Autonomous car insurance to be available soon

Hyundai Motor's Xcient truck installed with autonomous technology. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Insurance products for partially autonomous vehicles will be introduced within weeks.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said Thursday that 12 insurers in Korea will offer new insurance products for autonomous vehicles used for business purposes by the end of September.

Insurance programs have been developed for self-driving cars before, but only for those used for test purposes. This is the first time insurance products will be sold for autonomous cars that run on public roads.

The FSC said it was important to develop the program so that risk can be properly assigned if an accident occurs.

Vehicles are graded Level 0 through 5 for their degree of autonomy, with Level 5 indicating that the car can drive without any human input.

The soon-to-be-introduced insurance program will include a clause that mandates insurers to compensate first and then seek compensation from the manufacturer if the car or its systems are found to be at fault. The policy will require that the driver cooperate in any investigation.

As autonomous cars may be vulnerable to system errors or hacking, the premiums will be 3.7 percent higher than for other policies. No discounts for accident-free years will be given.

The FSC said it will continue to monitor the automotive industry and collect data in order to introduce an insurance program for self-driving vehicles that are not for business purposes.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]