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Insurers to soak up complications of autonomous car cover
Date: 13 September 2016 | Author: Jack Carfrae
Insurance companies are to absorb the technical issues of providing cover for autonomous cars "behind the scenes" according to safety body Thatcham. The organisation claimed that consumers would not notice any significant differences when buying a motor insurance policy for an autonomous car and drivers would continue to buy single motor insurance policies, as is currently the case.
The announcement follows the publication of a paper by Thatcham and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) in response to Department for Transport's consultation on how to support developing automated vehicle technologies. Proposals for drivers to buy separate product liability policy to cover themselves while driving in automated modes were dismissed by the ABI as "too complicated and risk leaving road accident victims without enough cover."
Although policy holders are in the clear, the paper suggested that insurers should have "a new legal right to recovery," which would allow them to recoup costs from OEMs, software companies or "other parties in cases where the vehicle or technology was found to have been at fault."
It also added that there should be strict rules surrounding what people can and can't do at the wheel while travelling in autonomous mode in order to maintain clarity and safety.
"We would advocate geo fencing and restricting automated driving to specific roads, introducing a testing regime to assess automated driving systems to ensure they can handle road scenarios safely and, in the unfortunate case of there being an accident, ensuring it is clear to everyone whether the car was operating in automated mode or not," said Peter Shaw, chief executive of Thatcham.
The news comes as leasing firm Arval has urged fleet operators to keep abreast of the latest developments in autonomous vehicle technology. "Before we reach a point where driverless cars are potentially available as company vehicles, there will be a number of interim steps, and fleet managers will need to know their way around them in some detail.
"For example, the arrival of [Tesla] Autopilot-style features raises a whole series of questions. Where do you stand from a risk management point of view? How does your insurer view such technology? Will drivers use it responsibly or is there a risk of abuse?
"Steps beyond this towards full autonomy create even more questions. You start to move into an area where you are questioning whether the car or the driver is responsible for safety. These are complex matters, especially bearing in mind that a legislative framework for such vehicles doesn't even exist yet."
