Products and Services for a Safe and Secure Mobility Society

Safe Driving Support Using Digital Technology

Developing telematics insurance and services

Sompo Japan has been engaged in research and development aimed at supporting safe driving and reducing insurance premiums for drivers through the use of telematics technology. Our product line-up currently includes "Driving! "^*1, "SOMPO Drive", and "Smiling Road"^*2.
Launched in April 2023, "SOMPO Drive" is a free driving assessment smartphone app for individuals that enables customers to receive a "safe driving discount" of up to 20% off their insurance premiums based on their safe driving score. Sompo Japan is the only company that performs safe driving assessments on a smartphone app and offers premium discounts based on the assessment results to customers purchasing voluntary automobile insurance for the first time.^*3

With telematics insurance, we aim to create an accident-free society by providing satisfactory insurance premiums while encouraging customers to drive safely.

1. "Driving! " is the name of the service attached to the "Rider on Notice of Accident by Drive Recorder".
2. Refers to a service for businesses designed to prevent accidents by using a drive recorder. The service was launched in March 2015 as the first telematics service in the property and casualty insurance industry and the drive recorder service was renewed in July 2022.
3. According to a survey by Sompo Japan (as of March 2023)

Safe Driving Support Service “Driving!” for Individual drivers

While the number of road traffic accidents has continued to fall in recent years following improvements in the safety performance of automobiles, the accident rate among both elderly and young drivers remains high, and it is essential for drivers themselves to take safety measures.
Sompo Japan believes that its mission as a P&C insurance company is to prevent customers from feeling alone when involved in an accident and to reduce the number of car accidents that could have been prevented. In March 2017, the company started to provide “Driving!,” a telematics-based service that uses a driving recorder (dashboard camera).
From January 2018, in an effort to improve convenience and accessibility to more customers, the company started to offer the service as a rider for automobile insurance so that it can be used at the same time as applying for automobile insurance. In September 2021, the company updated the driving recorders.
“Driving!” offers driver peace of mind while driving using a dedicated driving recorder with a telecommunications function that supports safe driving, as well as safe driving assessments after driving to help users maintain their driving skills. By using the telecommunications feature to enable users to directly connect to an insurance company, the company can provide an accident reporting service that utilizes the driving recorder’s impact detection function and ALSOK Kaketsuke Anshin Service, an accident-scene callout service offered in collaboration with Sohgo Security Services Co., Ltd. (ALSOK). Sompo Japan is the first major P&C insurance company in Japan to collaborate with ALSOK in providing this service. In this way, the company provides customers with total support for peace of mind and safety when driving.

Sompo Japan will continue to leverage digital technology to provide all drivers with even greater peace of mind and safety, and contribute to achieving an accident-free society.

“SMILING ROAD” safety driving support service for companies and individual proprietors

Sompo Japan lends drive recorders with communication functions to corporations and individual business owners. It offers “SMILING ROAD,” a safe-driving support service that uses advanced technology to analyze driving data obtained from the drive recorders. Specifically, the three functions of “see,” “understand,” and “praise” provide feedback on safe-driving diagnoses, dangerous driving, and other information to the safe-driving manager’s PC and the driver’s smartphone, thereby helping to raise driver awareness of safe driving and provide efficient guidance to the safe driving manager.

In the event of an accident, the drive recorder’s communication function can detect the impact and notify the administrator of the vehicle’s location and other information to enable an immediate grasp of the accident situation, prompt notification of the accident to our company, and rapid resolution of the accident.

ALSOK Reliable Accident Site Support Service

Sompo Direct Insurance (Former Saison Automobile and Fire Insurance) took on board customer feedback from market research and launched a project that creates new values such as “visible & touchable,” “enjoyable driving,” and “accident prevention” that were previously lacking from the automobile insurance. ALSOK Reliable Accident Site Support Service, which the company first offered in April 2016, has been well received by customers, with a service satisfaction rate of 91.8% in fiscal 2022.

Joint research realizes the concept of “Human Health Checkup for Driving”

Sompo Japan has entered a joint research agreement with AI Driving Instructor Co., Ltd. to develop a new solution based on data-driven driving evaluations to address transportation issues, such as the increasing number of elderly drivers and “paper drivers,” the driver shortage, and the increasing number of people with reduced mobility.

In recent years, legal measures have been implemented to address the increase in traffic accidents caused by elderly drivers. However, to prevent traffic accidents not only for elderly drivers but also for a wide range of others, it is important for drivers to understand the state of their own cognitive functions and driving skills and to provide efficient and personalized training.

To resolve these issues, Sompo Japan (which provides safe driving support services using telematics technology) and AI Driving Instructor (which aims to provide higher-quality driving education using autonomous driving technology and AI) will share their data and expertise. Through this, the two companies aim to develop highly accurate driving diagnosis methods and effective training methods that lead to behavioral change.

Insurance Products for Automated Driving Vehicles

Development of Automated Driving Insurance (Tailor-made for Pilot Tests) Services

Automated driving is expected to solve social issues, including reducing traffic accidents and the impact on the environment. Many pilot tests have been conducted jointly by industry, government, and academia to examine both technical development and social acceptability.

Using the long-accumulated insurance design know-how, Sompo Japan has developed and now offers an automated driving insurance (tailor-made for pilot tests) that covers a wide range of risks during automated driving pilot tests.

The product incorporates automated driving insurance that comprehensively compensates for various risks relating to automated driving, risk consulting by Sompo Risk Management, and a dedicated service that supports pleasant automated driving by analyzing driving data using the latest IoT technologies.

As an example, vehicle developers who provide automated driving technology may be obligated to compensate for damages in the event of a system malfunction or other problem. However, not only does it take time to identify the cause of the malfunction, but developers will be likely to hesitate to promote such development if they have to bear indemnity risks.
To ensure that automated driving technology can be developed without having to worry about such issues, Sompo Japan now offers a new Additional Rider for Insured Parties Such as Automated Vehicle Developers, which eliminates the need to discuss the division of fault among vehicle developers, and does not seek compensation from developers insured under the rider. Through these initiatives, the company aims to solve issues faced by businesses that has adopted automated driving.

Launch of New Protection for Automated Driving Vehicles

The automated driving technology currently in practical use is a driving support technology that assumes a human driver is driving the vehicle, and that the driver assumes liability in principle for accidents. Because of this, the likelihood of a human driver not being liable for compensation for damage under the law is low at present, and in the majority of cases, it is possible to provide insurance payments using current bodily injury liability insurance and property damage liability insurance. However, due to diversified risks resulting from the high pace of recent technological developments and increase in cyber-attacks, Sompo Japan anticipates cases in which it is unclear whether a human driver is liable for damages and cases that will take time to settle.

For such cases they have newly added an special endorsement of the injured (provided for all customers) that pays insurance payments even when there is no liability for compensation on the part of the human driver, so as to continue to provide peace of mind to customers who use automobiles fitted with automated driving technology^* and connected-cars, and ensure prompt injured party relief and early amicable accident settlement.
They have revised their no-fault accident provision (provided for all customers of vehicle insurance) to ensure there is no impact on customers’ ongoing automobile insurance policy rating as a result of accidents due to system defects or unauthorized access by a third party in which there is no negligence on the part of the customer.

• Vehicles in which the system simultaneously carries out multiple operations relating to the vehicle’s accelerator, brakes, and steering wheel that have already been introduced onto the market by automobile manufacturers.

Business Tie-up and Capital Tie-up with Tier IV to Jointly Develop Level IV Discovery

On February 15, 2019, Sompo Japan signed a business partnership agreement with Tier IV, a company that develops automated driving systems, and Aisan Technology, a company with high precision 3D mapping and drive simulation technologies.

The introduction of automated driving services requires a long preparation period and high costs, and involves many issues including technology development, the accumulation of expertise, and risk analysis.

By combining our big data with the expertise relating to the latest automated driving technologies accumulated by our two partner companies, we will work together to develop Level IV Discovery, an insurtech solution to systematic, safe, and secure pilot testing for local governments and transportation operators who are considering introducing automated driving services.

In December 2019, Sompo Japan opened a secretariat to organize a Level IV Discovery Symposium in Aichi Prefecture in February 2020 and to propose solutions to local governments throughout Japan.

In July 2019, Sompo Japan signed a capital tie-up agreement with Tier IV, a company with advanced automated driving technology. In August 2020, it became an affiliate of SOMPO Holdings.

To date, Sompo Japan has been researching the role it should play as a P&C insurance company to ensure that automated driving technology, which is expected to solve social issues such as a lack of means of transportation and driver shortages in underpopulated areas, is introduced into society in a safe and secure manner. By entering into this capital tie-up agreement and making Tier IV an affiliate company, Sompo Japan intends to accelerate its research and to develop new insurance products and services that make full use of technology, thereby contributing to the realization of a safe and secure automated driving systems in society.

Solutions for the social implementation of automated driving services Launch of SOMPO ALCS^*1

Together with Sompo Risk Management, Sompo Business Solutions, and Prime Assistance, Sompo Japan launched SOMPO ALCS, a packaged solution to support local governments and transportation operators, in April 2024.

By utilizing the knowledge gained from the demonstration experiments^*2 to date, we will provide comprehensive support from the planning stage before the start of automated driving with our Group companies until after-sales service following the start of automated driving. This will help to resolve issues associated with implementing automated driving services, such as who and how to respond to problems in the event of an accident and how to secure a factory that can service automated driving vehicles. As a result, we will support the implementation of safe and secure automated driving services.

1. ALCS stands for Autonomous Level 4 Comprehensive Support.
2. Sompo Japan has participated in more than 120 demonstration tests. It has provided Level IV Discovery, an InsurTech solution that packages Automated Driving Risk Assessment, Connected Support Center, and Dedicated Insurance for Automated Driving (for demonstration tests). We are also supporting the safe and secure introduction of automated driving.