Does your insurance company monitor your driving?
Typically, your driving history is the primary way for insurance companies to learn what kind of driver you are. But circumstances change–and so do our driving habits. When a company is able to track your driving behavior (with a tracker known officially as a “vehicle telematics device”), they have access to information such as your commute and observation of road rules and can use those factors to determine how much your premium will be.
This type of plan, called “usage based car insurance,” is growing in popularity, and for good reason! Depending on your insurance company and your personal driving habits, your premium could go down by as much as 40%. Some companies use a base price plus a per-mile rate, which may be beneficial to low-mileage drivers.
Are there any risks?
On the other end of the spectrum, risky drivers may want to avoid driving behavior monitoring (or better yet, start practicing safer driving), as their prices could go up. That’s right–these devices catch the good and the bad, in hopes that this will encourage better driving and make auto insurance pricing fairer. Not every company enforces penalties for bad driving, however, so it’s important to ask about. If they do raise premiums for bad driving, make sure to get all the details, such as which behaviors (speeding, slamming your brakes, etc.) can cause your rate to go up.
The other trade-off for agreeing to allow your insurance company to monitor your driving behaviors is relinquishing a bit of privacy. These monitors show them how fast–and where–you go. These details reveal a lot about who you are and what you enjoy, so if this is a concern, we advise reaching out to ask the company how the information they receive will be used.
What companies offer low prices for good drivers?
Here are a few companies that offer this benefit:
- Snapshot by Progressive
- SmartRide by Nationwide
- Drive Safe & Save by State Farm
- Drivewise by Allstate
- RightTrack by Liberty Mutual and Safeco
- OnTrack by Grange
- Safety 360 by State Auto
- IntelliDrive by Travelers
If your insurance company doesn’t offer this benefit, you might want to consider shopping around to see who does. Checking out your options doesn’t cost a thing, and our Zander Guides are here to help you every step of the way. Our team is familiar not only with safe driving discounts, but also has access to competitive pricing that saves our average customer $600 a year. That’s the Zander Way.