Introduction of driverless vehicles: implications for insurers

The Automated Vehicles Act (“AVA“) received Royal Assent in May 2024 and builds upon the foundation of the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018 (“AEVA“). The AEVA first established default liability to insurers for accidents involving automated vehicles, included a legal definition of ‘self-driving vehicle’ and required the Secretary of State to maintain a list of vehicles which meet that definition. While the existing listing regime will be replaced by authorisation records under the AVA, the civil liability provisions – the mechanism by which insurers are directly liable to injured parties – will remain. However, the full regulatory framework of the AVA, which includes the authorisation of self-driving entities, mandatory data-sharing obligations for insurers and the in-use regulatory regime, will not be in place until sometime in 2027.

In the meantime, autonomous driving technology company Waymo has announced plans to launch a pilot robotaxi service in London, with a full commercial service potentially operational as early as September 2026. This regulatory gap will create some uncertainty for insurers regarding how claims arising from trial vehicle accidents will be pursued.

This gap raises practical questions for the existing claims infrastructure. Autonomous vehicle claims are likely to involve multiple potential defendants, multi-policy exposure across auto and product liability coverage, and technical investigations into vehicle data (such as speed, braking patterns and sensor inputs). The government has indicated that it will consider whether further guidance on trialling and early deployment should be published, and is liaising with stakeholders on the issue, but as it stands no insurance-specific guidance is available. With automated vehicle trials imminent, clarity on liability allocation, data disclosure and general claims handling during the pre-implementation stage would be a welcome step for insurers.