The insurance industry is in the middle of a major exemplar shift as it prepares for an imminent future of smart cities and self-driving cars, as well as integration of new technologies. Octo Telematics has moved well beyond the vocational market. It has developed a new standard for providing usage-based insurance (UBI) policies and telematics products and services to ensure greater safety for drivers, and an exceptionally wide range of new value-added services for insurers and policyholders alike. Octo is helping to transform auto insurance through behavioral, contextual and driving analytics for more than 60 insurance partners.
Octo Telematics was founded in 2002 in Rome and entered the US market in 2011. It is now headquartered in London, with offices in Boston, Rome, Stuttgart, Madrid, and Sao Paulo.
Cutting Edge Services
Octo was the first company to offer ad hoc telematics solutions for the insurance and automotive market, and was the first dedicated insurance telematics platform – quickly establishing itself as a leading market innovator in Italy and across Europe.
When Octo entered the US market, it fulfilled the needs of Tier One insurers facing technology innovations and expansions. Octo changed the communications paradigm between insurers and policyholders, impacting insurance partners’ bottom lines, and enabling insurers to embrace the IoT revolution. Over the last 15 years, Octo has continuously brought advanced and reliable telematics solutions to the market such as its new Glimpse Plus, a digitally-enabled telematics service that provides a reliable way for insurers to use the combination of policyholder smartphones and a small tag sensor to gather accurate data on driving behavior, as well as more detailed crash detection for claims analysis. As the world’s largest insurance telematics provider, Octo has additional solutions to power other connected user services, including vehicle diagnostics, fleet management and real-time monitoring of traffic and environmental conditions.
Octo has recently introduced its global NGP platform – a more than $40 million business and technology investment to address the rapidly growing global demand for user-based insurance that is predicted to reach 93m global policies by 2020. Octo’s other recent innovations include the extension of Octo’s portfolio with the North American launch of “Fleet” for Commercial lines – an affordable Telematics program – the introduction of a Distracted Driving scoring and analysis feature, a partnership with Agero for Roadside Assistance, and initiatives such as becoming a Guidewire PartnerConnect™ Solution Partner.
Further, Octo’s proactive First Notice of Loss (FNOL) capabilities allow insurance companies to rapidly react to an accident, moments after it has happened, so that contact can be made with the policyholder in a proactive way (outbound) with the objective to collect as much information as possible and “freeze” the crash scene. Usually, the insurer receives the notification of the crash from the end user. With Octo, they can reverse this approach and can become proactive towards the end user. Being immediately notified about the crash, the insurer can contact the customer and offer its assistance, becoming a partner instead of a commodity provider. On the other hand, getting in contact with the client at the very first moment after the crash may help in avoiding fraud attempts, third party interferences and also speed up the claim management process. In the end, both the insurer and the client are taking advantage of that.
The overall goal is to minimize the risk of frauds or subsequent third-party interventions in the claim process. This service is made available by Octo through a proactive FNOL platform, accessible via web, platform configuration and maintenance, and finally training for contact center operators.
Initial Challenges
Octo’s initial challenge was migration from older technologies and rolling out updated technologies and services to insurance agencies. Octo enables simple understanding of telematics for the new insurers through accurate management of data, training on how to use it, and explanation for staff on what is – and what is not – required for a successful program. As one of the most credible and longstanding global players in the market, Octo has the ability to better understand the business challenges of its insurance customers.
Technology is the driving force in the evolution of insurance, as well as the future livelihood of insurance agencies. Octo is changing the insurance industry in a way that has not been seen for decades. Insurance companies that don’t innovate and embrace new technologies to change the insurer-to-insured paradigm will surely fall behind and competitors will win their customers. Insurance is no longer just about price, but about value-added services such as crash assistance, vehicle monitoring, and usage-based insurance. Telematics allows insurers to provide those enhancements.
Erudite Leader
Nino Tarantino is the CEO of Octo Telematics in North America, responsible for Octo’s entry into the US, Canada, and Mexico since 2011. Nino is also among one of the Board of Directors of the Connected Vehicle Trade Association (CVTA) and is a frequent speaker at industry events on subjects such as crash and claims management, usage-based insurance and telematics. He had also served as General Manager of Acotel USA, operating in the mobile premium content and value added service sector and VP of Business Development at Anoto Group AB, a global leader in digital writing solutions.
Under the leadership of Nino, Octo North America is one of the company’s fastest growing regions across the globe. North American operations has recently surpassed three million usage-based insurance (UBI) users in North America, a 50% increase over just one year.
Rewards and Recognitions
Octo’s credibility continues to expand with awards such as Best Insurance Telematics Product or Service of The Year at TU-Automotive Detroit 2017, and its recent acquisition of the usage-based insurance (UBI) assets of Willis Towers Watson (London), including its market-leading DriveAbility solution and the DriveAbility Marketplace.
Future Endeavors
The Octo team continues to develop mission-critical insurance solutions to help insurers reduce costs, improve reliability and maintenance, and extend offerings through UBI – compiling and analyzing statistics, claims management, crash reconstruction and stolen vehicle recovery. This is an entirely new way of interacting with policyholders and doing business in auto insurance. Octo will continue to partner with technology companies to further enhance its platform, and expand its offerings across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe.
