{"id":7401,"date":"2019-11-06T16:48:51","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T16:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fintech.global\/digitalwealthtechforum\/?p=7401"},"modified":"2019-11-06T16:48:51","modified_gmt":"2019-11-06T16:48:51","slug":"how-insurtech-100-startup-thingco-wants-to-change-car-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fintech.global\/digitalwealthtechforum\/how-insurtech-100-startup-thingco-wants-to-change-car-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"How InsurTech 100 startup ThingCo wants to change car insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Car InsurTech ThingCo aims to give drivers more control whilst helping them drive safer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The internet of things has transformed everything from shopping and home security to how we listen to music and adjust the temperature in our homes. The insurance industry is not immune to its influence. After all, car insurers having used telematics technology for over a decade. So hooking it up to other smart devices was not a huge leap to make.<\/p>\n

However, Mike Brockman wants to change the game in a big way. He is the CEO and founder of\u00a0ThingCo<\/a>, the InsurTech startup. \u201cThingco is all about taking telematics to the next level, to the next generation of telematics,\u201d says Brockman.<\/p>\n

The enterprise\u2019s unique offering is centred around\u00a0Theo<\/a>, a smart voice-controlled dashcam. \u201cSo you\u2019ve got voice, camera and telematics all in one,\u201d Brockman explains. \u201cIt\u2019s the voice that makes the big difference. Because with intelligent voice you can provide a lot of in-car services to turn any car into a smart car, so that you can talk to it and it can talk to you in situations of emergency in situations of an accident, or simply saying, \u2018Hey, watch out. The next corner is a known black spot.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, the user can choose to use the data recorded to get lower premiums and even collect rewards, depending on how safely they drive. However, that choice is the one of the key things that differentiate ThingCo from other insurance initiatives. Whilst other InsurTech companies may send that data directly to the insurers, it\u2019s up to the user to decide what to do with the data collected from Theo. \u201cWe collect 1,000 pieces of information a second from this product and that data is yours, not these horrible insurers who use the data against you,\u201d Brockman<\/p>\n

He adds, \u201cIf you don\u2019t want the services don\u2019t have it and no one will know if you\u2019re a terrible driver with a terrible driving score, keep it to yourself, no one\u2019s going to know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In case of an accident, Theo is set up to immediately check if the user is okay, to connect the driver with ThingCo\u2019s accident team and to alert emergency services if needed. Brockman believes this will be especially important for older drivers who often find themselves increasingly worried about hitting the roads. With Theo, he\u2019s certain they can be assured that they would get help quickly if they need it. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to do anything, we can coach you through the whole situation and call out emergency services if it is necessary,\u201d Brockman explains. \u201cIt hopefully makes older people a bit more confident to drive.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, this is just the beginning<\/p>\n

For instance, they ThingCo is currently considering adding an advertising feature to the mix. \u201cWe\u2019re developing what we call a promoted message service,\u201d Brockman says, adding that he\u2019s conscious about the ads not being intrusive.<\/p>\n

As an example of what he wants to avoid, Brockman points at Google\u2019s Waze app and how the ads on it cover the screen even when driving. \u201cI think it\u2019s a bit dangerous,\u201d he says. Instead, the ads on Theo will be designed to be quick spoken messages that won\u2019t be too obtrusive.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the ads can be combined in a way to boost the safety of the driver. \u201cTheo could also do things like saying, \u2018Hey, you\u2019ve been driving two hours, so it\u2019s a good time to take a break and we just arranged a free cup of coffee at the next Starbucks,\u2019\u201d Brockman explains. \u201cIt opens up a whole new way of risk managing your journey in a very customer centric way.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the scope of the vision he has in mind, it is easy to forget how new the startup is. \u201cWe\u2019re only 20 months in now,\u201d Brockman says. \u201cIn that space, we\u2019ve already got our first product out to consumers who are buying it. We\u2019re understanding what they want. We\u2019re understanding what our devices need to deliver. And we have a next generation on the go already to address some of the feedback and making use of developments in solar energy. We\u2019ll have another one on the-go after that and another one after that. So you\u2019ve always got to be looking at how technology can make your product better and how it can generate better consumer value. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re all about really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2019 FinTech Global<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Car InsurTech ThingCo aims to give drivers more control whilst helping them drive safer. The internet of things has transformed everything from shopping and home security to how we listen to music and adjust the temperature in our homes. The insurance industry is not immune to its influence. After all, car insurers having used telematics… <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":7403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fintech.global\/digitalwealthtechforum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7401"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fintech.global\/digitalwealthtechforum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fintech.global\/digitalwealthtechforum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fintech.global\/digitalwealthtechforum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fintech.global\/digitalwealthtechforum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fintech.global\/digitalwealthtechforum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fintech.global\/digitalwealthtechforum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fintech.global\/digitalwealthtechforum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fintech.global\/digitalwealthtechforum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fintech.global\/digitalwealthtechforum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}