One term of growing importance is ‘contemporaneous data’.
What is contemporaneous data?
The dictionary definition of contemporaneous is ‘existing at or occurring in the same period of time’ and this, in relation to credit hire and specifically basic hire rate (BHR) data, is of paramount importance to the use of BHR data to argue credit hire claims.
In the context of BHR evidence, ‘contemporaneous’ describes evidence captured either at the point that the index incident occurs (contemporaneously) or at the point at which the evidence is requested (non-contemporaneously). Due to the lifecycles involved in the settlement of claims, you can obtain non-contemporaneous BHR data months or even years after the incident, and this immediately allows the claimants’ representatives to challenge the validity of the evidence produced.
How do you collect contemporaneous data?
BHR providers, such as Arbitrate and credit hire organisations (CHOs), have collected data from rental companies’ websites for many years. These rental companies are primarily the large mainstream rental providers found in most towns and cities across the UK.
Data capture robots routinely trawl the internet and replicate the process of a consumer using the website to book a replacement vehicle. By matching this approach, as a data robot goes through this process, it captures screenshots (grabs) of the website and stores these images in secure servers for use at a later date. When relevant search criteria are provided, the results are returned along with the associated captured screenshots to support the collation of the evidence, which populates into a user-friendly report.
How do you use contemporaneous data?
Historically, claimants have provided many reasons in rebuttal statements to persuade a presiding judge that the BHR evidence was unsuitable for the matter at hand.
The core issue regarding the base validity of the data now often comes down to when BHR rates were obtained about the indexed incident.
The requirement, therefore, is to have contemporaneous data in as many cases as possible, which minimises the opportunity for the claimant and/or their representatives to challenge the validity of the rate given in evidence.
Where the data provided in evidence is non-contemporaneous, the claimant, CHO or representative can raise doubt in the judge’s mind that the evidence is unsuitable. This often hinges on the availability of the vehicle in question, as rental providers bring new vehicles to the rental market, as well as the variations seen throughout any given calendar year regarding the changing trajectory of BHR – whether these variations are a result of seasonality, national events or even local ones. CHOs and representatives then seek to commission their own rates evidence to counter the evidence provided. As such, a judge is often left with a decision to make on a topic in which they may have limited prior insight. With CHOs also operating in this sphere, some may have access to contemporaneous data. This will often be the preferred source if available compared to non-contemporaneous data.
Where contemporaneous data is used, given that the rate is generally obtained in the locality of the claimant or within a reasonable distance, and is gathered at the time of the incident, then there is less opportunity to raise doubt in the mind of the presiding judge. Therefore, this approach is preferable as it reduces the opportunity for challenge and allows a judge to rely firmly upon the evidence.
Choosing a BHR provider
For insurers, the decision of supplier is often based on a provider’s ability to provide contemporaneous data when providing BHR and comes down to:
- which provider(s) can offer the widest range of vehicles
- which provider(s) can cover the largest geography
- which provider(s) can cover the relevant period over which credit hire claims remain within work in progress
- which provider(s) can defend the evidence submitted, if required, against rebuttal and potential cross-examination.
In light of the current economic circumstances, the decision also depends on which provider(s) offers value in delivering all of these factors.
Why choose Arbitrate?
Arbitrate can deliver all these factors and offers insurers the certainty to defend credit hire claims using BHR evidence. We operate against a distinct mission statement:
Any vehicle. Any postcode. Any day.
Since 2018, Arbitrate has collected over 120 million rows of data, with 27 data robots adding circa 100,000 rows of data daily to our database. Arbitrate’s data robots collect rental information across most of the ABI GTA listed vehicle groups and we have recently expanded our offering to incorporate dual-controlled, motorcycle and some taxi groupings, offering what we believe to be the largest range of vehicles covered by contemporaneous data in the market.
While many of our competitors are comfortable only capturing information from the top-tier national rental providers, we have committed to a technology strategy to deliver circa 100 additional data capture robots that seek to increase both vehicle range and geography by incorporating smaller national rental providers as well as local reputable suppliers into our database.
In doing so, we continually invest in our technology to offer the most comprehensive service. With any investment, this leads to increased costs. However, our Arbitrate Direct self-service platform currently runs as a without-charge benefit to partners who seek access to the most comprehensive BHR data set in the market, and our report pricing remains highly competitive compared to other providers in the market.
Alongside investing in our technology, we also invest considerable time in our report writers to support them in providing evidence and potentially in a court setting. While the frequency of attendance at a court hearing is minimal, occurring in less than one per cent of all Arbitrate court report instructions received, we appreciate the importance of having reliable evidence and reliable and credible report writers who can testify to the same effect. As such, we ensure that alongside a credible quality assurance programme, we prepare our staff to provide a complete solution for all eventualities.
So, if you are an insurer or defendant practitioner, you can deliver meaningful indemnity savings to your bottom line by using contemporaneous data and Arbitrate to challenge credit hire invoices.