Even Before Self-Driving Cars Hit The Road, Auto Insurance Faces Big Challenges

Let’s start with premiums. There are predictions for a decline of as much as 60 percent once self-driving cars become plentiful. But that’s not until after 2035, and the real question is, what happens in between? Just as with projections for a decline in accidents, we expect it to come gradually over time with the potential for significant volatility even if the overall trend is downward, reflecting the accumulation of experience with self-driving cars and autonomous functions and the changing mix of cars with varying degrees of autonomy. Celent projects a decline of as much as 22 percent in auto losses by 2030. Can premiums be far behind?