How will Autonomous Driving affect Insurers?

Developed countries are taking significant steps in developing autonomous cars and making them a new reality. According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel statistics, globally, nearly 3,300 people die every day because of road accidents. More surprisingly, around 90% of these accidents are avoidable by bringing the revolution of driverless cars. However, there are fears that the automation of driving will severely affect the insurance providers and other industries related to car driving.

The policymakers and insurer unions are working on devising a plan that will smooth the transition to driverless technology. People will be supposed to claim the insurance of automated cars from insurance companies in the same way. But the problem occurs with the varying types and complexities involved in these cars.

Many companies already started providing few automated driving features, like lane-keeper assist, emergency brakes, and self-parking. On the other hand, it may take decades to develop fully automated vehicles that allow you to read a book while traveling. There will be cars on the roads with a varying level of autonomy between those decades, which’s problematic for the insurance companies. The insurance providers have to continuously adjust their packages and policies with automation, making their plans uncertain.

The uncertainties for insurance companies will increase. Some experts have even predicted that the whole insurance market operations will change by the automation. Currently, the companies use actuarial tables to calculate the insurance charges. The driverless cars will introduce a different calculation method that may ask for car details, features, and other relevant information. All in all, the insurance industry’s future is going to be significantly affected by autonomous driving.