Direct Line: innovating InsurTech

At the conference I attended the other day, one speaker highlighted some InsurTech I’d not seen before but thought pretty cool. It’s a prototype service from Direct Line called Fleetlights.

Fleetlights is an army of drones that light up the night skies and are designed to help people in difficult conditions, such as in a dangerous road situation or in search and rescue.

Two examples that Direct Line cite where they are testing the technologies is in Petworth – home to one of the most dangerous roads in the UK. Here’s the idea:

The insurer had the idea to solve the issue of darkness affecting communities across the UK, as part of a series of experiments to improve the everyday lives of people. People can order a drone using their phone to light the path for their journey home, and the drones arrive using GPS to locate the user’s position from their smartphone via a bespoke app. Eaach drone is fitted with two high-efficiency lightning units.

In another trial use case, Direct Line gave a fleet of drones to the Caister Lifeboat Association to help them with search and rescue at sea. In this case, the drones have been additionally fitted with cameras to provide an eye in the sky.

A neat and innovative use of technology by an insurer known for shaking up the UK insurance industry. They were the first to offer insurance through a call centre, and have continued to show differential thinking. Neat.