Toronto, Ontario — Following last week’s article on insurance amongst Taxi Drivers, a new partnership has developed to target this disproportionate elevation of insurance premiums amongst those working in the cab industry.
The Facility Association has partnered up with Foresight Insurance Analytics to launch a video telematics program to help taxi drivers improve–or simply prove the compliancy–of their driving habits and behaviours in order to lower insurance rates for high-risk drivers. In this context, it acts as the “insurer of last resort” for taxi drivers.
Facility Association is an organization that represents high-risk drivers not otherwise able to obtain insurance elsewhere.
Taxi drivers are required to have 24-hour commercial insurance which can cost up to $10,000 annually. This rate costs two to three times the amount of regular auto insurance within Canada, on average.
“We’re optimistic that there’s going to be a lot of uptake within the taxi industry,” says Derek Tupling, vice president of communications for FA.
“The program is an opportunity to earn your way back into the standard market by correcting poor driving habits.”
The technology provides a daily driving score through telematics devices which track typical risk-factor incidents. The incidents tracked include distracted driving, following too close, lane violations, hard or late braking, weaving between lanes, red-light violations and harsh turning.
Facility Association will only receive driver scores in the interest of privacy. Foresight Insurance Analytics handles the installation of devices and management of data.
The scores monitor driving habits in order to encourage improvement. With improved driving, taxi drivers can hope to return to the regular market of auto insurance.
The partnership and program is currently only in Ontario, but plans to expand to other provinces are in the works.
What do you think of this partnership? Does it actually benefit the majority of taxi drivers? Or does this solution only address a portion of the taxi insurance issue?
