Insurer Willis Towers Watson (WTW) and Thatcham Research have partnered to understand the impact of advanced vehicle technologies on claims risk.

WTW said vehicle technology is creating new complexity for insurers, pressuring them to get a more sophisticated picture of claims data related to the varying features of new vehicle models.

The insurer said these technologies include mass market family hatchbacks featuring Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), expensive headlights, and keyless and connectivity systems, in addition to the substantial rise in sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

WTW claimed underwriters, claims leaders, pricing teams, reserving actuaries, and senior management need to understand the extent to which these novel risk factors are driving new claims trends.

WTW said this could include which vehicle features represent the highest claims risk, higher inflationary costs, or actual savings, such as from reduced injury frequency and severity.

The insurer said the partnership will see Thatcham Research’s Variant Code dataset combine with WTW’s Claim Metrics platform.

“Vehicles are set to change more in the next five years than they have in the last 50,” said Daniel Payne, chief digital officer at Thatcham Research. “Combining the uniquely granular data and sophisticated analytics capabilities of Variant Code and Claim Metrics is a win-win for insurers.”

“Empowered by new levels of insight, claims, underwriting and pricing teams are able to make more informed decisions, and price according to the specific features of a particular model variant”.

He added: “This capability is fundamental to maintaining competitive advantage, as vehicles evolve and technologies that were once the preserve of high-end models increasingly become available at entry level.”

Share Story: