Quindell, Independent Broker Resources to offer telematics in Canada

The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) announced Thursday that Independent Broker Resources Inc. intends to partner with Quindell Portfolio Plc to offer telematics in Canada. 

“The partnership will launch a broker owned telematics solution,” IBAO stated in a press release. 

IBRI is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IBAO. IBRI’s chief executive officer is now Colin Simpson, former president and CEO of Kingsway Financial Services Inc.

Fareham, England-based Quindell’s offerings include claims management outsourcing as well as computer software and services for various industries including insurance. Earlier this year, Quindell acquired Toronto-based Iter8 Inc., which provides software-as-a-service for property and casualty brokers and agents.

With telematics, consumers install hardware in their vehicle that monitors driving behaviour.

“IBRI and Quindell’s partnership will be unique as their telematics model is focused on consumer protection and data privacy,” IBAO stated in a press release. “With IBRI and Qunidell’s telematics product, consumers will truly own their own data and their privacy is protected. Unlike other offerings that are in the market today the consumer is in control of how they share the data and with whom.”

IBRI “will manage the launch of telematics into the marketplace,” IBAO stated.

“The time frame we have allotted within the business plan would be in the calendar year 2013,” IBAO CEO Randy Carroll said in an interview.

As part of the agreement, which Quindell says is subject to final legal terms, Quindell will “provide the technology for all the IBAO’s telematics initiatives to its membership base, of about 12,000 brokers. 

“The contract is on an exclusive basis for a minimum period of five years,” Quindell stated.

Many auto policyholders in Ontario already use telematics, Carroll noted.

“From a broker distribution perspective, we can’t sit back and wait for that just to continue without being part of it,” he said. “The sooner we get to market, the better we are on behalf of the industry and the sooner we put consumer protections in place, the better the industry will be on an overall basis.”

IBAO says with its solution, consumers will not be “locked in” with one carrier.

“The consumer needs to own their data,” Carroll said. “The consumer needs to be able to turn the data off if they want to turn it off. They need to be able to transport it from one insurer to the next if they would like to.”

The Quindell contract is valued at more than $6 million, “based on an initial target of 30,000 telematics devices … by the end of 2014, and implies more than $20 million of technology revenues over the minimum five year exclusive contract term,” stated a Quindell press release.

Because IBAO has a non-disclosure agreement, it cannot give details now as to how IBAO members would offer it and whether they would liaise directly with their carriers. 

“We have talked to some of the carriers and will continue to talk to all of the carriers that represent brokers in Ontario over the course of the next month,” Carroll said.