Monday 14 July 2014

People who are careful with money have fewer car crashes

"The [insurance] industry has started quietly trawling customers’ finances and other sources of “big data”, after proving that those who are careful with their cash have fewer car crashes.
The correlation is so strong that Lloyds Banking Group has begun offering prudent account holders savings of as much as 20 per cent on their car insurance.
Lloyds’ insurance arm Scottish Widows has not established why consumers who stay within overdraft limits or avoid bounced debit card payments have fewer accidents, but insiders suggest the thrifty tend to be more responsible.
The development shows how access to so-called big data are revolutionising the insurance industry. Companies are now accessing a wide range of information on everything from financial probity to shopping habits to determine the risk premium for individual customers.
Tesco, which tracks consumer behaviour through its Clubcard loyalty scheme, offers those it deems less risky based on their shopping habits discounts of as much as 40 per cent on home and car insurance.
Aviva has calculated the optimal distance from the street at which a property is least likely to be burgled – not too secluded nor too exposed.
Elsewhere, executives at Aviva’s Canadian business have established that houses within a radius of a few hundred metres from cinemas are more likely to be vandalised.
“This is not just a backroom theoretical exercise,” said Maurice Tulloch, who runs Aviva’s UK’s general insurance business. “If our analyst finds something new on a Monday, that can be live and impacting our prices on the Tuesday.”
Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, said: “The winners in the insurance market will be the ones that have got the data insights that others don’t have. It could be supermarkets, banks or social media companies.”"
Source:  Financial Times, 12th July 2014

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