Santam Could Offer Cheaper Car Insurance Premiums

Cheaper Car Insurance Premiums on the cards from Santam Experimentation with driver behavior technology could knock premiums down.

Santam short term insurance giant is checking out new technology that could knock down the prices on car insurance premiums.

The group said that a new driver behaviour system that monitors how fast the car is driving, as well as the hours motorists drive and the places they visit, could mean a 15% difference in the price of premiums.

Santam is giving its drivers the option of adding the product to an existing insurance policy.

"I think what's quite interesting is we are experimenting currently with some driver behaviour technology," said the Chief Executive Officer of Santam, Ian Kirk.

"The device is not just to assist in the recovery of the vehicle for theft and hijackings, but it also monitors the driver behaviour. It indicates whether speed is being exceeded, whether driving takes place at an unusual time and also manages the amount of kilometers covered."

Kirk said that, in his opinion, the device could innovate quite a lot in terms of being able to reduce premium and giving credit to policyholders who practice good risk management.

"We will phase it in over a period of time," he said, adding that Santam anticipates around 5,000 sales of the device a year.

"That is not substantial in Santam context," he said, speaking of the number of devices, "but it will give us substantial coverage to see if it is viable."

Devices could cost around R160 and Santam policyholders would see a 10-15% discount on their premiums once the device has been installed.