Updated story here
British insurance heavyweight
Admiral will turn to social media to evaluate the personalities of motorists and determine their car premiums.
Seen as an industry-first move, Admiral’s newest service
firstcarquote will scrutinise the Facebook accounts of first-time car owners to look for personality traits associated with safe driving,
The Guardian reported.
The voluntary service will not increase premiums and will instead give 5% to 15% discount to car owners if their Facebook data show indicators that they are careful drivers.
“We want to help make sure safe drivers aren't penalised and get the best price possible. To do this, we'll look at your Facebook profile to help us get a better understanding of the type of driver you are,” Admiral said on its website.
“There's a proven link between personality and how people drive, and our clever technology allows us to predict who is likely to be a safe driver.”
According to the report, Admiral will examine Facebook posts and “likes” by the clients and search for habits such as writing in short concrete sentences, using lists, and setting time and location when making arrangements to meet friends.
Admiral will not look at clients’ Facebook photos, but it will analyse car owners’ sentence length and structure and use of words online.
The insurer will focus on recent Facebook data, particularly a user’s behaviour in the last six months.
“We already know that social media posts can tell us whether a person is a good or a bad credit risk and this is true for cars too,” the insurance giant said.
“It's scientifically proven that some personalities are more likely to have an accident than others. But standard insurance questions don't tend to measure personality.”
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