IronRock insurance company through the introduction of telematics insurance in the country yesterday launch its pay as you drive (PAYD) initiative aimed at refunding up to 25 per cent of annual premiums to customers as a reward for good driving.

“PAYD is a motor policy that is actually designed to give our drivers rewards for safe driving. It’s based on how you drive and how much you drive and not just traditional factors such as age and occupation. It is rooted in telematics insurance which is a form of technology that uses GPS and motion sensors to monitor driving behaviour,” said Christian Watt, general manager of marketing and production at IronRock, during a virtual launch held by the company.

“We are the first insurance to bring the telematics policy to Jamaica and essentially what we do is take account of all driving behaviour including sudden speeding, harsh braking, distance, etc; and we use it to generate a score [based on a report provided from the installed device], and that score translates to an actual refund of premium at the end of the year. You’ve been calling for it for many years with many customers calling back for some of their money as they haven’t crashed and we think you deserve it back too,” he further stated.

With this ground-breaking technology in the country, Watt said that companies are now able to offer more equitable pricing of insurance. He said that for reports generating good driving behaviour of 95 per cent and over, customers get a refund of 25 per cent of their annual premium, 80-95 per cent — refunds of 10 per cent and no refunds for those scoring 80 per cent and under.

“This product is coming from the pleas of the market and from customers asking to be rewarded in better ways than just a no claim discount. It is not a policy designed to penalise you as what it is set up to do is give good drivers some of their money back,” Watt said, noting that these returns can also be rolled over as a portion of the premium in the next year.

The company, which has pivoted to offer more online services since the coronavirus pandemic, said that application for new policies are done remotely, hence customers can simply log on to the company’s website over their devices, buy the product and an installation with Guardsman Limited will be scheduled thereafter.

Partnering with Guardsman Limited, which is expected to offer trusted security technology support, customers, through the installation of protected apps, will benefit from services such as live vehicle tracking and alerts, dashboard viewing of details for vechicle(s), vehicle immobilisation and geofencing technology.

Watt said that for customers who may be worried about data protection, the data gathered is only stored on digital communications end and doesn’t include financial or personal identification data. Data is also only kept up to a certain limit then overwritten after a time.

“If customers ever choose to opt out of the programme or terminate their service, they can request to have the data removed; hence, they can rest assured that they have control over their data,” he added.

IronRock, a junior market listed company, is a small player in the general insurance market and has assets valued at over $1 billion with a little over one per cent share of market activity. With these new and improved initiatives the company is seeking to retain as well as attract new and high-quality clients. During its last financial year ending in December, the company grew its insurance premiums from $701 million to $837 million irrespective of an underwriting loss due to increased claims among other costs.