Why it’s smart for this well-known insurer to share claims data with the government

Unknown accidents

Every year, thousands of minor collisions and bicycle accidents happen in Brabant that never reach the police or municipalities. Think of collisions in parking lots or minor collisions. Because emergency services are usually not called in, these incidents disappear from view. However, Interpolis has that information through claims and is now sharing it with the province: some 60,000 accidents from the past four years. The initial analysis shows that a large proportion of these were still unknown to municipalities and road managers.

Data-driven approach

With this data, the province can see exactly where improvements are needed – for example, at intersections, bicycle crossings or busy village streets. Thanks to this data, Brabant can see much better where things often go wrong on the road and do something about it before it really goes wrong. “Every accident on our Brabant roads is one too many,” says deputy Stijn Smeulders. “Thanks to this data, we can invest more specifically in safety at street level.”

Privacy first

The collaboration began with a simple question from Interpolis data consultant Twan Jansen: what actually happens to all those completed claim locations? His initiative grew into a project linking claims information with government data.

The data is completely anonymized and cannot be traced back to individuals. The province combines the data with information on traffic intensity and emergency service reports to arrive at real improvement plans. If the project proves successful, Interpolis and the province hope that more insurers will follow.

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