Big brother could soon be watching behind the wheel
Posted May 21, 2013 7:46 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Licensed drivers beware; your insurance company could soon be putting your skills behind the wheel to the test.
The industry is pushing for the introduction of telematics as a tool that could potentially reduce your rates.
It’s a device people voluntarily install in their cars, on the advice of their insurance company.
It measures anything and everything from kilometres driven, to tallying how many times the brakes were slammed, speed limits obeyed and corners taken too fast.
Your insurance company then has the ability to check the data on a personalized website and adjust your rates accordingly.
Already in Québec and recently approved in Ontario, most feel it’s just a matter of time before other provinces like Alberta follow their lead.
Western Direct is a division of Desjardins General Insurance; it’s one of the only companies installing telematics in the country.
Communications Director Joe Daly tells 660News, the response from just two provinces has so far been overwhelming.
“We’re estimating that a quarter to a half of new customers will feel they will get some substantial savings and will sign up for this,” he says. “We’re looking forward to being able to offer it in Alberta.”
Daly admits one of the big stumbling blocks has been addressing the privacy concerns.
“We guarantee to our customers we only use the information to determine what kind of savings they get,” he says. “We do not share it with anyone else and we do not use it for any other purpose.”
He says the tool isn’t used to penalize anyone, it’s only used to determine savings and customers can withdraw from the program at anytime.
Daly says telematics reduces the importance of having to rate someone on the basis of their gender.
He adds we’ve dropped the ball in this area for several years, pointing to the United States as an example.
“Eight of the ten largest insurers offer it in the U.S. and it’s virtually in every state of the union,” he says.
His company has just begun talks with the provincial government, if all goes well he’s hoping Alberta will become the third province to allow the device.
