First telematics based motor insurance to be pioneered in Kenya

Heritage Insurance Kenya will on Tuesday unveil the country’s first-ever mass-market telematics insurance solution in Nairobi.

It will be the first mass market telematics based insurance policy using smartphones for consumers and will see local independent brokers at the heart of the insurance industry and had been left out in the cold as far as telematics based private motor insurance is concerned not absorbed using the disruptive product.

This has been for valid reasons including technological barriers, systems capabilities and cost of data acquisition. Because of this, existing telematics propositions are either direct from insurers or from large brokers with the development resource to launch propositions themselves with one insurer.

Telematics is a branch of information technology that deals with the transmission of computerized information over long distances. Vehicle telematics is the application of such systems to road vehicles using a wide range of telematics devices and mobile phone technology.

Using mobile-like connectivity to enable robust, accurate driver journey scoring that rewards and encourages positive driving safe behavior, streamlining the sector’s claims processing issue whilst providing reduced insurance costs for safe drivers through premium cashback.

While telematics is cemented in the developed economy, progressive economies in Africa are on the cusp of its adoption.

In South Africa, telematics technology used to track vehicles is already highly advanced and widely used, almost rivaling advanced nations – In Kenya, Heritage Insurance Kenya becomes the first insurance firm in Kenya to get into mass-market full underwriting-based motor insurance powered by telematics.