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By Miles[edit]

By Miles
IndustryInsurance
Founded2016
FounderJames Blackham, Callum Rimmer
Websitewww.bymiles.co.uk

By Miles is the UK’s first real-time pay-by-mile car insurance provider[1]. As of 2022, the company had insured a quarter of a billion miles of driving[2]. By Miles has attracted significant media coverage and won industry awards for its usage-based insurance pricing model.

Founding and early history[edit]

By Miles was founded by James Blackham and Callum Rimmer in 2016[3] and formally launched to the public in 2018[4]. The company was originally called Just Miles, however, after a legal challenge from a larger firm, the name was changed to By Miles[5].

Between 2018 and 2020, By Miles received over £22m of investment from venture capital investors including CommerzVentures, Octopus Ventures, JamJar Investments, InMotion Ventures (Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital fund), Insurtech Gateway and Hambro Perks[6].

In 2020, By Miles also became the first Insurtech in the UK to gain authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority to access Open Banking APIs[7].

Place within the car insurance landscape[edit]

By Miles is an example of usage-based insurance (UBI). As with other companies operating in this space, By Miles uses telematics to collect data on their customers’ driving which informs pricing. Whereas some usage-based insurance providers focus on the length of time a vehicle is used for, or how well data suggests it has been driven, By Miles only considers mileage[8].

This is a notable departure from industry norms. As Experian notes: "Annual mileage isn't necessarily a major consideration in setting insurance rates. In fact, policyholders driving 30,000 miles per year paid just 1% to 3% more on average than those driving 10,000 miles per year[9]."

The idea of mileage based-pricing is not new to car insurance. In the UK, Norwich Union (now Aviva) abandoned its mileage-based offering in 2008, as customers didn’t sign up at the rate the company had initially projected[10].

During the lockdowns caused by COVID-19, UK drivers drove significantly less than normal[11]. Only 21% of car insurance providers offered customers refunds or discounts on this basis[12]. The controversy around this matter[13] led to some favourable customer reception for the pay-by-mile model[14].The cost of living crisis seen in the UK since January 2022 has also led to a dip in car use[15].

Other services[edit]

In 2019, By Miles launched the world’s first ‘connected car’ policy, allowing for the real-time collection of data directly from a vehicle’s odometer without any extra hardware[16]. In 2022, By Miles expanded on this work with the launch of its By Miles Connect platform[17]. To date the platform is compatible with smart cars from ten manufacturers including Mercedes[18], Ford[19] and Tesla[20].

Forbes has noted that it is likely that in the near future liability for accidents caused by Level 5 automated cars will lie with the vehicle manufacturer rather than the owner[21]. Blackham has hinted that the By Miles Connect platform will at some point be used to collect real-time data around whether cars are being driven or are in a self-driving mode[22], and that this will become a factor in By Miles pricing[23].

Campaign work and research[edit]

Outside of the insurance space, By Miles has campaigned for the adoption of usage-based charges in other areas of driving, notably Vehicle Excise Duty (commonly referred to as road tax). ‘The Low Income Penalty’[24], a research report undertaken by the company in conjunction with The University of Manchester, found that under current laws low income drivers (who drive four times less than higher earners) are effectively paying triple the amount of road tax compared to wealthier road users.

Blackham was quoted in The Express as saying: “Flat rate car tax is not fit for purpose in a modern society. Motorists that understand the damaging effects of congestion and pollution should be rewarded for driving less[25]."

In 2017, By Miles began petitioning the UK Government to consider a switch to pay-by-mile road tax, also providing evidence[26] for a 2021 Parliamentary enquiry into road pricing[27]. The Government has since expressed interest in revising the way road tax is charged. In 2020 Rishi Sunak was quoted as being “very interested” in adopting usage-based road pricing[28].

Awards and recognition[edit]

By Miles has won various industry and business awards, including:

  • Insurtech of the Year, 2022 at the UK FinTech Awards[29].
  • Consumer Finance Product of the Year, 2022 at the FSTech Awards[30].
  • Car Insurance Provider of the Year at The Insurance Choice Awards in 2019, 2020 and 2021[31][32][33].
  • Best Insurance App at The Insurance Choice Awards in 2019 and 2020[34].
  • Modern Insurance Magazine Customer Service Excellence Awards in 2019[35] and 2020.
  • Insurance Times Claims Excellence Award 2019[36].
  • Plain English Award 2018 from the Plain English Campaign[37].
  1. ^ Elsom, Dan. "PAY AS YOU GO Pay-per-mile car insurance could save you HUNDREDS and mean you'll never need an annual premium again". The Sun. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  2. ^ Rimmer, Callum. "Buongiorno Italia!". By Miles. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  3. ^ "By Miles". Pagan Research. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  4. ^ Griffiths, Hugo. "UK's first pay-per-mile car insurance launches". Auto Express. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  5. ^ Hook, Lucy. "Pay-per-mile start-up Just Miles reveals name change ahead of launch". Insurance Business. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  6. ^ "By Miles - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding". Crunchbase. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  7. ^ "The open banking movement is one step closer to insurance as insurtech By Miles gains license". No. 8. Verdict Insurtech. February 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  8. ^ Milligan, Brian. "Car insurance: Why pay when you are not driving?". BBC News. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  9. ^ Axelton, Karen. "How Does Mileage Affect Car Insurance?". Experian. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  10. ^ Hughes, Kate. "Surveillance fears force Norwich to scrap 'pay as you drive' car policies". The Independent. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Road Traffic Statistics 1993 to 2020". Department for Transport. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  12. ^ Sobers, Dean. "Has COVID-19 left you paying for insurance you can't use?". Which?. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  13. ^ Jones, Harvey. "Backlash as car insurers 'rip off' motorists who stayed in for a year". The Express. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  14. ^ Hayward, Sue. "Your car in the Covid lockdown: how to save on insurance and more". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  15. ^ Cole, William. "Is Britain's fuel crisis causing a return to WFH? People say they are avoiding driving to work or taking their children to school as petrol prices hit a RECORD high – as rural home owners are hit by a spate of fuel thefts". Daily Mail.
  16. ^ Brusnahan, Patrick. "By Miles launches world-first connected car insurance policy". Life Insurance International. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  17. ^ "By Miles launches connected platform". Fintech Global. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  18. ^ "By Miles pay-by-mile car insurance: efficient hardware savings thanks to our API product". Mercedes-Benz. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  19. ^ "COMMUTING LESS? FORD TEAMS UP WITH PAY-AS-YOU-DRIVE CAR INSURANCE PROVIDER THAT COULD SAVE DRIVERS MONEY". Ford Media Center. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  20. ^ O'Hear, Steve. "By Miles, the UK pay-by-mile car insurance app, adds 'connected car' policy for Tesla drivers". TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  21. ^ Mills, Nelson. "Will Self-Driving Cars Disrupt The Insurance Industry?". Forbes. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  22. ^ "By Miles Connect platform officially launches". Insurtech Circle.
  23. ^ Burroughs, Callum. "Autonomous driving will force drastic change in the insurance industry. This startup is helping the likes of Mercedes Benz take on liability for its self-driving tech". Business Insider. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  24. ^ "The Low Income Penalty Report" (PDF). By Miles. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  25. ^ Chillingsworth, Luke. "New car tax proposals cannot 'ignore' drivers from low-income families". The Express. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  26. ^ Blackham, James. "Written evidence submitted by By Miles (EVP0073)". Parliament Committees. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  27. ^ "Zero emission vehicles and road pricing". Parliament Committees. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  28. ^ Sillars, James. "Rishi Sunak eyes 'pay-by-the-mile' road pricing scheme ahead of £40bn tax threat from electric vehicle drive - report". Sky News. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  29. ^ "CONGRATULATIONS TO EACH AND EVERY UK FINTECH AWARDS 2022 WINNER". UK Fintech Awards. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  30. ^ "FSTech Awards Winners". FSTech Awards. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  31. ^ "Startups 100 - 2020". Startups.co.uk. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  32. ^ Knight, Ciara. "We've been voted the UK's Best Car Insurance Provider two years in a row. How do we win it again?". By Miles. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  33. ^ "2021 Winners". Insurance Choice Awards. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  34. ^ "2020 Winners". Insurance Choice Awards. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  35. ^ "Car insurance with award-winning customer service". By Miles.
  36. ^ "Claims Awards 2019 winners revealed". Insurance Times. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  37. ^ "Plain English awards 2018". Plain English Campaign. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
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