AND-E, owner of insurethebox, comments on Discount Rate announcement
AND-E (Aioi Nissay Dowa Europe), which owns the insurethebox and drivelikeagirl brands, has responded to the confirmation of the new Ogden rate at minus 0.25%.
Warren Hetz, UK Commercial Director, AND-E said:
“It is disappointing that the Ogden rate, used to calculate compensation payments for catastrophic injuries, has been set at minus 0.25%. The change to the rate in February 2017 saw the youngest drivers – who have relatively more large claims and higher premiums – hit hardest. That was in addition to hikes in insurance premium tax (IPT). We were, therefore, hopeful that Government and its advisors would take this on board when determining the new rate but sadly this has not been the case.
“The inevitability of this latest decision is that insurance premiums will go up. And the youngest, highest risk drivers will continue to carry the biggest burden which is somewhat contrary to so many other Government initiatives designed to improve social mobility for all, and especially the young generations coming into the working world.
“At insurethebox we have maintained a consistent position that the youngest drivers need to be treated differently from more experienced motorists. The development of our market-leading telematics technology means we can calculate the premium of each driver based on their individual behaviour rather than simply assuming all young drivers are bad drivers. The power of telematics to help manage the cost of premiums has also been proven by external data. ABI[i] analysis of motor insurance premiums prior to the impact of the Ogden rate change in 2017, showed that the only age group not to see increases in their average premiums were the under 21s because the increasing use of telematics kept premiums under control.
“And it’s not just about the premium – the insight we gather from our telematics data helps us support and educate the newest drivers on the roads, as our ground-breaking speed reduction initiative has demonstrated. For the three years the programme has been in operation, 97,000 drivers have reduced their speed[ii] by 20%, leading to a 6.5% reduction in accident frequency. Using Government data on the impact of speeding on road traffic accidents, we estimate this to have prevented 922 accidents and avoided 29 serious injuries[iii].
“But the reality is, the youngest drivers are still hit hardest by taxes imposed by Government and this will be no different with the latest news about the Discount Rate.”
Media enquiries to:
Parm Heer/Patrick Moorcroft/Wendy Harrison
Tel: 0208 977 9132
Email: and-eteam@harrisonsadler.com
Notes to Editors
insurethebox
Insure The Box Limited launched in June 2010 with its first product, insurethebox, and now holds over 4.5 billion miles of driving data and associated claims. As well as insurethebox and drive like a girl (another Insure The Box brand) it also administers other telematics offerings. Insurethebox is owned by Aioi Nissay Dowa Europe Limited, part of the major Japanese insurance group MS&AD Holdings, Inc. The group is taking a leading role in the development of technologies that will change the face of motor insurance and the way we view the car.
[i] https://www.abi.org.uk/news/news-articles/2017/07/premiums-for-young-and-old-drivers-at-record-levels/
[ii] Unless stated otherwise “speeding” is defined as speed limit +30%, counted as speeding instances per mile where an instance is captured every 5 seconds.
[iii] Prevented accidents calculated based on the decreased accident frequency of the 97,000 customers contacted. Further, Government states that 3% of accidents lead to serious injuries.