MyDrive’s solution charts the GPS location of drivers every second, and overlays driving events against complex geo-mapping which takes into account road features, typical traffic density etc and scores drivers against how an advanced driver would perform in the circumstances.

MyDrive is launching products with three insurers next year.

“I think within 10 years it will be impossible for anyone to get motor insurance which isn’t backed by profiling,” says Holliday.

Quartix believes telematics will reduce insurance premiums, although it predicts a number of issues.

“For example, in the case of retail insurance, an individual driver’s profile governs premium costs. But with transport fleets a single overall premium is charged, the amount being determined by different drivers’ risk profiles,” says Andy Kirk, Quartix sales and marketing director.

“By implementing management systems based on telematics data, fleet operators are able to cut risk, and therefore insurance premiums, dramatically.”

Kirk believes ‘pay how you drive’ insurance will set the pace next year, allowing fleets to pay only for miles covered and to further reduce premiums for better driver styles. It will also help fleet managers to identify at an earlier stage drivers which might pose a higher risk.

Tracker recently launched a pilot focused on young drivers with Direct Line which will investigate how telemetry can be used by insurers.

Cobra’s telematics technology, meanwhile, can already power three driver-based insurance packages based on driver performance, vehicle usage, or mileage.

“All of the above could be relevant for different profiles of company motorists, which is why we are working so hard to ultimately deliver reduced premiums for fleets,” says Andrew Smith, managing director of Cobra UK.

“But insurance brokers and companies will want to see a view over time of each driver to enable them to start to build up a risk profile of the fleet.”

He makes the point that telematics data can also help those fleets who self-insure. “Cobra is talking to a number of brokers – at the moment usage-based insurance is growing in the area of young drivers but we can see how it will benefit fleet operators.”

However, there are still challenges to be overcome. There is no commonality of platform or data handling protocols in the telematics market which means that insurers planning fleet products will likely avoid data collection.

In the private market, insurers who are installing or recommending specific devices may hit problems as motorists want to change insurer at whim.

The other major area in which telematics can reduce risk to insurers and operators alike is through providing defence against fraudulent claims.

Motor fraud currently costs the UK £410 million a year, of which £93m involves commercial policies.

Aviva says fleets need to volunteer telematics or tracking data which can disprove liability, however, it will not request client data unilaterally.

Cameras cut insurance costs

Forward-facing cameras are another tool which insurers are embracing to cut fleet insurance premiums and risk.

Although cameras do have an effect on driver behaviour, cameras are most useful in providing corroborating evidence which can either expedite a liability claim or offer defence against a claim in which the fleet vehicle is not at fault.

However, UK insurers are still more likely to drop premiums as a response to an improved claims history than discount insurance proactively. Like all tools, it depends upon the use to which the cameras are put.

There are many companies offering camera technology with differing levels of function.

The cheapest start at around £175 which is usually less than the excess on a single collision.

Many record to specialist units or SD cards and footage can be saved either manually or at set perameters around a G-force event, like harsh braking or collision.

Towergate Risk Solutions has provided more than 5,000 Roadhawk cameras to fleets, and says that although they do improve driver safety and work as training aids, the big return for the insurance industry is offering a defence against crash-for-cash perpetrators.

Mobileye, offered by Eyedrive Systems, part of The Vehicle Group, works slightly differently.

Its purpose is not to record a collision, although a recording unit can be installed with the camera, but to prevent collision.

It monitors lane position, the speed and trajectory of traffic and pedestrians, and gives audible alerts if the
vehicle encroaches within a specific time interval of another road user.

Mobileye is designed to act as another set of eyes and mitigates driver distraction.

The company says that it attracts insurance discounts of 12.5% from AXA in Canada and France, and 25% from insurers in Israel where the product is made and has the longest history.

Brigade Electronics produces multi-camera systems which it says are important as collisions do not just occur from the front.

In particular, its cameras are used by many municipal fleets which must defend against claims of damage to parked cars during refuse collection and street cleaning.

Claims can total up to £10,000 per vehicle, the company says, which is why some local authorities, such as Ashfield District Council, have adopted them.