South African insurer rewards good drivers

South African insurer rewards good drivers

South African insurer, Discovery, has created a new business unit called Discovery Insure to offer rewarding products in the country's R50 billion short-term insurance market, starting by using 'driving intelligence' metrics to reward good drivers with fuel rewards.

The company's motor insurance clients can use the new VitalityDrive rewards programme to earn up to 40% of their monthly fuel spending back, based on good driving behaviour, thanks to a partnership with the BP fuel network.

VitalityDrive is an incentive-based programme that gives its members rewards for improving their driving habits, thanks to DQ-Track vehicle telematics technology combined with proprietary algorithms that produce a scientific measure of driver behaviour called the Driver Quotient (DQ). VitalityDrive simply measures the Driver Quotient based on the number of DQ Points earned.

By activating the VitalityDrive option, clients can earn immediate rewards on their BP fuel spending. In addition, completing an Annual MultiPoint Check at Tiger Wheel & Tyre provides an extra chance to boost fuel rewards. At the same time, existing DiscoveryCard users can also reap additional rewards, and the overall maximum reward available is 40% of monthly fuel spending with BP.

Clients also have access to several features and tools to improve vehicle and passenger safety, such as stolen vehicle recovery, at no additional cost. DQ-Track also integrates with Discovery Health's emergency response services to provide an automated emergency response, and the VitalityDrive Vehicle Protector reduces the risk of vehicle theft by providing immediate alerts and notifications if the vehicle battery is tampered with or if the vehicle is moved without going through the normal ignition procedure.

According to South African customer loyalty expert, Deon Olivier of Woodstock Loyalty, this new approach to rewarding motor insurance customers is highly innovative and is likely to be popular with clients.

The VitalityDrive option is available to those Discovery Insure policyholders who have taken out a comprehensive motor insurance policy and costs only R49 (approx. US$7.20) per month, for which members are issued with a VitalityDrive Card.

The company has undertaking some fairly aggressive trademarking, including:

• VitalityDrive - the better you drive, the higher your status, the greater your rewards.  
• DriverQuotient/DQ - which measures how well you drive using DQ-Track technology.  
• DQ-Track - a telematics device which measures driving performance and gives real-time feedback, and scores it, offered by Digicore's C-Track.  
• DQ Points - which are earned for responsible driving, as well as for vehicle 'roadworthy status' (annual check-ups done at Tiger Wheel and Tyre centres).

Members earn DQ Points based on the way in which they drive, and also for routine assessments, which in turn define their status for the following month. There are four levels of status, each with a defined threshold:

• Base = 0 DQPoints;
• Neutral = 300 DQPoints;
• Engaged = 600 DQPoints;
• Advanced = 1,000 DQPoints.

DQPoints are relatively easy to earn enough. For example:

• Driver performance score (maximum of 750 Points) is calculated by DQ-Track;  
• Vehicle service done annually: 50 Points per month - carried for a full year;  
• MultiPoint check up done annually: 200 Points per month - carried for a full year;  
• Online questionnaire done quarterly: 75 Points per month - carried for the next quarter;  
• Online driver safety review done quarterly: 75 Points per month - carried for a full year;  
• Advanced driving course done every second year: 100 Points - carried for the next 2 years.

Members have access to rewards based on their current status, with the primary benefit being BP Fuel Rewards (upon producing a VitalityDrive Card), at the following rates:

• 10% cash back if paying cash or any payment card (i.e. other than a DiscoveryCard);  
• 25% cash back if paying cash or any payment card and an Annual MultiPoint check has been done;  
• 40% cash back if paying with a DiscoveryCard and an Annual MultiPoint check has been done.

To calculate how much cash back is earned for each fuel purchase, the fuel bill is capped at the Rand equivalent of the member's current DQPoint balance, and then the relevant percentage is applied to the resulting total amount. Standard DiscoveryCard limits apply (i.e. maximum discountable spend at partner stores is limited to 30% of the total DiscoveryCard spend in each statement period, with total cash back being calculated on a limit of R10,000 spent at all DiscoveryCard partner stores).

As an alternative to cash back, members can double their fuel rewards (up to 80% maximum) by transferring their rewards to their Excess Funder Account. Members can also boost their cash back rewards with DiscoveryCard partners, with the percentage 'boost' being a function of the member's VitalityDrive status, as follows:

• Base = 0%;
• Neutral = 5%;
• Engaged = 7.5%;
• Advanced = 15%.

DiscoveryCard partners currently include: Altech Autopage Cellular; Altech Netstar; Cape Union Mart; Exclusive Books; Frasers; @Home; Apple iStore; Look & Listen; Nando's; The Pro Shop; Reggie's; Stuttafords; TotalSports and ToysRUs.

Members can also boost their instant discount rewards by getting up to an extra 15% off at Discovery Vitality's travel partners, including Europcar, British Airways (local), Kulula.com, and SouthernSun, on the following scale:

• Base = 0%;
• Neutral = 5%;
• Engaged = 7.5%;
• Advanced = 15%.

For additional information: ·  Visit Discovery at http://www.discovery.co.za ·  Visit Woodstock Loyalty at http://www.woodstockloyalty.co.za