If you’ve looked at new car features recently, you’ve probably noticed something of a trend. Today’s vehicles come equipped with automatic parallel parking, lane assist, brake assist, and more. This move towards fully autonomous vehicles is one that has been a dream of automakers for decades, and it’s finally beginning to come true.

But from an insurance perspective, how do you write a policy to cover a car that drives itself? Read on to learn more about the autonomous vehicle future and how insurers can be prepared for it.

How Automated Are Cars? 

Before we dive into the considerations of insuring autonomous vehicles, let’s talk some about how automated these cars are. In general, autonomous vehicles get ranked on a scale of zero to five. A level zero car is one with no automation, such as the ones most of us drive around every day.

Level five cars are fully automated, but there are almost none of these vehicles on the road today. Even the cars we think of as driving themselves are likely level four. Level three cars that can drive themselves only under certain conditions are more common.

However, we are starting to see more level one and two automation. This can include things like adaptive cruise control, lane assist, and even steering assist.

Challenges of a Mixed-Mode Environment

One of the primary challenges vehicle automation is likely to face in the coming years is the mix of autonomous and manual cars on the road. If the roads are filled with autonomous vehicles, crashes are much less likely. These cars can communicate with each other and keep roads moving along with no problems. 

But when you throw humans into the equation, things start getting messy. Human drivers will make mistakes—they’ll go too fast, take turns too hard, and get distracted and fail to see the car in front of them has stopped. Autonomous vehicles will need to account for these dangers and be able to act in a way that keeps everyone on the road as safe as possible. 

Consider Reduced Arguments About Fault 

When you start thinking about insuring autonomous vehicles, one of the first things you’ll need to consider is how arguments over fault will change. Currently, when a driver gets into an accident, the police take statements from each driver about what happened in the accident. They assign fault based both on the evidence at the scene and the statements from each of the drivers. 

However, as often as not, these fault assignments are based on which driver tells a more convincing story. With autonomous cars showing up on the roads, these arguments will be much simpler and more accurate. The autonomous car or cars involved in the crash will record data about exactly what happened and will be able to assign fault accordingly. 

Prepare for Faster Claims Processing

This more efficient system for finding fault will help to speed up the entire claims process. In fact, the data from these autonomous vehicles could reduce claims processing times to a matter of minutes. Insurers need to start preparing to handle this increased efficiency today.

When an autonomous car gets into an accident, it can send a full report to the insurance company. This report, which can include information about damage and fault, can automatically get compared to the driver’s insurance policies. An automatic award calculation can be made, an agent can sign off on it, and the driver could have their claim settled before they ever get back on the road.

Set up Automated Repair Streamlining

The next step after a claim is settled is helping your customer get their car repaired and their mechanic paid. You won’t be surprised to learn that automated cars can help to speed this process along, too. However, this step will involve some work with your covered mechanics as well.

When the automated car sends that damage report to your company, you can have a system in place which automatically contacts the mechanic listed on that driver’s policy. This report can let them know what on the car was damaged and can even check inventory at the shop and order the needed replacement parts. However, setting up these systems with mechanics will require a good bit of coordination, so it’s best to start putting those in place now.

Set up Driverless Car Policies

With all of these changes to the ways car insurance works, it should come as no surprise that driverless cars may need entirely different insurance policies. These cars are not likely to cause accidents, but if they do, is it the driver’s fault? Your policies will need rewriting to clarify what sort of responsibility owners take for the “actions” of their autonomous vehicle.

As consumers become more informed, insurance policies must be clearer and more precise about what they cover. The recent FCA case verdict shows that customers have a right to understand exactly what their policies cover and what they don’t. Keep this in mind when writing your new policies.

Prepare for an Autonomous Vehicle Future 

Autonomous vehicles have been a dream of modern science for decades, and we’re starting to see that dream realised. But from an insurance perspective, we must completely change how we approach the question of covering an autonomous vehicle. Start working now to prepare your system to handle faster claims processing, more streamlined repairs, and specific driverless car policies.

If you’d like to discover more about the future of insurance, check out the rest of our site at Gallagher Basset. We guide, guard, and go beyond in protecting you and your business. Contact us today to see what the future of insurance could look like for you.