Ford Partnership with Nationwide Insurance
Ford announced this week that it would partner with Nationwide Insurance to offer Ford Insure and Lincoln Motor Company Insure to Ford #Connectedcar customers. This is a very good use of the connected car technology that Ford is rapidly rolling out to all of its cars and trucks. The service features easy enrollment via the FordPass or Lincoln Way apps, and provides the prospect of saving customers up to 40% on their insurance by demonstrating their safe driving. But Ford will likely find that the solution falls short for its customers in several ways.
Customer Experience Gaps
Following are some gaps in the offering that Ford will likely hear about from its customers:
Limits on Customer Choice
Nationwide is a leading insurance provider with a very strong brand and reputation. But there may be many reasons why Ford or Lincoln customers won’t want to switch to a new insurance carrier. Customers may have well-established relationships with other carriers that will keep them from switching. A better offering would allow Ford and Lincoln customers to take their connected car data to the insurance carrier of the customer’s choice.
Limits on Customer Control over Driving Data
This program requires the customer to enter into an insurance contract before knowing what his or her driving data looks like, and how it will affect insurance rates. Savings, if any, won’t be applied until the customer renews the initial policy. The customer doesn’t know ahead of time whether he or she will be likely to save. A better approach would be for Ford to give customers their driving data and help the customer understand whether the data is likely to lead to savings on insurance. The customer should have this data before deciding whether to share it with an insurance company.