IMS rolls out new telematics solution for insurers and brokers

Insurance & Mobility Solutions (IMS) is launching a new telematics product that will allow both insurers and brokers to test a usage-based insurance (UBI) program before deciding whether to offer the innovative auto insurance product to policyholders.

The new Try Per Mile solution is a highly configurable mileage-based telematics system that allows users to trial a UBI system and then launch it within one month.

“When further developing our existing suite of solutions for mileage-based UBI programs, we wanted to offer insurance customers flexibility around the kind of telematics-enabled proposition that they could take to market, said IMS Americas CEO of insurance Nino Tarantino, “while at the same time empowering them to be as nimble as insurtechs in terms of incredible speed-to-market.”

Tarantino added that Try Per Mile will also allow IMS’ customers to personalize their policyholders’ experience once they launch their own UBI programs, by enabling them to use payment models atypical of current, in-market mileage-based programs.

Features and benefits of the Try Per Mile program include:

• IMS customers who sign up for Try Per Mile will get up to five self-install, on-board diagnostic (OBD) telematics devices, app access/configuration, and a portal for internal usage and tests.
• Insurers can increase policyholder choice and control over coverages and premiums, by factoring in different telematics usage-based variables, such as how, where, and when policyholders choose to drive.
• Insurers can also choose to launch a mileage-based program with varying payment models – pay as you drive (based on miles driven) or pre-pay (where policyholders pay upfront for a preferred bundle of miles).
• Insurers can offer customers value-added services utilizing data from the UBI program; these services include insights into vehicle health and driver behavior. IMS noted in a release that these services have been proven to increase customer retention.
• Try Per Mile allows insurers to emulate the speed to market capabilities of insurtechs, allowing them to launch UBI programs in as little as one month after configuration and trial.

“With Try Per Mile, insurance companies can get to market in as little as one month with a product built around our flexible pre-configurations, or work with us to create a product around their own tailored configuration,” said Tarantino. “In either instance, a rich telematic data flow is available via API integration to enable their actuarial teams to learn about the real-world behaviors and risk factors associated with changes in driving habits as a result of the pandemic.”