New insurance app draws on huge user database

This unique partnership one of the biggest real-world trials of smart phone telematics and is hoped will provide unprecedented levels of driver data, opening up the possibility of lasting benefits for UK consumers.

The wejo app provides unparalleled insights into the habits, safety and ability of the drivers. The drivers have been selected to reflect a large representative sample of every big insurer in the UK.

It tracks drivers’ journeys and displays a driving score based on factors such as braking, acceleration, speed, location and time of day. It has its own telematics driven Driving Behaviour Index, which gives drivers real time feedback to improve driving standards.

This score can then be used as an asset to be shared with insurers and retailers in return for lower premiums and rewards such as a half price MOT and a free coffee at certain outlets.

Richard Barlow, CEO of wejo, said: “By partnering with Consumer Intelligence, we will be able to gather unprecedented levels of data on driving behaviour – providing the public with relevant information such as claims hotspots and insurer performance.

“By testing our app with such a large sample we can demonstrate how wejo helps drivers save money and overcome the everyday challenges they face while commuting. It will also provide invaluable market insight for insurers and retailers.”

Ian Hughes, CEO of Consumer Intelligence, said: “At Consumer Intelligence we believe that companies need to fixate on consumers, not on their own products or technology. This app will be the first time that a telematics app has been truly consumer focussed. This will allow us to see what consumers value about telematics and what the wider business case is beyond insurance. We think that telematics and geo-location has an important role to play in understanding both the attitude and behaviour of consumers and this App will be core to achieving those exciting insights.”

wejo promises to ensure that driving data is captured with the drivers’ consent and turned into value for them. Drivers control their data and choose with whom it is shared to maintain a relationship based on trust.

wejo’s app uses driver data to comprise its own ‘Insurance Indices’ in the form of a leader board of which of the leading insurers has the best/safest drivers. It can also be used to develop a series of ‘Retail Indices’, providing vital consumer insights for retailers. The app can also help to develop a real-time claims hotspot, identifying the ‘blackspot’ post codes with the highest frequency of collisions.

Flying in the face of recent assessments that the cost of car insurance for British consumers is likely to rise this year, wejo’s app aims to decrease premiums for drivers.

The app is free to download and available from the app store. It operates in the background on the user’s phone while driving and the user has complete control over where the data is shared.

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