CARFAX not only wants to help consumers find a vehicle that’s right for them. The vehicle history provider is aiming to be of aid to insurance companies thanks to a sharpened version of its offerings.

CARFAX highlighted this week that it now can help insurers more precisely identify a specific vehicle’s trim level and installed equipment, allowing them to more accurately underwrite and price auto policies.

As part of CARFAX vehicle history reports, insurers can now access information on more than 530 unique OEM vehicle attributes categorized into five segments, including:

— Safety and security
— HMI and infotainment
— Comfort and convenience
— Chassis and drivetrain
— Base vehicle characteristics.

CARFAX insisted this VIN-level information can give insurance carriers “unparalleled” insight into the factory and aftermarket equipment installed on a vehicle.

“Leveraging over 35 years of vehicle history data, insurers finally have the ability to actuarially evaluate and price for the unique equipment configuration on specific cars and trucks,” said Dan Hill, director of insurance underwriting at CARFAX.

“We’ve normalized the thousands of vehicle attributes and distilled them down into a consistent set of VIN-level attributes for ease of use,” Hill continued in a news release.

CARFAX explained a core segment of the VIN-level attributes data covers advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) that improve safety and security such as blind-spot monitoring and collision detection systems.

Additionally, CARFAX said it can identify a wide array of other equipment installed on a vehicle such as integrated apps or customizable instrumentation that could distract drivers. The presence of these infotainment options can impact safety as well as repair costs when the equipment is damaged in an accident.  

“Insurers know that ADAS has an impact on loss costs, but up until now, they didn’t have access to the data they needed to quantify that impact,” said Don Hendriks, chief actuary of the CARFAX Banking & Insurance Group.

“This CARFAX data allows them to integrate information about the vehicle from bumper to bumper into their rating plans, going well beyond ADAS information,” Hendriks continued. “Our analysis shows carriers are already benefitting from this data.”

CARFAX offers a vehicle insights program that can provide insurers with unique benchmarking information for improved underwriting and rating. Insurance companies now can evaluate CARFAX vehicle attribute data through this program to see the potential impact on their own portfolios.

To learn more about these tools, visit CarfaxForInsurers.com/insights.