Cambridge Mobile Telematics joins Geotab Marketplace

Cambridge Mobile Telematics has added its DriveWell Fleet platform to the Geotab Marketplace, expanding access to telematics-based commercial motor insurance for fleets using Geotab devices.

The listing lets fleets already using Geotab hardware connect to Cambridge Mobile Telematics' insurance telematics platform without installing a separate device. Insurers can then use driving data from vehicles connected through Geotab to assess risk and set behaviour-based prices for commercial policies.

The companies are targeting a gap in the commercial motor market: connected vehicle data is more widely available than insurance products that use it. According to Cambridge Mobile Telematics, fewer than 5% of commercial motor policies are priced using telematics data, while more than 30% of vehicles are already connected to a telematics service provider.

DriveWell Fleet is designed to take data from telematics service providers and convert it into standardised, high-frequency driving insights. Insurers can use that data for risk selection, segmentation and pricing across fleet business.

For fleets, the arrangement means existing Geotab users can join insurance programmes linked to driver behaviour without changing their current setup. The aim is to help fleets cut insurance costs, improve safety performance and make greater use of the telematics systems they already have in place.

Geotab has one of the larger installed bases in the connected vehicle market, with about 6 million vehicles and assets connected across its network and roughly 100 billion data points processed each day. Access through the marketplace gives Cambridge Mobile Telematics a wider route into fleets and gives insurers a larger pool of commercial vehicles from which to draw driving data.

The partnership also extends beyond vehicles already connected through Geotab. Cambridge Mobile Telematics can provide its own hardware for vehicles not yet linked to a telematics service provider, with the goal of increasing the share of policies priced on observed driving behaviour.

Market access

The Geotab Marketplace serves as a distribution channel for third-party applications and services that sit alongside Geotab's own telematics platform. By appearing there, Cambridge Mobile Telematics can reach fleet operators already using Geotab's tools for vehicle tracking, compliance and operational management.

That matters in commercial motor insurance, where insurers have often had to overcome technical and operational barriers before making wider use of telematics. Using existing in-vehicle devices removes one of those barriers by reducing the need for additional installation programmes and separate data collection arrangements.

Ben Bowne, Senior Vice President of Business Development & Partnerships at Cambridge Mobile Telematics, said the deal would help broaden the use of telematics-based pricing in commercial insurance.

"For more than a decade, CMT has helped insurers use telematics to better understand risk, reduce crashes, and save lives. With DriveWell Fleet, we're bringing that same approach to commercial auto insurance around the world," Bowne said.

"By joining the Geotab Marketplace, we're making it simple for fleets to connect to our platform and for insurers to access high-quality driving data at scale. This expands our global reach and helps insurers deliver better pricing and outcomes for fleets and their drivers," he added.

Insurance focus

Commercial motor insurers have shown growing interest in telematics as they try to refine pricing and identify higher-risk driving patterns more quickly. In private motor insurance, usage-based and behaviour-based models have become more familiar in several markets, but adoption in commercial fleets has remained relatively limited.

One reason is the complexity of fleet operations, where insurers, brokers, fleet managers and telematics providers each hold part of the data chain. Another is the challenge of turning raw vehicle information into a consistent format that can be used across different policy books.

Cambridge Mobile Telematics said its platform addresses that issue by normalising telematics provider data into a common set of insights. The company, which focuses on telematics and artificial intelligence for road safety and insurance, says its technology has helped prevent more than 126,000 crashes worldwide.

Robin Kinsey, Associate Vice President of Marketplace at Geotab, said the addition gives fleet users another way to use data already being collected from connected vehicles.

"Geotab is focused on helping fleets operate safer and more efficient businesses through connected vehicle data," Kinsey said.

"By making CMT's solutions available through the Geotab Marketplace, fleets can now extend the value of their data into insurance programs - improving safety, reducing costs, and benefiting from more accurate, data-driven pricing," he added.