Earlier this year, Deloittte University Press published a study on telematics uptake and the popularity of Usage Based Insurance (UBI) in the USA, coming up with some interesting conclusions, including the notion that there are three distinct groups of drivers when it comes to telematics: Eager beavers, fence sitters and naysayers.
These different groups can be defined as follows:
“Eager beavers“: ones that are willing to take on telematics hardware and an UBI policy regardless of the discount offered
“Fence sitters“: those that may be happy to be tracked on their day to day drives, but would need to read the fine print and secure a good discount on their insurance premium first
“Naysayers“: a group that was unlikely to take on an UBI policy, regardless of the deal offered
A lot of times when it comes to telematics studies, the results are relatively positive, often because the group behind the research is looking to make a point about how great the technology is. While there are certainly plenty of advantages, there are some that don’t like the invasion of privacy, or the idea of being forced down the road, or they just don’t trust new technology. For whatever reason, not everyone is keen on the idea of telematics and that’s what’s interesting about the Deloitte study, is it puts these people into groups and quantifies their numbers. They might surprise you.
One of the first questions the study asked, was “how open are drivers to having their behaviour monitored?” to which only 26 per cent said yes. A much larger group, 47 per cent said they weren’t comfortable with the idea of being monitored, while the remaining 27 per cent said that it would depend on the discount given.
Obviously the amount of money saved is an important factor, which is why Deloitte then asked, how much those taking out UBI policies expected to save. The response was much more varied this time around, with the largest group at 31 per cent of responsders, believing they should receive more than 20 per cent off their insurance premium for installing telematics hardware in their vehicle. 23 per cent of people responded that they wanted at least a 16 per cent discount on their insurance, while over a quarter would be happy with 1115 per cent. The smallest groups were those that expected between six and ten per cent and just three per cent of those asked said they thought it would give them a one to five per cent discount.
Another interesting piece of data garnered from the study was that age has a big impact on the way people perceive telematics. Older drivers, specifically those aged over 60, had the largest group of naysayers among them, at over 56 per cent. Compared with the youngest group, 21-29 year olds, where only 38 per cent said no. Interestingly though, the per centage of those asked that said it would depend on the discount, was almost identical in either group.
Gender was also a contributing factor to survey outcome
You can read the study in full, here.
