The vehicle subscription industry is no longer just an exciting concept. It has matured to where it is now an increasingly proven model. At least that is the view of Clutch Technologies president Vince Zappa. Clutch is an automotive software platform that offers vehicle subscription and mobility services.

Zappa said in a news release that new research proves his point about the maturation of the industry. Clutch Technologies, along with mobility and data analytics company, Arity, announced what it says is the first major piece of empirical research regarding driver risk profiles and insurance claims for consumers using vehicle subscription services. 

The research shows that when subscribers joined the subscription service, their risk profiles showed similar distributions to those seen in traditional personal automotive insurance. In addition, the subscribers performed similarly to initial risk estimates once they joined the service.

The research also shows that traditional screening and risk measurement models from personal auto insurance are adequate to gauge the risk profile of car subscription drivers.

Clutch has long believed that driving risk does not change when a consumer moves from owning to subscribing, Zappa said. The research confirms that belief, he added.

“Arity has helped us validate that our technology can help our automotive customers acquire the subscribers that they want to target,” he said.

For the study, during the initial subscription registration process, Clutch applied screening technologies to identify each consumer’s estimated driving risk. Arity and Clutch then studied how predictions of risk compared to actual performance for these drivers using the subscription service. Clutch used Arity's proprietary model, Arity PreQual, to score 1,456 Clutch drivers across 228,000 driving days of data.

Clutch noted that since it began using PreQual as a major input of its risk management technology, Clutch’s car subscription providers have reduced premiums up to 20 percent year over year.

Clutch's and Arity's analysis of how Clutch’s actual claims compared to the predictions of Arity's model provided data that automotive insurance companies can review as more car subscription services enter the market.

Clutch's screening technology combines identity verification, motor vehicle records, Arity's PreQual scoring of driver risk, and other behavioral data that can predict risk, and companies can use the data to acquire an attractive subscriber base, according to a news release. The research showed the type of screening and risk evaluation technologies that are useful for vehicle subscription providers.

Senior vice president of Arity Data Science Grady Irey noted that the study’s findings could be “a first step and catalyst” to connect more mobility providers with insurance carriers. It will help increase the confidence of those parties that their drivers will operate the vehicles safely, Irey added.

Clutch continues using Arity PreQual in its screening process and is studying how to further study driver risk profiles with Arity. Clutch is also working with large insurance carriers to bring products to market to support its dealer and OEM customers.