[Becoming an Insurance Insider] Autonomous Vehicle Insurance Emerges... Will AI Judge 'Driving Inexperience'?

Special Sales of Autonomous Vehicles for Business Use at the End of This Month

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] As autonomous vehicles, which operate on the road without any manipulation from drivers or passengers thanks to built-in systems, appear on the roads, dedicated insurance for autonomous vehicles will also be officially launched.

This insurance covers damages caused by traffic accidents occurring during autonomous driving. Since the current level of autonomous driving is still low, it is expected that this insurance will not differ significantly from existing automobile insurance.

According to the Financial Services Commission on the 20th, 12 domestic non-life insurance companies will start selling the "Special Clause for Business-use Autonomous Vehicles" from the end of this month.

The autonomous driving system is classified into six levels (Level 0 to 5) based on the level of driving control, with Levels 3 (conditional autonomous driving) to 5 (full autonomous driving) generally considered autonomous vehicles. The approximately 100 test autonomous vehicles currently in operation are eligible for this insurance.

Compensation will be provided first in the event of an autonomous vehicle accident, just as with general traffic accident handling, before determining liability.

First, the special clause outlines the principles for compensation in case of traffic accidents during autonomous driving mode. In the event of an accident, the insurance company will compensate first, and if there is a defect in the autonomous driving system, the insurance company will seek recourse from the vehicle manufacturer. In return, the clause specifies the insured autonomous vehicle owner's obligation to cooperate in investigating the cause of the accident.

In other words, victim relief will proceed first, followed by a sequential investigation into the cause of the accident. If it is concluded that the cause was a system malfunction or a defect in parts, the manufacturer will bear the insurance payout.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Compensation Also Covers Remote Hacking Incidents of Autonomous Vehicles

Unlike current automobile insurance, additional coverage is provided.

This includes accidents caused mainly by defects in the autonomous driving system or autonomous driving cooperation system during autonomous driving mode, accidents caused by remote access or intrusion into the system, and accidents where, based on a court's final judgment or accident investigation, the insured is recognized as having no legal liability for damages.

Also, considering the addition of new risk factors such as system defects or hacking, the insurance premium is expected to be set about 3.7% higher than the existing business-use automobile insurance premium.

However, since there are no statistics for calculating autonomous vehicle insurance rates, the rates for the existing test autonomous vehicle operation coverage special clause will be applied, and premiums will be adjusted upward or downward in the future as related statistics accumulate.

Furthermore, in the case of no-fault accidents caused by system defects, no premium surcharge will be applied in the following year.

The financial authorities plan to accumulate statistics through the operation of the business-use autonomous vehicle special insurance clause and, considering the trend of the release of 'Level 3' autonomous vehicles, aim to develop dedicated personal autonomous vehicle insurance within next year.