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Discovery, which has made its name in South Africa with its range of health-care products, is now ready to take vehicle and regular old household insurance to the next level.
Using a model similar to the one that has made it one of the biggest players in the private health-care system in South Africa, the new Discovery Insure offering is hoping to make better drivers of us all by using the carrot trick to change how drivers behave behind the wheel.
The basis of Discovery’s take on vehicle insurance is to monitor driver’s behaviour and to incentivise improved driving with fuel, cash and other rewards linked to the existing Discovery Health rewards programme. Those insured and showing progress could even see their premiums reduced.
But how does the system monitor driver behaviour? Signing up to Discovery Insure will see a tracking device (called DQ-Track, with DQ being an acronym for Driver Quotient) being installed in your car. Using the telemetry it provides, it is then easy to get real-time feedback – either online or via text message. Smartphone apps supporting the system will be rolled out from July, 2011, Discovery officials said.
However, more than indicate on which sections of their route drivers exceeded the speed limit or braked too harshly, the DQ-Track system also doubles as an alert for emergency response in the event of a collision or acts as a stolen vehicle response system.
FREE CAR HIRE, NO EXCESS
Furthermore, making use of Discovery’s system of partners means that vehicles subjected to a free annual check and running on fuel purchased from a certain supplier will earn their owners up to 40 percent of fuel-spend back each month. Or drivers could channel this saving and get up to 80% in a fund that can be accessed on the occasion when excess needs to be paid on a claim.
No need, then, to forgo those gorgeous new stilettos or groceries for a month. And that’s only when you need to pay excess, since certain claims, such as theft and hijacking, don’t warrant the additional payment at all.
But here’s the kicker: cover includes car hire and an innovative approach to claiming means you, as the insured, are not saddled with calling around for quotes or running after approved repairers. Instead, you get to leave your damaged car at an Avis branch (or have them collect you from an accident scene if you’re unable to drive), collect your rental car and switch cars and keys once your car’s been repaired.
Perhaps it sounds a little good to be true, but who wouldn’t want to become a better driver while being rewarded for it and, come claim-time, not having to bother with the inconvenience and displeasure of being without a car?
Using a model similar to the one that has made it one of the biggest players in the private health-care system in South Africa, the new Discovery Insure offering is hoping to make better drivers of us all by using the carrot trick to change how drivers behave behind the wheel.
The basis of Discovery’s take on vehicle insurance is to monitor driver’s behaviour and to incentivise improved driving with fuel, cash and other rewards linked to the existing Discovery Health rewards programme. Those insured and showing progress could even see their premiums reduced.
But how does the system monitor driver behaviour? Signing up to Discovery Insure will see a tracking device (called DQ-Track, with DQ being an acronym for Driver Quotient) being installed in your car. Using the telemetry it provides, it is then easy to get real-time feedback – either online or via text message. Smartphone apps supporting the system will be rolled out from July, 2011, Discovery officials said.
However, more than indicate on which sections of their route drivers exceeded the speed limit or braked too harshly, the DQ-Track system also doubles as an alert for emergency response in the event of a collision or acts as a stolen vehicle response system.
FREE CAR HIRE, NO EXCESS
Furthermore, making use of Discovery’s system of partners means that vehicles subjected to a free annual check and running on fuel purchased from a certain supplier will earn their owners up to 40 percent of fuel-spend back each month. Or drivers could channel this saving and get up to 80% in a fund that can be accessed on the occasion when excess needs to be paid on a claim.
No need, then, to forgo those gorgeous new stilettos or groceries for a month. And that’s only when you need to pay excess, since certain claims, such as theft and hijacking, don’t warrant the additional payment at all.
But here’s the kicker: cover includes car hire and an innovative approach to claiming means you, as the insured, are not saddled with calling around for quotes or running after approved repairers. Instead, you get to leave your damaged car at an Avis branch (or have them collect you from an accident scene if you’re unable to drive), collect your rental car and switch cars and keys once your car’s been repaired.
Perhaps it sounds a little good to be true, but who wouldn’t want to become a better driver while being rewarded for it and, come claim-time, not having to bother with the inconvenience and displeasure of being without a car?
