FAQ for auto insurance carriers
Arity and Experian® partnership overview
What are Experian and Arity offering together?
Experian and Arity are creating a new way for consumers to understand their driving information and choose whether to use it when shopping for auto insurance.
Through Experian and their 90M+ membership base, eligible consumers can access their Arity® Driving Report* that provides a view of their driving behavior and related insights. The report is provided for informational and educational purposes.
If a consumer chooses to use eligible driving information when shopping for auto insurance and provides the required consent, a participating carrier can request its licensed Arity IQ℠ score or selected driving behavior attributes. The carrier may then evaluate that information within its approved quoting and underwriting processes.
The information available to a carrier may differ from the educational score or information the consumer sees in the Arity Driving Report. Each carrier determines which permitted Arity IQ output it uses and how it is evaluated within its approved processes.
* Your Arity Driving Report is for informational purposes only and is not a credit score. Sharing it will not impact your credit scores. Insurance carriers may use your driving data along with other underwriting factors when determining quotes, which may be lower, unchanged, or higher.
Why does consumer choice and consent matter?
Allowing consumers to review their Arity Driving Report before deciding whether to use eligible driving information when shopping for auto insurance creates a more transparent experience.
If the consumer chooses to proceed and provides the required consent, a participating carrier can request its licensed Arity IQ score or selected driving behavior attributes. This gives consumers greater visibility and control while enabling participating carriers to consider additional driving information during the quote process.
The information a carrier receives, or uses may differ from the educational driving score or information displayed in the consumer’s Arity Driving Report.
What opportunity does the experience create for participating carriers?
When eligible driving information is available and a consumer chooses to use it while shopping for insurance, participating carriers can request their licensed Arity IQ score or selected driving behavior attributes during the quote process.
This can provide carriers with additional visibility into driving risk before making a new-business decision. Each carrier determines whether and how the information is incorporated into its approved quoting, underwriting, and pricing processes.
Experian supports the consumer education and insurance shopping experience. Arity IQ provides the eligible driving insights licensed by the carrier, and the carrier remains responsible for how the information is evaluated and applied.
How is this different from a traditional telematics program?
Traditional telematics programs commonly begin collecting driving data after a consumer becomes a policyholder. The Experian + Arity experience can make qualifying driving information available to participating carriers during the quote process, if the consumer chooses to use the information and provides the required consent.
This may give carriers additional visibility into driving risk before a policy is written. The initial experience focuses on eligible consumers who already have qualifying driving information available.
The carrier opportunity
How can a carrier participate?
Carriers interested in participating should contact their Arity or Experian representative to discuss available Arity IQ outputs, implementation requirements, testing options, and onboarding steps.
Participation requirements may vary based on the carrier’s intended use case and implementation approach.
What can participating carriers receive?
Depending on the carrier’s agreement, licensed output and approved use, a participating carrier may receive:
- An indication of whether qualifying Arity IQ information is available
- The carrier’s licensed Arity IQ Drivesight® score
- Selected driving behavior attributes
The carrier determines which permitted output supports its underwriting approach and how that information is evaluated within its approved processes.
The carrier’s Arity IQ score, attributes or evaluation may differ from the educational driving score or information the consumer sees in the Arity Driving Report.
What decisions can the information support?
Arity IQ may be used as an additional input within a carrier’s approved underwriting process. Depending on the carrier’s approved use, this may include pricing, rating, eligibility, qualification, and other underwriting decisions. Each carrier determines whether and how the insight is used and remains solely responsible for its insurance decisions.
Does Experian make the insurance decision?
No. Experian provides the consumer-facing auto insurance shopping experience. Arity IQ provides eligible driving behavior insights, and the carrier makes the decision using its own rules and approved processes.
Does this require the carrier to launch a standalone app or telematics program?
No standalone carrier app is required. Experian provides the consumer-facing experience where eligible consumers can review their driving information for informational purposes, and then if eligible consumers opt to do so, provide consent, and shop for auto insurance.
Participating carriers can access consumer-consented insights within the quote flow without creating their own consumer consent experience.
Can the experience support both web and mobile insurance shopping?
Yes. Arity and Experian designed the experience to support a connected journey across Experian’s web and mobile platforms. Specific functionality and availability may vary by platform and implementation.
Consumer experience and consent
How does the consumer experience work?
At a high level:
- The consumer learns how driving behavior may relate to insurance.
- An eligible consumer accesses an Arity Driving Report through Experian.
- The consumer reviews the Arity® Driving Score and the behaviors represented, which are graded as great, good, or poor to help the consumer understand how they compare with an average driver.
- The consumer chooses whether to use eligible driving information while shopping for insurance and provides the required consent.
- If the consumer proceeds, a participating carrier may request its licensed Arity IQ score or selected driving behavior attributes and evaluate that information within its approved quote process.
Is consumer consent required?
Yes. The required consumer consent must be obtained before eligible driving information is made available to a participating carrier for the quote experience.
Consumers can review their Arity® Driving Report before deciding whether to use eligible driving information when shopping for auto insurance. Experian provides the standardized consumer experience through which the required consent is presented and captured. Carrier participation remains subject to the applicable agreements, approved use, and implementation requirements.
What happens if the consumer does not consent?
If the consumer does not consent, the carrier does not receive the consumer’s driving information for that quote. The consumer may continue through the standard insurance shopping experience.
Does simply viewing an Arity Driving Score change the consumer’s premium?
No. Viewing an Arity Driving Score* through Experian does not automatically affect the consumer’s premium. If the consumer chooses to use eligible driving information while shopping for auto insurance and provides the required consent, a participating carrier may consider its licensed Arity IQ score or selected driving behavior attributes alongside other approved factors when providing a quote.
The Arity Driving Report is provided for informational and educational purposes. The driving score and information displayed in the report may differ from the Arity IQ score, driving behavior attributes or other information a participating carrier uses for underwriting, pricing, rating, eligibility or other insurance decisions. The report may not include all information available in a full driving report.
* Your Arity Driving Score is a numerical measure of driving risk and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not a credit score, and sharing it will not impact your credit scores. Your driving score reflects your driving habits over time and is not based on one or two isolated events.
Data and analytics
Where does the driving information come from?
Arity receives driving data from participating mobile apps, connected vehicle programs, and other approved data sources where consumers have provided the appropriate permissions. The availability and source of driving information vary by consumer.
What driving behaviors may be represented?
Depending on the selected Arity IQ output and available information, the insight may reflect behaviors such as:
- Speeding
- Sudden or hard braking
- Phone use while driving
- Time of day
- Driving environment
- Mileage and usage patterns
The carrier can evaluate a consumer’s driving score or applicable driving attributes based on its program design and approvals.
Is the Arity Driving Score the same as a credit score?
No. The Arity Driving Score is based on driving behavior, while a credit score is based on credit history and borrowing behavior. They are separate scores based on different information. Viewing an Arity Driving Score does not affect a consumer’s credit score or credit report.
What if a consumer does not already have qualifying driving history?
If qualifying driving history is available and the consumer provides consent, Arity IQ can make the applicable driving score or driving behavior attributes available to the carrier.
If qualifying driving history is not available, Arity IQ will not return a driving score or applicable driving behavior attributes for that transaction. The carrier can continue its standard quote and underwriting process.
Arity and Experian continue to develop new capabilities that can help more consumers establish qualifying driving history over time.
Implementation
How does Arity IQ connect to the carrier’s quote process?
At a high level:
- An eligible consumer accesses an Arity Driving Report through Experian.
- The consumer chooses whether to use eligible driving information while shopping for auto insurance and provides the required consent.
- The participating carrier checks whether qualifying Arity IQ information is available.
- The carrier requests its licensed Arity IQ score or selected driving behavior attributes, which may vary from the educational driving score or information displayed in the consumer’s Arity Driving Report.
- The carrier applies its approved logic and returns its offer through the Experian experience.
Experian provides the standardized consumer experience through which consent is presented and captured. The carrier’s agreement and implementation plan define the remaining integration sequence, permitted use, and responsibilities.
What does a carrier need to decide before implementation?
The carrier will need to align on three primary areas:
- Insight: Which permitted Arity IQ score or driving attributes it will request.
- Integration: How data availability, precheck, and the Arity IQ request will connect with the carrier’s quote journey and the Experian experience.
- Application: How the insight will be evaluated within the carrier’s approved underwriting process including applicable pricing, underwriting, eligibility, or qualification decisions.
The carrier’s legal, product, actuarial, digital, and technical teams should review the proposed experience before activation.
Can a carrier test the opportunity before full implementation?
Yes. Evaluation options may be available based on the carrier’s objectives and intended use. Arity and Experian can work with the carrier to determine the appropriate scope, data requirements, commercial terms and agreements.
Who should a carrier contact to learn more?
Contact your Arity or Experian representative to discuss participation, available Arity IQ outputs, evaluation options, and implementation requirements.