Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets have become a common tool for both personal uses as well as business applications. Mobile devices are used in many ways in addition to their traditional role as a communication device, such as for performing shopping transactions, mapping destinations, measuring health parameters, and recording images. The data gathered during usage of a mobile device can be used for analysis purposes, such as for tracking fitness, most frequently visited locations, consumer preferences, and the like.
Automobile insurance is an area in which telematics from mobile devices can be useful. For example, a mobile device can be used to provide information on the number of trips and miles traveled, and then a generating a score for insurance underwriting purposes, based on the data. In another example, a mobile device may be fixed into a vehicle, and driver operation characteristics such as location data, vehicle speed, acceleration can be gathered and utilized by an insurance company.
As mobile devices become more widespread in use, there continue to be further opportunities to utilize these devices as valuable tools in insurance and other areas.