South African Financial Services giant Liberty has brought a new telematics proposition to market by partnering with global telematics service provider, The Floow. The new product will help transform road safety in a country where road accidents are rising dramatically, a trend that causes major challenges for insurers and risk managers. Africa as a continent has 2% of the world’s cars but 20% of the road deaths so telematics has a real chance to make an impact there.
The deal was finalised during The Floow’s visit to South Africa last week as part of the delegation of British business leaders that accompanied British Prime Minister Teresa May on her diplomatic and trade talks. The deal underlines the importance of Africa to the British economy as it forges ahead with new strategic trade deals beyond the EU – and showcases the crucial role that cutting edge British technology and innovation firms will play on driving forward Britain’s economic growth agenda.
The pioneering insure-tech proposition, called Liberty Short-Term Insurance, underwritten by Standard Insurance Limited will offer a range of personal lines insurance products which can be quoted, purchased and serviced entirely online, and includes motor and home insurance.
Liberty Short-Term Insurance will offer South African motorists the opportunity to prove that they are a safe driver by initially passing a ‘driver test’ through the app, measured by a set of robust driver scores, and therefore deserving of a heavily discounted insurance solution.
The Floow’s data science and scoring experience is central to the proposition, which was launched in January aimed at the young professional demographic in South Africa. Customers are able to quickly receive a quote by communicating with the Liberty Short-Term Insurance chatbot which is available via social media messaging channels, as well as the Liberty Short-Term Insurance app and website.
That quote reduces in price if the customer is able to achieve minimum driving scores over 300km, recorded via the smartphone app. Driving scores measure the driver’s distraction on their journeys, as well as how aggressive their driving style is. The driver receives regular feedback from the chatbot during the course of this scoring period to help and encourage them to pass the test. All customer data is encrypted and secured.
Once a driver achieves the target driving scores over 300km, they will not only benefit from a competitively priced premium, but will continue to receive useful feedback and tips via the chatbot, as well as the opportunity to earn Uber vouchers for continued safe driving.
“With Liberty Short-Term Insurance, we’re aiming to revolutionise the short-term insurance market by making it quick, easy and accessible – all enabled by smart technology” says Marty Epstein, Chief Executive for Liberty Short-Term Insurance. “This telematics-based personal lines insurance proposition is the first in a range of products to be launched, and we are delighted with the capability and partnership that The Floow has brought to making this happen.”
David James, Chief Operating Officer of The Floow added: “Having just returned from the UK visit to South Africa as part of the Prime Minister’s business delegation, it is clear to me that South Africa is a dynamic and growing market that Britain can do business with. We at The Floow are very excited to be taking our data science expertise to a new continent and being part of this compelling solution with Liberty. ”
“It is fantastic to be working with an insurance partner with the vision that Liberty has. Our working partnership with Liberty is excellent and in particular, it has been great to see the alignment of our Data Science team with Liberty’s Actuarial leads. Together we have developed some completely unique scores, evolving our tried and tested FloowScore KPIs by calibrating them with South African driving conditions and experience.”
