Skip to main content

Motor insurance for autonomous vehicles ‘will shift from drivers to OEMs’

Autonomous vehicles are likely to increase insurance claims related to product parameters rather than driver liability New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Impact of Automated Vehicles on Motor Insurance Market, finds that motor insurers will move away from the driver-centric strategy to follow one or a combination of three models as automated vehicles become common: product-centric evaluation; brand-centric evaluation; system-centric evaluation.
October 19, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Autonomous vehicles are likely to increase insurance claims related to product parameters rather than driver liability

New analysis from 2097 Frost & Sullivan, Impact of Automated Vehicles on Motor Insurance Market, finds that motor insurers will move away from the driver-centric strategy to follow one or a combination of three models as automated vehicles become common: product-centric evaluation; brand-centric evaluation; system-centric evaluation.

The current system of calculating motor insurance premiums places importance on driver-related factors such as age, gender and driving record. However, the introduction of autonomous vehicles will turn the spotlight on vehicle-related parameters. As the motor insurance business goes through this transformation, the future holds vast potential for novel risk evaluation models.

“Along with higher product liability, the responsibility of insuring the vehicle will shift from vehicle owners to manufacturers,” said Frost & Sullivan Automotive and Transportation senior research analyst Kamalesh Mohanarangam. “Further, all excesses currently covered by the insured will be shared among several stakeholders, such as road-operators and local transport authorities.”

As the risk of accidents will fall drastically with the advent of autonomous vehicles, the insurance premium to cover that risk too will drop significantly. Nevertheless, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers will increase insurance spend to cover their share of product liability risk, thereby offsetting the shrinkage in consumer-driven insurance revenues.

With OEMs and tier 1 suppliers looking to ensure fool proof product safety, methods to access risk and certify the product will assume greater importance. The traditional method of underwriting that uses historic data will take a back-seat, paving the way for a new breed of underwriters capable of evaluating driving algorithms and assigning a relevant risk priority number.

“Moreover, insurers will develop new products for risks arising out of innovations,” noted Mohanarangam. “For instance, with the digitalisation of automobiles, insurers will provide cyber cover for protection against cyber-attacks and hacks.”

In the wake of plummeting premiums, motor insurance will become part of other insurance policies and value-added packages as stakeholders look to new avenues of profit generation in a changing environment.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • New research predicts growth of autonomous parking technology
    March 9, 2016
    New research by ABI Research forecasts that shipments of new cars featuring autonomous parking technologies to grow at 35 per cent CAGR between 2016 and 2026 and for revenues to likewise show growth at 29.5 per cent CAGR. ABI Research identifies three phases of autonomous parking, with each successive stage set to gradually displace the former and all three coexisting to some degree over the next decade. Ultimately, technology will reach a point in which the car parks itself entirely, with no driver assi
  • First trial of driverless vehicles, regulatory review launched
    February 11, 2015
    The first trial of driverless cars is launched today in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, London. The Greenwich Automated Transport Environment project (GATEway) is one of three projects chosen by the Government to deliver demonstrations of automated vehicles in urban environments. The trial officially gets underway at Greenwich Peninsula today, attended by Business Secretary Vince Cable and Transport Minister Claire Perry, who also officially launched a regulatory review and the UK Government’s ‘Intro
  • Favourable government initiatives and new business models boost Poland’s EV market
    June 29, 2017
    Poland’s electro-mobility market is ripe for growth, according to research organisation Frost & Sullivan. Favourable government initiatives such as the Electro-mobility Plan and Electro-mobility and Alternative Fuels Act are reshaping local mobility and igniting innovative clean technologies to achieve higher competitiveness and energy optimisation.
  • Legalities of in-vehicle systems and cooperative infrastructures
    February 1, 2012
    Paul Laurenza of Dykema Gossett PLLC discusses the paths which lawmakers may go down on the route to making in-vehicle systems and cooperative infrastructures a reality. The question of whether or not to mandate in-vehicle systems for safety and other applications is a vexed one. There is a presumption on some parts that going down the road of forcing systems' fitment is somehow too domineering or restricting. Others would argue that it is the only realistic way of ensuring that systems achieve widespread d