- Event
- ITC Vegas 2026 (InsureTech Connect), expo floor
- Venue
- Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Date
- Thursday, October 1, 2026
- Spoke with
- Devin McLaughlin, Vice-President, Insurance Product Marketing, MOTER Technologies
Key takeaways
- MOTER sits between carmakers and insurers. It turns the data a connected car already produces into something a claims or underwriting team can use.
- Vehicle sensor data can rebuild an accident down to the brake pressure, the steering angle and whether the wipers were on.
- Dashcam video adds the context a claim file often lacks, such as another car drifting into the lane.
- Consent is asked for every incident, not once. A yes after one accident does not open the data for the next one.
- MOTER says it does not hold the consumer’s data, and it believes clear consent from the driver should always come first.
What is MOTER Technologies?
MOTER works in the gap between the auto industry and the insurance industry. It was launched in 2021 by Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Services USA, part of Japan’s MS&AD insurance group, and is led by founder and CEO Kenji Fujii from its base in Torrance, California.
McLaughlin said the idea came from a simple gap. In Japan, carmakers and insurers are closely linked. In the U.S., the largest car market, that link does not exist in the same way. MOTER’s aim is to help carmakers build insurance into the ownership experience, keep a closer relationship with the driver after the sale, and use vehicle data to make roads safer.
The company has been busy. In January 2025, Sony Honda Mobility named MOTER as its partner to build insurance plans for its AFEELA cars in the U.S. And on September 28, 2026, just before ITC opened, MOTER announced more investment from ITOCHU.
How can car data rebuild a claim?
At the booth, McLaughlin played dashcam footage of a car leaving the road. On its own, the clip looks like a driver who was not paying attention. With the full picture, it tells a different story: another vehicle crossed into the lane, and the driver swerved to avoid it.
The car’s own sensors add the rest. MOTER can see how far the steering wheel moved, how much pressure went on the brake and the accelerator, and even whether the wipers were running, which hints at the weather at that moment. Put together, the data lets a claims team see the incident instead of guessing at it.
He summed up the value with one question every adjuster knows. With this data, he said, you can finally get the answer to whether the insured really struck a deer, “or did something else happen that we aren’t able to clarify?”
Do drivers and carriers actually want this?
On the carrier side, McLaughlin did not hesitate. “Carriers want as much data as they can possibly get. Full stop.”
Drivers are a different story. “There has to be a need and a positive outcome for them for sharing that data,” he said. That is why MOTER builds the request into the moment it matters most: the first notice of loss. A driver calls to report an accident. The adjuster sees the car has connected data and asks if the driver is willing to share it. Nothing is pulled automatically. MOTER and the carmaker first confirm the caller really owns the vehicle and can give consent.
Why ask for consent every time?
This was the part of the conversation that stood out most. McLaughlin said consent at MOTER is not a box ticked once. “There is an express consent for usage every single incident,” he said. If a driver agrees to share data after one accident, that does not give anyone access after the second, third or fourth.
He was clear about where the market is heading. Some states are taking a much firmer line on vehicle data. In his view, drivers should know from the start that their car collects data, and should give clear permission before it is used. He added that MOTER is not holding consumers’ data itself.
Asked which insurers use the platform today, McLaughlin said those names are under NDA, which is common for data partnerships at this stage.
Why it matters for insurers
Claims teams have always worked from memory, photos and the word of the people involved. Connected car data can replace guesswork with facts, cut down on disputes and help spot fraud. But the same data can just as quickly damage trust if drivers feel watched. MOTER’s answer, consent asked fresh for every incident, is a useful model for any carrier thinking about telematics, dashcams or other new data at claim time.
ZERO LEGACY, from Zero Legacy Press, makes a similar case about AI and data in insurance: speed and data only help if people can trust how decisions are made. As the book puts it, “opacity erodes the trust that is the product.” Read about the book
Who we spoke with
- Devin McLaughlin, Vice-President, Insurance Product Marketing, MOTER Technologies