Skip to main content

Aviva looks to iPhone app to cut the cost of motor insurance

Major UK insurance company Aviva is said to be experimenting with an iPhone app that will offer discounts on car insurance based on customer's driving speed and style, according to reports in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
March 19, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Major UK insurance company 4075 Aviva is said to be experimenting with an iPhone app that will offer discounts on car insurance based on customer's driving speed and style, according to reports in the 4076 Daily Telegraph newspaper.

The app will use telematics technology to monitor a driver's behaviour by using data transmitted from a Smartbox, which is fitted to the policyholder's car, via satellite. It will measure motorists' mileage, the time they drive, and how they drive.

Motorists are then penalised for sudden braking or cornering via a black box installed in the dashboard of the car. The concept behind this insurance is simple: by encouraging careful driving, some motorists will see their premiums fall, while those who do not drive as safely will see the cost increase.

Head of Aviva UK, Trevor Matthews, is quoted as telling City AM, "We're experimenting with an app right now that you put in your car and tells you all sorts of things. It could be available later in the year. But clearly there's a bit of a problem with a phone-based app because it might not be in your car."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Hot Bitumen Safety – Still an Issue, Eleven Years On
    April 22, 2016
    Despite clear industry guidelines published over a decade ago and revised in 2015, level measurement experts Hycontrol still regularly encounter asphalt plants with insufficient safety protocols for preventing spills of hot bitumen. Introduction – Bitumen Storage in the UK Recently-issued information from Eurobitume UK has reinforced the need for stringent safety precautions on sites with bitumen storage facilities; key amongst them being the implementation of a robust level monitoring and alarm system (‘Si
  • Developments in tolling technology
    February 27, 2012
    Jason Barnes reviews the last few decades and the future of tolling technology. Tolling and charging technology has evolved significantly over the last three decades and that evolution is perhaps best illustrated by reductions in or complete removal of impedances to physical progress. Once, it was customary for a driver to pull up to a barrier, make some form of cash payment to a human operative in a booth, and then wait for the barrier to be raised before proceeding. Humans were eventually complemented and
  • Rapid adoption of GPS machine control
    April 5, 2012
    The high sophistication of GPS machine control systems has resulted in a fast pace of technological advancement. The three major players in the machine control sector, Leica Geosystems, Topcon and Trimble have all made major gains in recent years. The sophistication of the latest systems can combine satellite position data from the GPS and GLONASS networks with information from total stations to provide precise, high speed machine operation. Further more the firms have also prepared themselves for the intro
  • Simple road safety measures save lives
    February 15, 2012
    Elementary road safety measures quickly pay back the costs of investment and, more importantly, help save lives as Patrick Smith reports. More than 300 people in the UK are alive today or have avoided the prospect of a lifetime of special care because just 15 roads have had simple improvements put in place.