Imagine a world where your car drives itself, you pay for mobility by the minute through an app, and your insurance premium is calculated in real-time based on your actual driving behavior. This future is closer than you think, and it's fundamentally reshaping the auto insurance landscape. New automotive technologies and concepts—from autonomous driving to innovative car-sharing models—present both significant opportunities and complex challenges for insurers. In an exclusive interview, Beatrice Jacobus, Director Sales B2B2C at Neodigital Versicherung AG, explains how these innovations will influence car insurance and the entire industry. For consumers, this means the way you buy, use, and pay for auto insurance is on the verge of a major transformation.
The Evolving Role of Traditional Car Insurance
With the rise of the sharing economy and mobility services like car-sharing and ride-hailing, a natural question arises: what happens to traditional car insurance? Jacobus acknowledges the shift in urban mobility policies but believes demand for personal auto insurance will remain strong, especially outside major metropolitan areas. "The need for personal mobility is growing," she states. "While attractive new mobility offerings have surged in cities, the car will remain crucial for the next 20 years, particularly in suburban and rural areas."
However, the customer's role is changing. Increasingly, the vehicle owner/holder is a company (like a car-sharing fleet operator), not a private individual. The driver/user will need to be "embedded" into the insurance coverage through additional services. Insurers must adapt to this changed customer behavior, observing market developments closely to offer solutions that cover all aspects of new mobility models.
Adapting to Automation and Autonomous Driving
While fully autonomous vehicles on German roads are still years away, highly automated systems are already here, with Mercedes-Benz and BMW receiving regulatory approvals. From an insurance perspective, the fundamental coverage provided by mandatory motor liability insurance (Kfz-Haftpflicht) remains unchanged—the policyholder is still protected, and third parties retain their direct claim against the insurer.
The critical new question is: who or what caused the accident? Was it conventional human error, a vehicle defect (faulty part or software), or an external source like a cyber-attack? This directly impacts an insurer's ability to seek recourse (Regress). "The insurer must be able to retroactively determine, without doubt, whether a human or the system was driving, if technical failures occurred, and the vehicle's precise location," Jacobus explains. This necessitates seamless data exchange between insurers and manufacturers, requiring unified standards on what data is relevant for claims. In preparation, Neodigital is already in close dialogue with automakers and has introduced a telematics-based insurance tariff, creating a valuable learning environment for handling the data deluge of true autonomous driving.
The Dawn of New Insurance and Pricing Models
The core question for any auto insurer is the development of claims costs and frequency. Jacobus is clear: "Other pricing models will replace the existing ones in both liability and comprehensive coverage." Data-driven models will emerge, focusing heavily on identifying the liable party in an accident and whether the insurer has recourse claims against, for example, the manufacturer.
While advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) are designed to make driving safer, they are expensive to repair and don't affect certain perils like glass breakage, hail, or animal damage. This complexity will be reflected in underwriting policies. The increasing use of telematics and data-driven technologies is already revolutionizing risk assessment and premium calculation.
| Driving Force of Change | Impact on Auto Insurance | Outcome for the Driver/User |
|---|---|---|
| Telematics & Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) | Enables real-time, behavior-based risk assessment. Premiums are influenced by actual driving data (time, route, style). | Potential for lower premiums for safe drivers. More personalized, fairer pricing. |
| Autonomous Driving & ADAS | Shifts liability question from driver to vehicle/system. Requires new data-sharing protocols with manufacturers. | Fundamental change in fault determination. Insurance may become more a product for the vehicle owner (OEM/fleet) than the individual. |
| Car-Sharing & Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) | Shifts policyholder from private individual to corporate fleet owner. Requires embedded insurance for the occasional driver. | Insurance bundled into the service fee. Need for seamless, app-based on-demand coverage verification. |
| Cyber Risks & Connected Cars | Introduces new liability exposures (e.g., hacked driving systems). Requires specialized cyber insurance components. | Potential new coverage needs. Highlights importance of vehicle software security. |
Insuring New Mobility Models and Cybersecurity
For companies operating mobility service fleets, integrated insurance solutions are needed that serve both the company as the owner and the individual user as the driver. A significant challenge is the partial anonymity of users in car-sharing models. Solutions involve embedding insurance offers (e.g., managing deductibles) directly into the app, requiring user identification before a trip begins. New models like car subscriptions (short-term leasing) also demand tailored, all-inclusive insurance packages.
Finally, the increasing connectivity of vehicles brings cybersecurity risks to the forefront. Attacks on assistance systems or electric vehicle charging infrastructure are conceivable threats. Jacobus notes that defending against cyber-attacks is a permanent challenge for all companies in the automotive value chain, implying that future auto policies may need to incorporate specific cyber protection elements.
For you, the driver or future user of mobility services, this evolution promises more personalized, usage-based premiums and convenient, embedded coverage. However, it also necessitates a greater understanding of data privacy, liability shifts in autonomous vehicles, and the terms of bundled insurance in subscription models. The auto insurance policy of tomorrow will be less about the vehicle you own and more about how, when, and how safely you move.