The Co-operative Insurance launches smartphone app to rate safety of young drivers

ICMIF member, The Co-operative Insurance, UK, has launched a free Smartphone app to allow young drivers to find out how safe they are behind the wheel. The idea...

ICMIF member, The Co-operative Insurance, UK, has launched a free Smartphone app to allow young drivers to find out how safe they are behind the wheel. The idea of the app is that it gives potential younger members of The Co-operative Insurance a chance to “try before they buy” The Co-operative’s Young Driver insurance.

The innovative app, available for iPhone and Android, uses telematics technology to rate drivers on their speed, cornering, braking, and acceleration, and the time of day they drive. The app rates each individual journey completed by a driver, and scores it between one and five once completed. An accurate score will be given for a journey of any length. A good overall score indicates that drivers are likely to save money on their car insurance premium if they take out The Co-operative’s Young Driver insurance.

The benefits and features of the app include:

  • The app is free of charge
  • Uses GPS data to measure speed, cornering, braking and acceleration, and time of day car is driven and scores each journey from 1 to 5
  • The app is for drivers to ‘try before they buy’
  • The app gives drivers an accurate picture of how well they are driving and could improve safety on roads as a result

To help potential members understand how the app works The Co-operative Insurance has created a video explaining how to use the app.

Amy Kilmartin, Young Driver Insurance Manager at The Co-operative, explains: “This is a ‘try before you buy’ app aimed at 17 to 25 years olds who may have heard of ‘Smart box’ or ‘telematics’ insurance but aren’t sure if it’s right for them”.

New research from The Co-operative Insurance* shows that the average British motorist rates their own driving as 20% better than that of other road users. When asked to score their driving out of 10 the average person awards themselves a score of seven but gives other road users a score of five.

Amy Kilmartin said: “Most people tend to believe that poor driving is not something they’re guilty of but is something other drivers do. Our Young Driver app means you can put that theory to the test as it scores your driving performance based on how well you drive.

“Getting an objective assessment of your driving style is the first step towards improving – and unlocking the door to insurance savings if you drive safely.”

As well as reducing the cost of insurance, the Young Driver scheme is also helping to improve road safety, as The Co-operative Insurance has already seen car crashes drop by 20 per cent among users.

* Survey of 2000 motorists carried out by One Poll in January 2013.

 

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