
Usage Based Insurance (UBI) Case Study
Amaline Drives UBI Costs Down & Satisfaction Up with Scope
Telematics for Insurance: The Challenges
Amaline Assurances pioneered Usage Based Insurance (UBI) with an in-vehicle telematics device in France as early as 2008. They created a new type of lower cost policy by calculating their automotive insurance policy holders’ monthly premiums based on reported mileage. People who drove fewer miles would benefit the most since the car was not being driven, they didn’t need the full coverage for those times. The problem with this approach was that policy holders didn’t find it convenient to be onboarded. Their vehicle required a third-party specialized technician to install a telematics device which took time out of their day and wasn’t always at close by.
Amaline saw a market opportunity, but the execution needed some fine tuning. They sought a solution to reduce the cost of its telematics for insurance device (UBI) and eliminate the inconvenience of specialized installation. Scope provided a solution in the form of an affordable OBD device that any user could easily install in a few seconds along with additional new features to make the offering even more compelling to the market. By reducing the cost of the solution and making it very easy for the policy holder to add the needed telematics device the Amaline team felt that more policy holders would choose to participate in the program.
The Solution
Amaline adopted the DriveProfiler solution from Scope Technology to power its UBI offering. At the same time, Amaline introduced web-based applications as added services based on the data provided by the Scope solutions. These services include the following:
Accident Notification through “Connected Cars”
In case of a road accident, the “connected car” triggers an automated workflow that checks the severity of the accident and will send the customer a text message providing them with relevant online services for assistance and claim submission.
Estimating future charges
With the monthly insurance fee based on the amount driven, insured customers can see exactly where they stand through the online application.
“Find my car” and other services Drivers can check where their car is parked, how much they have paid, how far they have driven, and more.
The Results
The Scope solution provides benefits for both Amaline and its customers. Self-installed devices mean Amaline and its customers are in direct contact, rather than through an intermediary, thus improving the customer relationship and reducing bureaucracy. Besides reducing costs for both Amaline and the end users, the self-installation has strengthened the Amaline brand by removing the need for an external installation network.
For Amaline’s end customers, the ‘Find My Car’ application has become popular, as has being able to check monthly bills online and project future costs.
In short, in less than 6 months, Scope has enabled Amaline to:
- Strengthen the Amaline brand
- Reduce overall costs with using self-installed devices
- Improve efficiency of UBI service
- Eliminate the need for middlemen
- Gain better information regarding vehicle and driver performance
- Offer value-added services to its customers
- Develop unique, cutting edge solutions to lead the French digital telematics market
With a significantly built-up base of Amaline’s customers already using Scope for UBI, future plans are to deploy the solution in the other Groupama companies in France.
“Scope provides superior end-to-end telematics solutions from the hardware to the software to the services. They are strong in managing the entire solution, and when Scope promises something I am always confident that they will follow through on their commitment.”
– Head of Telematics, Amaline Assurances
About Amaline Assurances (a Groupama Company)
Amaline Assurances is the Internet division of the Groupama mutual insurance group, based in France. Groupama is headquartered in Paris and has operations in 14 countries.
Despite intense competition, Groupama is ranked No. 3 among automotive insurance providers in France. The Group insures around 4 million private passenger cars, not including corporate fleets.