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

  • Safety gains on Europe’s roads with lower KSI rates
    February 19, 2014
    Better road safety is helping to cut KSI rates right across the EC - Mike Woof writes Road safety continues to improve in Europe, with official statistics for 2012 showing a drop in fatalities of 2,661 compared with the figures for 2011. The latest data from Pan-European police body TISPOL shows an encouraging trend towards better road safety. This highlights safety improvements right across the EU. In 2012, a total of 27,700 people were killed in road crashes in the European Union’s 27 member states, eq
  • VIDEO: Pasta-packing drivers should beware of lean-bean cyclists
    August 19, 2016
    Know your limits, especially if that inconsiderate cyclist has got you so enraged that you have jumped out of your car to chase him down the block. You want to teach him a lesson but, like the man in this video, you may end up learning one yourself. You’re too fat. Recognise the chances are slim that you - a car driver who, according to a new study, will be overweight – will catch that svelte bicycle rider. It could end in tragedy with you hitting face-first that urban-grade asphalt, feeling the aggre
  • Outset: always onboard for accuracy & safety
    July 4, 2023
    Outset is a pioneer in onboard weighing and tyre-pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) for industrial and commercial vehicles, earthmoving machinery, logistics and the mining industry.
  • Construction trends in North America, looking to the future
    June 10, 2019
    Exciting changes in construction will reward the aware contractor - *Jeff Winke comments Hop in a car and drive anywhere in the US and chances are the drive will be on roads and highways that need patching, resurfacing, or widening, and bridges often show signs of needed maintenance. Sadly, things are in bad shape. On the last two report cards from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the US infrastructure scored a D+. This year’s report urges the government and private sector to increase spending