UK: Coverbox PAYD insurance uses Quartix telematics units
25 Jan 2011
Quartix has won a major contract to supply Coverbox with its latest vehicle tracking device.
The online insurer, one of Europe's leading pay-as-you-drive brands, is taking delivery of 1200 units a month - a total of more than 15,000 units over the first 12 months.
Policyholders receive the Quartix trackers as part of the Coverbox PAYD scheme and qualify for discounts if the system detects their mileage is less than anticipated or their journeys have been made in off-peak periods when fewer accidents occur.
An additional service, 24-hour online monitoring, enables stolen vehicles to be quickly recovered. Bought separately, this feature would normally cost several hundred pounds a year.
Coverbox, aimed primarly at the young-driver and high-risk markets, charges policyholders a mileage rate, determined by the time of day they drive. Data, delivered by the telematics system, is displayed on-screen as "dasboard" reports. Usage, driving patterns and bills are read quickly and easily on-screen.
The telematics unit, TCSV9, incorporates a comprehensive range of features in a unit only slightly larger than a matchbox, but weighs under 80gm. Features include GPS tracking; a crash-detection "black-box" to alert the insurance company of an accident-plus detailed storage of vehicle movements prior to a crash; and a tri-axis accelerometer to monitor acceleration, braking and cornering.
Quartix, which has offices at Cambridge and Newton, Powys, has recruited extra staff and invested in additional office space to provide direct support to Coverbox customers, while across the country the company employs more than sixty engineers whose job it is to install the tracking units in customer's vehicles.
Andy Walters, Quartix managing director, said:"Most insurance companies never get to see either the vehicle or the driver they are insuring. Therefore, the installation process offers an excellent opportunity to check out a few key facts and documents, which helps prevent the most common forms of vehicle insurance fraud.
"Firstly, the installer verifies that the vehicle is as described on the application, without significant modification or damage, and secondly that the insured is also the registered keeper of the vehicle. Copies of the driver's licence and registration documents are transmitted to Coverbox via a mobile application, using either a smart phone or portable Windows device."
Coverbox owner, Wunelli Ltd, selected Quartix because of its telematics product and design expertise, and because of the system's compatibility with Wunelli's own database and systems design capabilities. At the same time, Quartix was pleased to embrace telematics as part of an insurance contract and fully prepared to commit to all customer service requirements, from tracking-unit installation to servicing.