Usage-based insurance tech provider Octo Telematics will acquire the telematics assets of Willis Towers Watson, the companies announced.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the companies did say that certain Willis Towers Watson employees associated with the telematics unit will join Octo. These include Geoff Werner, global telematics leader, who accompanies the UBI scoring and distributiona product he developed, DriveAbility, to its new home.
The firms also will enter a strategic alliance following the deal close, which will "focus on further development of algorithms and other analytical tools to provide actionable intelligence based on accurate analysis of data." That alliance will be run by an advisory board with Werner, and two Willis Towers Watson employees.
“Insurance telematics is evolving far beyond the simple black box hardware. With ever-increasing data volumes being measured and recorded, the tools being used to analyse it and provide accurate driving behaviour information to insurers must develop at a similar pace. It makes sense to join forces with Willis Towers Watson to pool resources and lead on further developing telematics propositions," says Fabio Sbianchi, CEO, Octo Telematics. "Together, we can extend our geographical reach and leverage our respective established networks to maintain a leading position in enabling consumers and insurers to gain the maximum benefit from accurate telematics data.”
Alice Underwood, Global Leader, Insurance Consulting and Technology, Willis Towers Watson added that the company looks "forward to continuing to drive and improve the application of telematics and telematics data into an increasingly connected society.”
"Analysing data for insurers and constantly improving our offer in this area will be the focus of our partnership with Octo," she says."
