Insurers trawl big data for clues

London: It is the unlikely question that could save your life. Next time a colleague offers you a lift home, ask him if he paid his electricity bill on time.

His insurer will already know the answer. The industry has started quietly trawling customers’ finances and other sources of “big data” after proving that those who are careful with their cash have fewer car crashes.

The correlation is so strong that Lloyds Banking Group has begun offering prudent account holders savings of as much as 20 per cent on their car insurance premiums.

Lloyds’ insurance arm Scottish Widows has not established why consumers who stay within overdraft limits or avoid bounced debit card payments have fewer accidents, but insiders suggest the thrifty tend to be more responsible in other areas of their life.

The development shows how access to big data is revolutionising the insurance industry. Companies are accessing a wide range of information on everything from financial probity to shopping habits to determine the risk premium for individual customers.

Tesco, which tracks consumer behaviour through its Clubcard loyalty scheme, offers those it deems less risky based on their shopping habits discounts of as much as 40 per cent on home and car insurance.

Aviva has calculated the optimal distance from the street at which a property is least likely to be burgled: not too secluded nor too exposed. Executives at Aviva’s Canadian business have established that houses within a radius of a few hundred metres from cinemas are more likely to be vandalised.

“This is not just a backroom theoretical exercise,” said Maurice Tulloch, who runs Aviva’s UK’s general insurance business. “If our analyst finds something new on a Monday, that can be live and impacting our prices on the Tuesday.”

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, said: “The winners in the insurance market will be the ones that have got the data insights that others don’t have. It could be supermarkets, banks or social media companies.”

Insurers say they use such personal data to offer some consumers cheaper policies, not to penalise those they deem riskier.

Yet the big data trend ultimately means some policyholders will pay more than others. Brokers say the main reason flood insurance is increasingly unaffordable for some is not climate change but because insurers know more about the risks posed by particular properties.

Emma Carr, acting director of Big Brother Watch, said of the use of sensitive data by insurers: “Despite this being within the law, the way many companies go about doing this is underhand and goes far beyond what customers would expect them to do with their data.”

She called on companies to give consumers the option to opt in to such analysis, rather than merely allowing them to opt out.

— Financial Times