In theory, smart home sensors could benefit policyholders and insurers. But what are the actual benefits and are they worthwhile? Roost , the home telematics provider is on a mission to find out. The company announced today that USAA has joined its Home Telematics Program (HTP) in partnership with Willis Towers Watson, to apply advanced analytics to reveal meaningful insights regarding the effect of home telematics on loss mitigation and member engagement. Limited to 10 P&C insurers in the US, each program member will receive 7,000 Roost Home Protection Kits that include water leak sensors and smart-battery kits, providing a “fast and highly cost-effective way to validate the value of home telematics.” The findings will include anonymous data from up to 70,000 households with Roost devices as well as a control group of up to 70,000 households without telematic devices. “The HTP offers an industry group of 5-10 carriers an accelerated way to gain improved insight into home telematics and the related data. We are excited to have USAA, a pillar of the US insurance industry, join the HTP as an early participant. By combining the data of all HTP participants, we will achieve statistically significant insights regarding the impact of smart sensor devices in homes. In addition, carriers will learn best practices for policyholder outreach and deployment of smart home devices, which are low cost, easy to install, work with existing Wi-Fi, and show great consumer value by alerting homeowners of water or fire dangers through our smartphone app.” – CEO of Roost, Roel Peeters. “Roost has been operating in the IoT and home telematics space for some time. Roost understands we are always looking for new ways to reach our members and deliver trusted insurance products that make for a lifelong relationship. The HTP offers a fantastic opportunity to deepen our insights and expand understanding of our members’ needs.” – AVP, product development and innovation, USAA, Jon-Michael Kowall.
Telematics provider Roost has added USAA and Willis Towers Watson (WTW) to its Home Telematics Program to analyse the effect of home telematics on mitigating losses and engaging members. The programme will distribute 7,000 Roost Home Protection Kits to each of the 10 US property and casualty insurers involved. Anonymous data will be collected from up to 70,000 households equipped with the telematics kits, and compared against a control group of 70,000 homes without the devices.