Excerpt from Article via Property & Casualty 360 - Written by Sean Cary
Cars making claims?
For instance, with all of these sensors in vehicles these days and the vehicles' ever increasing ability to communicate with external parties, how would a future look where the car made the claim?
Think about it. On impact, the data received from the vehicle in real time could begin the claims and repair process instantly.
The emergency authorities could be notified in real time with detailed information about the vehicle(s), the location of the incident, and the well-being of the occupants. (Care givers will tell you all the time the more details they have on the number of occupants and their relative well-being while enroute to the scene helps to save lives.)
Based on the vehicle identification number (VIN), a perfect set of demographic, geographic, impact genesis, and vehicle condition data can be immediately uploaded to a trusted data source which can then simultaneously start the claim and:
arrange for immediate roadside assistance
arrange for a replacement vehicle or rental
assess the data and create an impact cinema graphic that shows what happened five seconds prior to the incident and immediately afterwards
provide a data rich FNOL to insurance companies
assess the vehicle damage uploaded by the telemetry by using historical relevant data and predictive analytics to determine with a high degree of accuracy the repair costs or if the vehicle will be totaled
create predictive estimates and parts requirements lists, and send that to dealers or parts procurement companies
identify which shop is best positioned to repair the vehicle based on shop scorecards and scheduled availability (be it in “network” or not) and send them the assignment and predictive estimate
and keep the consumer informed of what is happening at all times via mobile communications
All of the above is done instantly and simultaneously. No phone calls, no manual form filling, no frustrating repetition of the same information to different agencies. And remember at this point, the vehicle has not even been moved from the scene yet. I think that creates huge efficiency and economic benefits.
At this point I’m often asked who, how, and when will this all happen?
My answer is simple. Right now, no one company has the all of the component parts to do this. However, the component parts all exist, and so it will take partnerships and alliances across segments. We are beginning to see some of these form between OEMs and insurers for example.
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These partnerships and alliances are important and something of a sea change. In the past, OEMs and insurers were often at loggerheads with each other over parts usage and prices. That fades into insignificance when the economics of brand loyalty and customer retention for both organizations are taken into consideration.
Since we're on the topic, check out this Just for Laughs Invisible Car Crash Prank.