Car insurance companies develop smartphone app aimed at reducing claims

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Two Japanese car insurance companies have co-developed a smartphone application in an attempt to reduce the increasing number of insurance claims made by customers. According to Sompo Japan Insurance Inc and Nipponkoa Insurance Co, the app has a range of functions designed to warn of possible accidents and to establish culpability in the event of a crash.

The free app is designed to work with a special dock, which holds the smartphone in position on the vehicle’s dashboard. Once launched, the app uses the phone’s camera to estimate the distance from the vehicle in front, using the vehicle’s shape and size as a guide. The vehicle’s speed can also be estimated using its GPS position. A warning sounds when the vehicle is deemed to be too close.

Meanwhile, Mitsui Sumitomo has also reportedly developed an app that registers harsh acceleration and breaking, using smartphone accelerometers, and offers driving feedback and points of improvement, Sankei Shimbun reported.

Other accelerometer-based functions of the Sompo/Nipponkoa app may also help to reduce payouts, say its developers. One such function allows the app to detect sudden breaking and impacts, and to record seconds of video before and after a crash, which may later help to establish culpability. Also, if the smartphone is left in a parked car with the app running, an alarm can be activated that sounds if the parked vehicle in front begins to move.

According to NKSJ Holdings Inc, the insurance holdings company that backs app’s developers, many vehicle insurers have seen their profits decrease in recent years, and firms are making a number of efforts, such as apps, to reduce claims, Sankei reported.