The CO2 emissions caused by vehicle registration may drop by half after November, as a new vehicle registration option becomes available to customers. In the future, insurance companies’ systems will enable the simultaneous registration and insuring of vehicles. The Federation of Finnish Financial Services (FFI), The Finnish Motor Insurers’ Centre (LVK), and the Finnish Transport Safety Agency Trafi have together made a commitment to sustainable development. The aim of the commitment is to promote the new registration method and to reduce the carbon footprint of registration.
The objective of the commitment to sustainable development is to determine the emission reduction targets of electronic registration together with the sustainability consultancy Natural Interest. The shrinking carbon footprint and other benefits gained from the use of the electronic registration will be monitored for a period of four years. The progress of the commitment is measured through several indicators.
The Finnish law requires that the new owner of a vehicle must take out statutory motor liability insurance and register the vehicle to the Vehicle Register maintained by Trafi. The insurance can be taken out through an insurance company’s online service, but registration currently requires a visit to a registration office. Many offices already provide both registration and insurance services, but still use insurers’ and Trafi’s systems side by side.
Vehicle registration will not be limited by time or location
With the new electronic method, vehicle registration will be possible regardless of time or location. A paper registration certificate will no longer be needed. The impact of this change will be noticeable, because more than 2.2 million registration notifications are made each year.
”Customer experience and quality of service will improve”, says Esa Aaltonen, Development Manager at Trafi. According to Aaltonen, the e-service and the new operating model will also be cost-effective.
Electronic registration will not do away with the possibility of personal service: insurance providers, car dealerships, inspection sites and other similar locations authorised by Trafi will continue to accept and process registration notifications in the same way as before.
”A vehicle must have a valid motor liability insurance before it can be registered. Practically all registration notifications contain information that is also in the vehicle’s insurance policy and has an effect on the insurance”, says Timo Tuominen, Development Manager at the FFI.
Liaison Officer Lauri Linna from the LVK states that combining insuring and registration into one process will definitely streamline existing operating models. ”From the insurers’ perspective, the amount of manual work will decrease and cost-efficiency increase, which will also have direct results in the climate impact of our operations”, Linna adds.
E-service will streamline the process
The new operating model reduces the costs of registration, the amount of paper and scanned documents, and the volumes of printing and mailing. Productivity will grow as a result of simpler guidelines and automated processes. A customer who needs registration services can also use the online service instead of having to travel to the office.
”A significant part of the total emissions of registration comes from the personal transport of customers, so we wanted to include it in the consideration. We hope our project will inspire the entire sector to develop their services in a more climate friendly direction”, Esa Aaltonen says.
LVK and Trafi will launch their customer communications on the new electronic registration closer to November, when the new model is to be implemented.
Towards a carbon neutral society
The Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development is responsible for adapting sustainable development goals into Finland’s national policies. The social commitment framework encourages public administration, companies, organisations and private citizens to make a commitment to promoting sustainable development in their own work. The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra hosts an expert panel which provides scientific support to the Commission. Commitment to sustainable development is made on the basis of individual specialisations.
The objectives of the commitment consist of concrete measures, changes to operating policies, and innovative experiments that promote the mutually agreed aims. The general secretariat of the Commission on Sustainable Development collects all the commitment objectives and supports their progress for example by bringing different participants together. The commitments are publicly available.
In line with the sustainable development objectives set by the government, the commitment signed by the Federation of Finnish Financial Services, the Finnish Motor Insurers’ Centre, and the Finnish Transport Safety Agency Trafi emphasises wise, sustainable use of resources to move the society towards carbon neutrality.
Read more:
Motor Insurers’ Centre LVK
Finnish Transport Safey Agency Trafi
Ministry of the Environment: Social commitment to sustainable development
LVK
Lauri Linna, Liaison Officer, tel. +358 40 450 4591
Trafi
Esa Aaltonen, Development Manager, tel. +358 29 5347 132
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