We’re in the news…
Covid-19: Carrot Insurance rewards young drivers for staying at home
2 April 2020
- Tech company responds to Public Health England after spike in vehicle use
- Data shows UK young drivers are strictly following government guidelines on vehicle use
Carrot, the young driver insurance provider that uses black box technology to record driving patterns and reward safer driving, is incentivising thousands of young drivers to continue to leave their cars at home during the coronavirus lockdown.
Carrot director Andrew Brown-Allan said the company was responding to worrying news of a recent, sudden increase in the number of miles driven, which has led to Dr Yvonne Doyle, Medical Director for Public Health England, to urge people not to drive their cars.
However, Carrot’s data shows that the UK’s young drivers seem to be following the government guidelines and not driving unless absolutely necessary.
Brown-Allan reported that in the 24hrs following the lockdown announced by the PM on 23 March, the average number of daily miles driven by Carrot’s customers fell by 38% to 8 miles. Six days later, on 29 March, the average daily miles driven by Carrot customers had fallen to just 4 miles, compared to 13 miles on the day that lockdown was announced – a reduction of 70% across that period.
Government data showed that despite a gradual fall in motor usage to less than a third of the usual average by Sunday 29 March, overall vehicle mileage in the UK jumped by 10% to 37% on 30 March. (i)
Carrot’s data analytics found the average number of daily miles driven per Carrot customer also increased modestly from the 29th to 30th March (up from 4 to 6 miles average per customer) – but in that same period over half of all Carrot customers did not use their cars at all (i.e. recorded zero miles).
Brown-Allan continued “We want to encourage our customers to reduce their car use further still, so in the period Monday 6 April to Monday 13 April (Easter Monday) we will issue double rewards to all customers with a ‘New Driver by Carrot’ policy who leave their cars at home and don’t drive at all during that seven day period.”
“They normally earn weekly rewards for demonstrating that they are safe drivers, and this will continue for those making essential trips, but in our view the best way to keep themselves and others safe during lockdown is to leave their cars undriven.”
“There is intense scrutiny on the insurance industry including criticism of the way it has responded to the COVID-19 crisis, but this new Carrot initiative is just one of a number of important contributions we are making on an ongoing basis to put technology to good use and keep road users safe, and at home.”
- HM Government statistics – source https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-concerning-rise-in-car-journeys-as-people-urged-to-stay-at-home-11967066
- Carrot distributes rewards on a weekly basis to customers who drive safely, either through a points banking system or the distribution of weekly ‘Treats’, which include Amazon eGift vouchers and free cups of coffee.
About Carrot Insurance (Carrot)
Carrot Insurance (Carrot) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trak Global Group (TGG). In the UK, Carrot is an award-winning B2C telematics insurance provider, but the underpinning platform has now been made available internationally to enable any organisation seeking to take a UBI proposition to market to do so quickly and with a high degree of configurability.
By using telematics hardware and smartphone apps to provide feedback, messaging and rewards to incentivise better driving behaviours, the Carrot approach is proven to help reduce claims frequency – this in turn reduces insurance premiums for policyholders and increases customer satisfaction, and reduces losses for insurers.
