With the formal implementation of the exclusive provisions of commercial insurance for new energy vehicles, the premiums of many new energy vehicles have increased significantly. As a new energy car company, Xiaopeng Automobile and Xilai Motor have successively released instructions on the change of insurance premium, of which the average increase of Xiaopeng car models on all lines varies from 2.9% to 18.2%. The change in the overall premium is related to the user's region, violation record, past insurance situation and other factors.
At the same time, premium "price discrimination" has also begun to make new energy vehicle companies re-examine the services of user insurance, and setting up their own insurance brokers or developing exclusive products is the exploration direction of many new energy vehicle companies. On December 29, Xilai revealed that "it is evaluating the possibility of setting up exclusive insurance products for Lailai cars."
"in the future, there will be 'brand car insurance' or 'white-label car insurance' dominated by vehicle mainframe factories." Bai Yuwei, general manager of the insurance department of Zhongwei Huitong Group, told the Financial Associated Press that cars, once used as a means of transportation, are undergoing essential changes in the digital age of global interconnection. as a result, the actuarial basis and logic of car insurance pricing have also changed.
Expand the scope of protection without breaking away from the traditional pricing method
In the "exclusive clause" released this time, compared with the traditional car insurance, the new energy exclusive car insurance has added some protection content. For example, in addition to the car body, the unique "three electricity" system of the new energy vehicle (battery and energy storage system, motor and drive system, other control system) and all other ex-factory equipment are covered. And the three main insurances are clear that accidents include vehicle fire and combustion, and the relevant insurance liability is covered. In addition, the use process of new energy vehicles is also further clarified, and the three main insurances fully cover the scenes of driving, parking, charging and operation.
"before this clause was issued, the traditional car insurance clause was still used for new energy vehicles, but there was a discrepancy in the actual risk protection and demand between traditional car insurance and new energy vehicles." BYD told reporters that the update of commercial insurance provisions for new energy vehicles, based on the unique technical and risk characteristics of new energy vehicles, has expanded the protection scene and further clarified the scope of new energy vehicle insurance protection. risk protection is more comprehensive for new car sales.
However, to the regret of the industry, the "guidance on the implementation of Comprehensive vehicle Insurance Reform" issued by the Bancassurance Regulatory Commission in September 2020, the provisions on "exploring the development of innovative products such as motor vehicle mileage insurance (UBI) in new energy vehicles and qualified traditional vehicles" are not specifically reflected in the above-mentioned "exclusive provisions".
"the pricing of China's exclusive insurance for new energy vehicles is a unified clause. Industry pricing, especially the car damage insurance of commercial insurance, is based on the traditional pricing method of car insurance, especially taking NCD and violation coefficient as effective factors. " In Bai Yuwei's view, the new energy car insurance pricing still continues the traditional big data's "pure risk loss cost" algorithm of "historical compensation + historical driving behavior".
In fact, Tesla, who launched the insurance business in California as early as April 2019, officially launched safety-rated car insurance based on vehicle usage time, mileage and real-time driving behavior in Texas in October this year.
Tesla's auto insurance does not use traditional variables such as credit, age, gender and claim history to price its insurance, but sets the price based on the vehicle driven, the address provided, the number of times driven and the coverage chosen. " Bai Yuwei explained that this kind of insurance actuarial method is similar to UBI (based on real-time driving behavior) car insurance service.
The insurance industry will be "cross-border attack" by car companies?
Not only in the United States, Tesla also set up an insurance brokerage company in China in August last year. An insurance brokerage company refers to an insurance intermediary established in accordance with the law. On the one hand, it represents the interests of the insured, designs an insurance plan for the insured, and negotiates with the insurance company to reach an insurance agreement; on the other hand, it solicits business for the insurance company and collects a commission from the insurance company.
As Tesla accessories are more expensive, the premium of Tesla car is higher than that of other car brands. As after the premium adjustment, some car owners revealed that the cost of insurance for Tesla Model Y on the 23rd of this month was 8278 yuan, while after the new policy on the 27th, the cost of insurance rose 80% to more than 14000 yuan.
According to industry estimates, UBI car insurance services can save an average of 20% and 40% per driver. "setting up an insurance brokerage company in China may only be the first step. Tesla may also set up an auto insurance company in the future and is expected to take the lead in making UBI auto insurance." Mileage insurance founder Shuai Yong said that car companies have a wealth of data, channels, ecology, resources and user accumulation, through the establishment of UBI auto insurance company, will achieve a new insurance game, compensation is also more controllable.
In China, many car companies have previously set foot in the insurance industry, such as Zhongcheng Automobile Insurance under GAC GROUP, Shanghai Automotive Group Insurance sales Company under SAIC Group, Guangzhou Xiaopeng Automobile Insurance Agency Company under Xiaopeng Automobile, and Geely Holdings taking a stake in United property Insurance.
"car companies have obvious advantages in the car insurance market." Wang Xiangnan, deputy director of the Insurance and Economic Development Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that car companies have information advantages in underwriting vehicles' travel big data and intelligent driving, and can quickly launch new products and rich terms; can provide more comprehensive risk management for the travel ecology; directly reach customers; bypass risk management and financial intermediaries such as insurance institutions, and save costs.
However, due to financial supervision and other reasons, there are few insurance services similar to Tesla's UBI model among domestic car companies. In addition, some small and medium-sized entrepreneurial insurance companies have also tried to implement UBI car insurance through the post-installed OBD model, but in the end, it is difficult to sustain because of cost, customer privacy trust, benefit distribution between car companies and insurance companies and so on.
"capable insurance companies can cooperate with mainframe factories to launch 'brand car insurance' and promote it on a pilot basis in some local cities." In Bai Yuwei's view, with the technological innovation of the automobile industry, the insurance industry is bound to make adjustments. "if no reform is made, automobile enterprises, as an external force in the insurance industry, will also 'cross-border attacks'."
"the status of insurance companies will change." Bai Yuwei further said that insurance companies have become part of the supply chain in the new car insurance ecology of risk management and operational services around the panoramic process of the vehicle life cycle.
