Driven by the fear that the worst (read: unlikely) will happen, we pay a small fortune every month to insurance companies that promise to support us and our families in the event of health risks, car accidents, and more.
We spend a good few thousand on health insurance plans (our own and our family's) every year, only to use them when a minor cold hits or a headache a little stronger than usual strikes.
We pour that hard-earned money into car insurance, even though we only drive on weekends — and barely that, just for trips and shopping.
Negotiating a fairer price based on our lifestyle and needs? Impossible. Either you settle for what's available or you're free to look for another insurer — which, obviously, will offer you similar, if not identical, services.
Fortunately, all signs indicate that this inflexibility is coming to an end. A few months ago, Tesla announced its own insurance product, which, according to Elon Musk: “will be much more compelling than any other insurance“. That's because pricing will be personalized.
Elon's automaker collects driving data from the cars it sells. This means the company knows exactly how each driver drives, enabling it to calculate the probability of causing or being involved in accidents using a technology called "Sentry Mode".
I don't own a Tesla and I don't know if I ever will, but I'm certain that this initiative will force many other insurers to enter the personalization game and, finally, deliver greater fairness to their customers.
Since 2017, researchers have been using Google Street View to analyze factors such as income, education, occupation, and even predict voting behavior — all through platform images segmented by region. The idea is to go further and predict how likely you are to be involved in a car accident. To learn more about this study and its parameters, just click here!
What if this trend catches on? How would you, as someone who works at or owns an insurance company, respond to avoid losing market share? What would you do to deliver a better service, attracting and retaining more customers through technology?