(Try Per Mile Interface. Image source: IMS.)

IMS (Insurance & Mobility Solutions; Waterloo, Ontario), part of Trak Global Group (TGG; Crewe, England) a global provider of connected car data solutions to insurers, mobility operators, OEMs and governments, has announced the availability of Try Per Mile, which the vendor calls a highly-configurable, mileage-based telematics product that enables insurers and brokers to internally trial a usage-based insurance (UBI) program that can then be deployed to policyholders in as little as one month.

The offering responds to significantly reduced miles driven by policyholders as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. IMS asserts that insurers who initially offered discounts or refunds for decreased driving are now turning to pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) programs to give policyholders more control. A recent Accenture Global Insurance Consumer Study found that 73 percent of insurers are interested in PAYD programs as a way of offering policyholders greater value, building trust, and providing rich, engaging experiences through personalization, increased transparency, and access to self-service/control options. Accenture’s findings are corroborated by McKinsey & Co.’s research which highlights a corresponding boost in consumer demand, with a 46 percent increase in customers interested in UBI between 2019 and 2020.

“When further developing our existing suite of solutions for mileage-based UBI programs, we wanted to offer insurance customers flexibility around the kind of telematics-enabled proposition that they could take to market, while at the same time empowering them to be as nimble as InsurTechs in terms of incredible speed-to-market,” comments Nino Tarantino, CEO, Insurance for IMS (Americas). “Try Per Mile allows IMS’s insurance customers to internally trial multiple, usage-based configurations and to personalize the policyholder experience using payment models not typical of current, in-market mileage-based programs.”

IMS describes the features and benefits of Try Per Mile as follows:

• No cost trial, low-cost launch:IMS customers get up to five (5) self-install, on-board diagnostic (OBD) telematics devices, app access/configuration, and a portal for internal usage and trials. OBD dongles are now available at an exceptionally low price point while providing higher accuracy and additional data services, making them the favored technology for the majority of successful mileage-based programs that have been deployed.
• Personalized policyholder configurability:Insurers can increase policyholder choice and control over coverages and premiums by factoring in different telematics usage-based variables, such as how, where, and when policyholders choose to drive.
• Policyholder payment options:Insurers can choose to deploy a mileage-based program with  varying payment modes: Pay as you Drive where policyholders pay for each mile driven based adjusted for usage-based and behavioral factors, or Pre-pay: where the policyholder pre-pays or tops-up their preferred bundle of miles upfront which can be adjusted based on the prevailing driver score.
• Increased retention:Insurers can provide customers with value-added services including insights into vehicle health proven to increase customer retention through regular engagement and driving feedback.
• Rapid implementation:Insurance companies can emulate speed to market typically seen only by InsurTechs and launch a mileage-based program in as little as one month after configuration and trial.
  

  IMS dongle used in Try Per Mile program. (Click to enlarge.)

IMS pitches the new offering as providing incumbent insurers with the business agility increasingly needed in the face of increasing competition from digital insurance disruptors and new InsurTech players entering the market in the wake of COVID-19. The company says its solutions and platform technology, along with its experienced teams and pricing models are designed to allow incumbent insurance organizations to bring class-leading products to market with a level of robustness, credibility, and experience that new market entrants find hard to match.

“With Try Per Mile, insurance companies can get to market in as little as one month with a product built around our flexible pre-configurations, or work with us to create a product around their own tailored configuration,” asserts Tarantino. “In either instance, a rich telematic data flow is available via API integration to enable their actuarial teams to learn about the real-world behaviors and risk factors associated with changes in driving habits as a result of the pandemic.”

IMS reports that it already has multiple successful implementations of mileage-based programs in market with top-tier insurers, including the recently announced Nationwide SmartMiles program in the U.S. and More Than Low Miler product for RSA in the U.K.

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