New car insurance scheme: Pay premium only on the distance you travel

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, when the whole world is shifting towards work-from-home culture and avoiding unnecessary travels, the Tata AIG General insurance has recently launched an innovative "pay as you drive" insurance policy. The insurance company unveiled GPS-enabled device 'Auto Safe' which is linked to a mobile app that records distance traveled by the vehicle, live speed and other driving pattern parameters. AutoSafe will be available on all policies offering personal accidental cover of ₹15 lakh for the owner and driver.

Unlike traditional auto insurance policy, the policyholders will be able to customise their premiums. In a regular motor insurance policy, customer need to pay premium based on the car model. Here, they will have an option to choose premiums according to their driving habits. It means, buyers have to pay premium as much as they drive their cars.

How does it work?

The AutoSafe device is linked to the car as the motor insurance policy becomes active and must be kept throughout the policy period. The device records all information, tracks the distance traveled and generates reports about vehicle health or driving patterns of the policyholder. The information collected is evaluated over time and each driver cum policyholder is allocated points based on performance. The device also contains motion sensor support and generates fuel-saving reports apart from monitoring aspects like hard braking, nighttime driving and acceleration.

Savings on premiums: Compared to the conventional policies, buyers will benefit from the Tata AIG's flexible kilometer-based package. Customers will have an option to choose between 2,500 kilometers, 5,000 kilometers, 7500 kilometers, 10,000 kilometers, 15,000 kilometers and 20,000 kilometers. If they exhaust all the kilometers within the policy period, they can buy additional kilometers by opting for the top-up kilometers option.

The available top-up options are 500 kilometers, 1000 kilometers and 1500 kilometers, thus, helping savings on cost based on usage, the insurer said. To promote safe driving, this policy offers bonus kilometers for good driving behavior at the time of the renewal. So lesser you drive, the lower premium you have to pay.

This customised auto insurance policy is launched under IRDAI’s regulatory sandbox. This policy includes other value-added propositions like depreciation reimbursement, daily allowance, no claim bonus protection cover.

"With the regulatory sandbox permitting telematics-based solutions, insurance will evolve to become more intuitive and responsive to the customer’s needs. The shift towards pay-as-you-drive insurance makes sense in this uncertain time when unnecessary journeys are discouraged, and organizations and employees alike are discovering the benefits of working from home,” Parag Ved, Executive Vice-President & Head- Consumer Lines, Tata AIG General Insurance.