Adrian Flux Insurance Services has introduced a new personal driverless car insurance policy in the UK.
The policy is available for consumers who already have driverless features in their existing cars such as self-parking, as well as for others who are planning to buy a new car with driverless or autopilot features.
It will be covered, if updates or security patches for things such as firewalls, operating systems, electronic mapping and journey planning systems are not installed in the vehicle within 24 hours of the owner being notified by the manufacturer or software provider.
The policy will also be covered, if there is satellite failure or breakdowns that affect the navigation systems, and when the manufacturer’s operating system or authorised software gets failed.
The policy is also applicable, when there is loss or damage caused by failing, and when able to use manual override to avoid a collision or accident in the event of operating system, navigation system or mechanical failure.
In addition, Adrian’s policy will be covered for loss or damage due to hacking of the car or an attempted hack results in loss or damage.
Adrian Flux general manager Gerry Bucke said: "As the UK continues to invest in driverless research in preparation for the growing market for autonomous vehicles in the near future, we wanted to help provide confidence and clarity around the ongoing debate of ‘who is liable?
"We understand this driverless policy to be the first of its kind in the UK – and possibly the world. It’s a fantastic starting point for the insurance industry and the policy, like any other, will be updated as both the liability debate and driverless technology evolve."
Currently, Google is investing millions of dollars to design and develop self-driving cars.
Image: Google self driving car at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, US. Photo: courtesy of Michael Shick.