With repair costs on the rise, skilled labor in short supply, and nuclear verdicts increasing, commercial auto insurance is becoming more expensive and harder to manage. But proactive telematics use, data transparency, and better communication between fleets, brokers and insurers can help turn this around, panelists said at a session during Samsara’s user conference in San Diego, Calif.
“AI-powered telematics is a game changer, but it’s only as good as how we’re using it. This is not a set-and-forget-it type technology,” said Ashley Valour, auto product director for middle and large business at The Hartford. “If you’re not doing something with the data, if you’re not engaging with it, if you’re not coaching, it doesn’t matter…We’ve seen companies that have telematics and their losses don’t go down.”
In fact, Valour warned that failing to act on telematics insights can actually work against carriers in court. “If you have a record that you’re not doing anything with — that can actually really hurt you,” she said.
Rick Reinoehl, managing director and transportation practice lead at Marsh, agreed. Reflecting on his time as an independent consultant, he said, “First question [is] always, do you have cameras? Immediately. Because if they were calling, I knew that they weren’t executing what they thought was happening on camera.” He urged fleets to bring in outside auditors or to conduct internal reviews to validate safety processes, especially since plaintiff lawyers increasingly leverage fleet data in litigation.
The environment is more hostile than ever for fleets from a claims perspective, panelists agreed. Technology and labor pressures have increased the cost and time for repairs, while litigation funding and attorney advertising have helped drive nuclear verdicts — often based on risky driving behaviors that became more prevalent during the pandemic and haven’t yet returned to pre-Covid levels.
When used correctly, telematics and AI-powered dash cams can not only reduce claims costs but also help settle cases more quickly, panelists said.
“The game you are playing is actually trying to settle [with] the community person before they get a lawyer,” said Curtis Scott, head of strategy and industry verticals at Bolt, an insurance exchange that connects insurance buyers and sellers. “The second the lawyer shows up — and I am an ex-lawyer myself — the settlement values go up 30%, 50%, 60% immediately.”
Access to real-time video and data also helps insurers and brokers triage incidents, respond quickly, and potentially avoid litigation altogether. But only if fleets are willing to share that data early.
“Sometimes we see hesitancy… [Fleets] are like, ‘Oh, I don’t want my insurance to see that’,” said Valour. “That can actually be incredibly beneficial for us, because the earlier that we can have that information, it helps us to make a decision really quickly.”
From compliance to partnership
Telematics is no longer just a “nice to have”—it’s becoming table stakes for getting insured. “It’s at least a check-the-box. It’s the price of admission sometimes to get a quote,” Reinoehl said, noting that commercial auto insurance providers have been losing money for 14 years straight.
But beyond checking the box, panelists emphasized the importance of using telematics as a tool for engagement. “It’s not plug and play…for the most part, it needs to be tailored,” Reinoehl said. “You’ve got to have the right reporting to the C-suite from the beginning.” He says it is important to have a plan and know what numbers fleets we trying to improve, and how they are tracking it.
He also called for more sophisticated data presentations for underwriters. “You’re competing for the best insurance deal,” Reinoehl said. “You can really differentiate yourself by having very specific data that demonstrates the improvements.”
In Scott’s view, while insurance is all about math, it is also about trust. He urged fleets to be transparent and honest in their submissions. “It’s a partnership. If your [insurance] carrier trusts that you’re going to do what you say you’ll do — and you’re demonstrating it with data month over month — you’ll get a better result than if you’re just having an annual renewal discussion.”
Valour then shared one success story in which a customer with 800 vehicles saved more than $2 million in losses in the first year of using Samsara’s dual-camera AI dashcams. “It’s about what you do with the data and how you use it to coach drivers and improve behaviors,” she said.
When asked for one thing fleets should do today, Valour advised: “If you already have telematics, then I recommend sharing your data with your insurance carrier. I know that that can be daunting for a lot of folks, but that transparency and opening up that line of communication can really help you improve your relationship with your carrier, and they can help you get better. So that’s for customers who already have it. If you don’t have it, then I recommend getting it. We do recommend the dual AI video devices, but you can start small. If you need to start and build your way up, that’s okay.”
