According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of insurance telematics policies in force on the European market reached 4.8 million in Q4-2014.
Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 42.4 percent, this number is expected to reach 28.1 million by 2019.
In North America, the number of insurance telematics policies in force is expected to grow at a CAGR of 50.6 percent from 4.2 million in Q4-2014 to reach 32.5 million in 2019.
The European insurance telematics market is largely dominated by hardwired aftermarket blackboxes while instead self-install OBD devices represent the vast majority of all active policies in North America. Berg Insight expects a shift towards a greater share of solutions based on smartphones and embedded OEM telematics systems in all markets in the upcoming years.
The insurance telematics value chain spans multiple industries. Insurers with notable presence in the insurance telematics market include Progressive, UnipolSai, State Farm, Allstate, Generali, Allianz and Insure The Box. Renowned telematics suppliers active in the insurance field for example include Octo Telematics and Cobra Automotive Technologies (Vodafone Automotive) as well as Intelligent Mechatronic Systems, Baseline Telematics and Scope Technologies. Wunelli, Modus, MyDrive Solutions and DriveFactor are also notable players in the market. Automotive OEMs are increasingly taking an active part in the ecosystem as well. Examples include BMW, Fiat, Citroën, Renault-Nissan, General Motors and Ford. In addition, mobile operators such as Vodafone, Telefónica, Verizon and Sprint have started offering insurance telematics solutions, commonly working with telematics partners.
The nascent insurance telematics market is currently in a phase of strong growth which is expected to accelerate in the coming years.
Rickard Andersson, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight, said:
“Europe and North America so far represent the vast majority of all insurance telematics programs and active policies from an international perspective, and the front-running national markets include the US, Italy and the UK.”
He adds that increasing uptake is expected also in other markets in the coming years. Differentiated telematics offerings are predicted for a broader range of segments, and insurers are increasingly expected to embrace usage-based pricing as well as claims-related insurance telematics and various value-added services. Key influencers that will boost the market include the proliferation of smartphone-based solutions and the connected car trend which pave the way for mass-market deployments. Positive developments are also expected in the field of data ownership and transferability.
“Berg Insight anticipates a future scenario where data portability is supported, enabling policyholders to bring their driving data and associated risk scores to a new insurance provider similarly to a credit score”, concluded Mr. Andersson.
