the car insurance premium payable – but there are also other factors to consider. You can still save on car insurance without reducing the size of your vehicle – You need not compromise safety to save on car insurance!

The distance that you travel is one of the most important factors in calculating the risk of road accidents. Pay As You Drive [PAYD] car insurance or Distance Based car insurance is one of the best ways to ensure that you pay only for the kilometres that you drive.

Even by driving a bigger car – and paying according to the distance that you drive – you might still pay less for car insurance than the oke with a smaller car who pays insurance irrespective of the distance that he drives!

View Pay As You Drive on the Car Insurance Blog for more information on how you can save on your car insurance premiums!!

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Why do I pay more for car insurance in Johannesburg than elsewhere in South Africa?

JHBWe have discussed on the Car Insurance Blog the factors contributing to the cost of car insurance premiums. These include driver characteristics, vehicle characteristics, purpose of use and usage, area where the vehicle is to be driven etc.

But why is the area important?

Car insurance premiums are paid to cover the risk of vehicle loss and damage – and claim statistics reveal to car insurance companies that there is a greater risk of claims in specific areas! These greater risks can be attributed to:

-          More vehicle accidents on the roads in a specific area

-          Increased criminal activity and incidents of hijacking, vehicle theft and smash-and-grabs

Why do we have more accidents in a specific area?

We would like to offer the following contributing factors:

-          Greater number of vehicles on the roads

-          More licensed and unlicensed drivers

-          Increased traffic congestion

-          Hectic lifestyles contributing to speeding, road rage and frustrated driving behaviour

-          Road conditions, road works and potholes in a specific area

-          Weather conditions and road hazards from rain, hail, mist, smoke etc

All of the above could result in more expensive car insurance premiums payable for driving in Johannesburg. Car Insurance companies have very detailed claims and crime statistics at their disposal to calculate the risks in a specific area – and car insurance in Johannesburg is definitely more expensive than the smaller cities and towns

There could however, on a lighter note, also be enough other reasons why drivers in Johannesburg should expect to pay more for insurance. A regular visitor to the Arrive Alive website shared the “Rules for driving in Johannesburg” – examples of unsafe behaviour on our roads!!

Rules for driving in Johannesburg

1. Never indicate – this will give away your next move. A real Johannesburg driver never uses them.

2. Under no circumstance should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, this space will be filled by at least 2 taxis and a BMW, putting you in an even more dangerous situation.

3. The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit.

4. Never, ever come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will only result in you being rear-ended.

5. Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving you a nice, relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it’s a chance to stretch your legs.

6. Never pass on the right when you can pass on the left. It’s a good way to check if the people entering the highway are awake.

7. Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as a guideline. They are especially not applicable in Johannesburg during rush hour. That’s why it’s called ‘rush hour….’

8. Just because you’re in the right lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn’t mean that a Johannesburg driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn’t think he can go faster in your spot.

9. Always slow down and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tyre. Never stop to help – you will be mugged.

10. Learn to swerve abruptly. Johannesburg is the home of the high-speed slalom driving thanks to the town council , which puts holes in key locations to test drivers’ reflexes and keeps them on their toes.

11. It is traditional in Johannesburg to honk your horn at cars that don’t move the instant the light turns green. This prevents storks from building nests on top of the traffic light and birds from making deposits on your car.

12. Remember that the goal of every Johannesburg driver is to get there first, by whatever means necessary.

13. On average, at least three cars can still go through an intersection after the light has turned red. It’s people not adhering to this basic principle that causes the big traffic jams during rush hour.

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Fuel consumption standards to drive down weight of vehicles in the US

ford pick upAutomakers in the US are now in a race against time in reducing the weight of vehicles to meet new US standards on fuel economy.

The new mandates will take effect in 2016, giving automakers such as Ford and General Motors just one design cycle to make significant changes that will require costly steel substitutes such as aluminium, new steel alloys and magnesium.

What are the fuel consumption requirements?

Automakers must reach an average fleet fuel economy of 6.6 litres/100kmbby 2016. Light trucks – which were half of all US auto sales in the first 11 months of 2010 – will have to get about 7.8 litres/100km.

The US corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard for 2010 is 8.1 litres/100km. For light trucks alone, it is 9.4 litres/100km, according to government data.

In addition to the 2016 target, automakers may have to achieve CAFE standards of 3.8 litres/100km for the overall fleet by 2025, less than the most ambitious scenario outlined by the US government.

Why is this such a big challenge?

Trucks in the US are characterized by being big in size and the demand that they be able to handle heavy loads and towing in unforgiving conditions.

Current pickups weigh an average of nearly 2300kg. The weight of trucks has jumped 22 percent from 2000 to 2010, federal data shows, while fuel consumption rose only two percent.

The challenge is however not a weight issue only – but also offers some headaches for the marketing departments of big automakers. They try to emphasize the benefits and importance of fuel economy as part of the brawny image of trucks but past advances in vehicle engineering, including the use of lighter materials, have proved hard to sell to buyers.

Environment, Green House Gases, CO2 Emissions and Car Insurance

Environmental protection agencies are putting pressure on all countries to reduce the emission of green house gases. The transportation industry is one of the larger sectors targeted. Vehicle emissions from congested roads are significant threats to the environment and adding to global warming.

Earlier this month it has been revealed that Beijing is limiting vehicle registrations of new vehicles.

The fuel consumption standards will not only reduce fuel consumption but will add to the measures aimed at reducing the emission of green house gases. Vehicle navigation and Pay As You Drive Car Insurance have also been identified as important mechanisms in the fight to protect the environment!!

As we enter the New Year we can expect to find an increased focus on reducing traffic, traffic congestion, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. This will not only require innovative engineering and manufacturing of vehicles – but will also inspire more innovative product design such as PAYD in the car insurance industry!!

Also view:

Pay As You Drive Car Insurance

CO2 Emissions and Car Insurance

GPS Blog and Road Safety

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City of New York looks to Pay As You Drive Insurance to change driver behaviour

SnipImage(16)At the time of writing this blog post there is much less travelling taking place in New York. Icy cold weather and blizzards have brought traffic to a near standstill and closed airports in and around New York. This is however not a regular occurrence – usually traffic is hectic at the best of times and traffic congestion a major concern to city authorities.

We have found some interesting information in an article by Jeremy Olshan in the New York Post about car insurance and the potential benefits of reducing traffic congestion in the Big Apple. The Bloomberg administration is considering measures to reduce traffic, and Pay As You Drive or mileage based car insurance are believed to be important tools in the fight against traffic congestion.

Pay as you drive (PAYD) / Usage based car insurance means that the insurance premium is calculated dynamically, typically according to the amount you drive.

Olshan says that these policies have been available around the country for a decade, but not in New York. Yesterday, the city’s Department of Transportation put out a request seeking ideas on how to use “mileage-based insurance pricing signals to trigger change in driver behavior.”

According to a 2008 study by the Brookings Institution, these incentives could reduce driving by as much as 8 percent, reduce emissions by 2 percent, oil consumption by 4 percent, and provide an average savings of $270 per car.

“A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t make a lot of sense when it comes to pricing insurance,” Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan told The Post. “Paying based only on how much you drive is a potentially innovative way to make it less expensive for New Yorkers to get around.”

Critics of the Pay As You Drive insurance schemes have expressed concerns about the invasion of privacy that comes with the more advanced telematic monitoring devices.

Even the critics however have to confess that PAYD is a money-saver for many people who don’t drive a lot!

Also view:

What is usage based car insurance?

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What is usage based car insurance?

What-is-usage-based-car-insuranceThere are many different terms to describe the concept whereby car insurance premiums are calculated based on the degree to which the vehicle is used. “Usage based” does not refer to the use of your car insurance – but the use of your insured vehicle!

I would like to refer briefly to the description found at Wikipedia:

“Usage based insurance, also known as pay as you drive (or PAYD) is a type of automobile insurance whereby the costs of motor insurance are dependent upon type of vehicle used, measured against Time, Distance and Place.

This differs from traditional insurance, which attempts to differentiate and reward “safe” drivers, giving them lower premiums and/or a no-claims bonus.”

Why is this deemed a fair way of calculating premiums?

In an environment of fast increasing car insurance premiums there is little that the consumer/ vehicle owner can do to reduce these premiums. Many of these increases are caused by rising vehicle and component costs, whilst insurance fraud and the high rate of road accidents are also making a significant contribution.

Vehicle owners might, with reason, feel disgruntled if they are challenged with increasing car insurance premium while they themselves are maintaining an accident free record and are travelling less. They will search for insurance products that better reflect their specific risk to accidents and vehicle loss instead of subsidizing the reckless and unnecessary travels of others. This is where usage based insurance is finding a strong foothold and is fast increasing in popularity!

The basics of usage based car insurance

We would like to quote briefly a nice summary on Wikipedia about the types of usage based car insurance:

The simplest form of usage based insurance bases the insurance costs simply on the number of miles driven. However, the general concept of Pay As You Drive includes any scheme where the insurance costs may depend not just on how much you drive but how, where and when you drive.

Pay as you drive (PAYD) means that the insurance premium is calculated dynamically, typically according to the amount you drive.

3 Types of usage based insurance

1. Coverage is based on the odometer reading of the vehicle.

2. Coverage is based on the number of minutes the vehicle is being used as recorded by a vehicle-independent module transmitting data via cellphone or RF technology.

3. Coverage is based on other data collected from the vehicle, including speed and time-of-day information in addition to distance or time travelled. Other data could include where you are driving and driving behaviour such as speeding, excessive braking etc.

The formula can be a simple function of the number of miles you drive, or can vary according to the type of driving or the identity of the driver. Once the basic scheme is in place, it is possible to add further details, such as an extra risk premium if someone drives too long without a break, uses their mobile phone while driving, or travels at an excessive speed.

What is Telematic usage based insurance?

Telematics is defined as the technology of sending, receiving and storing information via telecommunication devices in conjunction with effecting control on remote objects.

Telematic usage based insurance requires that vehicle information is automatically transmitted to the tracking system. This provides a much more immediate feedback loop to the driver, by changing the cost of insurance dynamically with a change of risk, and this means drivers have a stronger incentive to adopt safer practices. For example if a commuter switches to public transport or working at home, this immediately reduces the risk of rush-hour accidents. With usage based insurance, this reduction would be immediately reflected in the cost of car insurance for that month.

With the use of technology gaining increased popularity in the fair calculation of insurance risks and premiums, it is to be expected that many more insurers will focus on “usage” in their product design.

We will discuss on this blog how this might not only benefit the pocket of our vehicle owners – but also the impact that our travel patterns have on the environment!

Also view:

Pay As You Drive Car Insurance

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