QBE is urging more widespread use of dash-cams to make claims processing faster, fairer and more cost-effective.

The insurer and road safety charity Brake want businesses and motorists to follow a lead set by New Zealand, where dash-cam usage has been embraced and is proving useful in police and insurance investigations.

“Footage has been particularly useful in situations where liability is unclear or disputed and in cases where a vehicle was unattended,” New Zealand and Pacific Chief Customer Officer Andrew Corbett said.

Dash-cams record the environment in front of drivers. Some – most commonly installed in commercial fleets – also incorporate an inward-facing camera that tracks driver eye movements and head angle to alert drivers if they seem tired or distracted.

This helps to keep drivers alert, deter use of smartphones and ensure they are paying attention to the road.

QBE New Zealand does not reduce premiums if vehicles are fitted with dash-cam or telematics devices, although some customers have reaped financial benefits from using dash-cams to provide liability evidence, a spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“QBE continues to explore telematics, leveraging information from a number of trials, including one conducted by our European operations’ motor fleet business, and is committed to understanding the full potential of the technology and how it can be better leveraged to benefit our customers,” the spokesman says.

Last year 377 people were killed on New Zealand’s roads, while the social cost of crashes is put at $NZ4.8 billion ($4.54 billion) each year.