Aviva experiments with mobile telematics in the U.K.

Aviva, the U.K.’s second largest insurer, is trying out technology that uses customers’ smart phones to track their driving habits and adjust their rates accordingly.

Drivers with the company using Android phones are invited to download the Aviva Rate My Drive app, which monitors the first 200 miles of driving. It records acceleration, braking and cornering to deliver an individual score to determine premiums.

Aviva is targeting 5,000 U.K. policyholders to enroll in the program, which it says could allow drivers to save as much as 20% on their rates. 

“We believe this innovative use of smart phone technology will benefit all safe drivers, regardless of age or gender,” Steve Treloar, Aviva’s retail director, told the Post Online. “Unlike traditional ‘black box’ telematics solutions, Aviva Rate My Drive only needs a small amount of data, typically 200 miles, to create an individual driver profile,” Treloar said.

“And because the app is free to download and uses the customer’s own smart phone, there is no need for motorists to have a black box installed in their car.”

Aviva had previously experimented with telematics and usage-based insurance (UBI) in the U.K., but shelved the program in 2008. In Canada, Aviva introduced a UBI program known as Autograph in 2006, which was cancelled in 2011.