Serial entrepreneur Mark Robinson is poised to launch his latest technology venture named Jolt, on his home turf, Dorset.
Mark explains, “Bournemouth and the surrounding area is the perfect location for this start –up, the town has become a major digital hub next to London and all the technology and digital credentials to support first to market propositions.
We aim to open offices here for our ten staff and will be looking to recruit up to fifty additional staff in the near future and then move up another gear within a 12 months period of growth. We will work with the local colleges and university to attract graduates as they have an excellent reputation with digital, design and technology.
The next few months will be particularly challenging as we move this business out of our Lake District R&D centre into an operational environment. In addition to finding accommodation we need to recruit and train our team. We are particularly keen to hear from; IT Systems Engineers, Software Developers, App Developers, Data Processers, Accounts Staff and Administrators”.
The team behind Jolt has a long history of developing disruptive first-to-market technologies, most of which include the core elements of this proposition, these include surveillance camera used in jets and drones, stereoscopic imaging for target alignment and a 3D imaging systems (google street view for rail operators).
In recent years insurance companies have experienced an epidemic in fraudulent motor insurance claims, Jolt which is to be launched this October is all set to turn the tide and ultimately reduce driver premiums. Jolt is a revolutionary new platform for motor claims that harnesses the power of an individuals’ Smartphone. The platform will not only significantly reduce insurance fraud, but speed up insurance claims, and administration costs whilst reducing driver frustration. The system represents an earnest attempt address the insurance fraud epidemic putting Insurance companies back in to the driver’s seat.
The Jolt proposition uses innovative software and algorithms which are subject to a series of patent applications to gather the maximum amount of data at the time of a road traffic collision.
Jolt was developed as a universal platform open to all Smartphone users, Insurers, by next year it will also be available to car manufacturers as they move towards installing in car cameras at the point of assembly. The use of a single platform will reduce costs for the motor insurance industry, including finally being able to address the epidemic in unsubstantive and fraudulent claims, by providing completed accident claims quickly and effectively.
“What we’ve developed is a complete platform that harnesses the technology in drivers’ Smartphones which uses bespoke software designed to run on any device,” says Robinson. “Following a collision, algorithms and bespoke software turn the data into a format that is sent immediately to Jolt HQ and auto-populates the insurance claim form. This includes the actual video of the incident and supporting data such as collision impact speed, the trajectory and movement of a vehicle post impact, but also third party details such as witness statements, and audio recordings of conversations with third parties along with a suite of other information”
The driver element, the Jolt app, can be downloaded for free onto any Smartphone, removing the cost barrier to market. The driver simply selects the app, inputs their unique insurance policy number, presses activate and places the Smartphone into the windscreen mount. The app does not require additional storage space. This data is then sent team at Jolt HQ and compiled into a package of information that allows insurance partners to see who is at fault. Algorithms and bespoke software turn the data into a format that auto-populates the insurance claim form. The claim is with the insurance company within minutes of the collision.
All the data collected is backed up to ensure it is secure and each participating insurer is given an integrated management portal. The app also has the capability to notify emergency services of their location within moments of an accident.
More about the Motor Insurance Industry
The UK motor insurance sector made a £53m underwriting loss in 2013 and insurers paid out £17.1m per day in private car claims for a total of almost 3 million claims. The average cost for such claims – settled for private car insurance -was £2,767, although the average claim for bodily injury was much higher at £11,292 (ABI)
Staged accidents including ‘cash for crash’ & ‘flash for cash’ scams are now commonplace, there has also been a rise in the number of drivers exaggerating claims or even pretending to have been injured following a bona fide incident. A combination of factors including the challenging economic climate, increases in the costs associated with owning and running a car, the fact is many people see making false claims as a victimless crime and a lack of effective evidence is helping to drive up the number of cases of insurance fraud. In turn, this is now pushing up the cost of premiums for the majority of honest consumers, according to the industry. It is said that more than £2.1bn of undetected insurance fraud is committed every year (Jones, 2014).
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) believe whiplash claims in isolation cost the sector over two billion pounds per annum, at least 50% of these are thought to be fraudulent. Bodily injury claims accounted for 47% of total cost of settled claims in Q1 2015 but only 9% of total number of claims. This is over double the amount paid for vehicle repairs which stood at 22% of total claim payments.
