According to a recent International Underwriting Association (IUA) survey on emerging technologies, autonomous ships and drones face less barriers to adoption than driverless cars.
IUA conducted a survey, using a series of questions focusing on three key technologies:
- Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones;
- Autonomous vehicle;
- Autonomous vessels.
The survey attempted to evaluate market expectations and concerns regarding future coverage for each transportation method.
Respondents said that they are concerned about the lack of relevant infrastructures for autonomous means of transport, as well as cost, technological capability, public perception and regulation.
Nevertheless, all three types of vehicle are expected to be in widely used within 10 years by more than 80% of practitioners.
Regarding autonomous vessels, they could represent a significant potential growth area, with a quarter of the companies stating that they are considering launching a product in this field.
Nonetheless, currently drones are the most widely used.
Continuing, when asked about the reason that would prevent them from providing an insurance for autonomous vehicles, the lack of historic data and insufficient expertise were cited as more significant reasons.
Moreover, collision was considered as the most significant risk across the three industries, while patent / copyright risk was the lowest.
Daniel Fletcher, Technology Practice Manager at Chubb Europe and Chairman of the DTMG, stated:
Insurance companies are embracing new technologies and developing broad, wide-reaching cover for a range of different risks. The expansion of such products generally mirrors the rate of development for the technologies themselves.
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