Automaker Ford has recently been active in the insurance and insurance technology space, partnering with ChromeData-owned insurance companies Wejo, CerebrumX and JD Power for telematics and vehicle data features, as well as foray into commercial insurance with Pie Insurance.
“There’s so much data coming from a vehicle that you can use that data for your customer’s benefit,” said Kirby Harris, director of insurance operations at Ford Credit. “This gives us a lot more direct information that can be used to assess risk.”
On November 29, Wejo Group announced the expansion of insurance data services in cooperation with Ford. Wejo, a connected, electric and autonomous vehicle data provider associated with Ford, will allow carriers to use the data to gain insights into driving behavior.
The ADEPT Wejo cloud platform processes this vehicle data. Insurtech also works with other vehicle manufacturers. ADEPT receives data from OEMs [original equipment manufacturers]manages the filtering and cleaning of this data, and then passes this data to insurers,” explained Benoit Joly, commercial director of Wejo.
Connected vehicle data solves several problems for insurers, added Matthew Bialuk, senior vice president of insurance and dealerships at Wejo. “It’s no secret that connected vehicle data is the answer to car insurance in the future for many reasons, including transparency and customer value,” he said. “There is a very long list of value propositions and use cases that can be applied to solve the problems that come with dealing with insurance companies around the world.”
Wejo also manages drivers’ consent to collect their data in accordance with the GDPR’s privacy statement, Bialuk said. The GDPR governs Europe, but the US and other countries use it as the basis for their own privacy practices. “From a technical point of view, in terms of platform, there is no difference for us in managing data from an OEM in Europe or in the US,” Jolie said.
In partnership with insurance companies, “Ford requires that insurers who wish to use this data agree to comply with certain requirements for responsible data use, including obtaining explicit consent from their customers,” Harris said.
On November 14, CerebrumX Lab, an AI-powered automotive data management platform, announced that it will begin using Ford’s telematics data of connected vehicles to support a data-driven insurance (UBI) model for insurers. CerebrumX also works with other OEMs including Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai and Kia. The platform has contracted to access 16 million to 18 million vehicles from OEMs in North America, with about 5 million of these vehicles owned by Ford.
CerebrumX’s partnership with Ford allows UBI’s insurers to get more accurate driving data to document safe driver behavior for rewards programs. This data can also be used by insurers for risk assessment and policy customization. CerebrumX uses its Advanced Deep Learning Platform (ADLP) to manage data for UBI coverage and risks.
According to Sumit Chauhan, COO and co-founder of CerebrumX, having this data allows AI/ML and deep learning algorithms to be reliably applied to include detailed information about road conditions.
“Let’s say I’m driving my car at 50 miles per hour. 50 miles per hour is just a number unless you put it in a specific context,” he said. “The context is whether I was driving at night or during the day. Was it raining? Was it a bit gloomy in terms of visibility compared to bright sunlight? What was the condition of the road? You can determine this based on Google Maps where actual road conditions are shown or traffic is shown. You can also get it from other sources.”
Relevant information about what is happening inside the car can also be found, Chauhan added. “Was it a teenager driving a car? Was it someone who had been driving a car for 10 years?” He said. “Part of ADLP is that we provide algorithms and intelligence to process data in the right context because we use contextual information from sources other than the car itself to provide a complete set of information about what is actually happening.”
CerebrumX plans to add camera capabilities to the ADLP, including forward and cockpit or inward facing cameras. “In order to determine the real cause of the accident, the circumstances may include what actually happened inside the cabin,” Chauhan said. “Did the driver get distracted in any way, by calling or talking to a passenger or a passenger in the back seat, by being intoxicated? What happened on the road? Was there a crosswalk? When you can stitch all these data elements together in real time to recreate what happened during the crash, then you have a real picture in terms of where liability is set.”
And finally, Ford kicked off November with yet another technology and vehicle data protection partnership that exists before the first mile is driven. On November 10, Ford and JD Power ChromeData teamed up to provide Ford vehicle data to ChromeData’s VIN description service.
As part of the partnership, ChromeData will receive vehicle information directly from Ford as an OEM, which in turn will make insurance rates more accurate. With VIN data, insurers can determine what features a vehicle has, which is useful for insurers as well as for auto financing and valuation. By adding Ford to its data, ChromeData will cover about 80% of all automotive brands in the US.
“Ford Vehicle Assembly Data not only further enhances the benefits of our services, but also gives dealers and other industry partners a better understanding of what features come with each Ford and Lincoln vehicle,” said Craig Jennings, president of Autodata Solutions. a division of JD Power, the statement said.
