Auto Insurance - Per Mile Policy

[espressoo]

Question for the masses.

Given a lot more people are working remotely and/or only use their vehicles for weekend driving it seems more auto insurance companies are offering a "per mile policy". After running the numbers with my agent, it's significantly cheaper ($200-300 per 6 months). The caveat is you have to install a OBD port reader so they track the vehicle telemetry and mileage. They claim it's only use for mileage tracking but I'm curious if anyone uses this type of auto policy on their performance vehicles and can chime in on their experiences (pros/cons)?

I read the user agreement and it's a bit concerning the data the 3rd party company who owns the OBD port reader is collecting and possibly sharing with your auto insurance provider. It's probably no different than what Tesla and other manufacturers can pull remotely but sharing it with the insurance company part has me concerned.

Is the cost savings worth giving up your privacy? The device has GPS so it knows where you're going, how fast and aggressive you're driving or braking.

[Jason60051]

It's not worth the savings to me…then again my auto insurance is cheap. I don't like the idea of plugging a 3rd party device into my vehicle to be tracked. I'm sure this is where things are going in the future but I'm not doing it yet.

[Darth One]

Oh hell no

[icegrill]

I was almost going to commit to this as well, until reading the tracking device clause. Total overreach in my opinion.

[Suds]

I would rather pay more than have my insurance company find out how I drive.
It is none of their business if I’m safe and not involved in accidents.

They would probably really love what type of data they would get back from a race track.

[N1rve]

I have "real mileage" discount on my car, but it's not an OBDII thing, it's an honor system where you report to your agent the mileage. Sometimes they mail me a form to sign and fill out.

Highly recommend not have someone track you. Especially when it's a GPS tracker that can detect your speed, rate of acceleration, etc. It's just...no don't do it. Your insurance company would be able to detect HOW you drive.

[Silverlining_m2]

I was offered a "safe driver" discount. I politely declined. No tracker directly from the insurance agency for me thanks.

[Taco_Bueno]

Not sure if it's the same but I used the safe driver tracker from progressive.

Had to leave it in my car for 3 months and drive so cautiously it almost made it more dangerous.

All that and I got a $12/mo savings. As I 25yo with a pretty rough driving history (college dumbassery) I had to give it a shot.

[White340]

Someone I know use one of these devices that could only lower their rates (that's what he was told). That person drives like a maniac so not sure what he was thinking when he agreed. Constant hard acceleration and braking, road rage etc. anyway coincidentally insurance rates went up like 15% the following year. No other tickets or accidents or claims during that time. His car was bought new and he had the same insurance company the whole time. The car was 7y old. I don't trust these companies for a second with devices like this.

[evoix]

Originally Posted by espressoo

Question for the masses.

Given a lot more people are working remotely and/or only use their vehicles for weekend driving it seems more auto insurance companies are offering a "per mile policy". After running the numbers with my agent, it's significantly cheaper ($200-300 per 6 months). The caveat is you have to install a OBD port reader so they track the vehicle telemetry and mileage. They claim it's only use for mileage tracking but I'm curious if anyone uses this type of auto policy on their performance vehicles and can chime in on their experiences (pros/cons)?

I read the user agreement and it's a bit concerning the data the 3rd party company who owns the OBD port reader is collecting and possibly sharing with your auto insurance provider. It's probably no different than what Tesla and other manufacturers can pull remotely but sharing it with the insurance company part has me concerned.

Is the cost savings worth giving up your privacy? The device has GPS so it knows where you're going, how fast and aggressive you're driving or braking.

I thought about doing this too. I wasn’t comfortable with info being recorded Bc going over 65 or 70 and hard Braking raises red flags. The insurance guy says it can’t be disconnected intermittently for any reason such as track days. If you have another car you don’t speed in I Would put the device in that one. Idk if the data could hurt you in the long run but not worth the risk imo

From what I heard bmw logs mph and such data that can be used against you as well for warranty claims but that’s another topic.

[NickyC]

Hell to the no.

[agentrnge]

Nope nope nope nope nope. I like the idea of a per mile charge. But only if it was based on sending photo of your odometer or something. Or a periodic / quarterly - plug and data read process. Nothing that stays in 24/7. Treat it like a gas or electric meter read. Thats the only way I would consider it. Never ever would I accept a 24/7 data logger that will tell me that "hard acceleration is unsafe" and "hard braking is unsafe" and "driving an M3 is unsafe"

[hC1001]

I did the progressive plug in thing in 3 cars at the same time. Got full 30% discount. Saved me a lot of money. Like $300 per car, per year.
I only had to drive easy for about a month and they told me to send it back. You just need to look ahead so you can prepare to stop. If the light is changing, dont hard stop, blow by the light if its changing instead of hard braking(if its safe).

Got the discount for 5 years but progressive have been raising premiums every 6 months. They were still the cheapest until this year. Geico turned out cheaper when reviewing car insurance this april so i switched to them.

You can also save money doing a 6hrs defensive driving online course depending on your state and insurance company. You can save about 10-15% and the course costs $20 and the certificate is valid for 4 years. Its not really 6hrs and they make you answer questions but they give you the answers if you get it wrong so you can blow by the course real quick. I think it took 40 mins for me...

[agentrnge]

"officer I needed to blow the light, to save money on my car insurance. Please understand I had no choice"

edit. jokes aside. Having it installed for a short period to sample your behavior is less intrusive than "as long as you are a customer" which is how I thought they worked.

[jlee403]

Keep in mind this data will never be used for anything like a speeding ticket. Most likely you'll be fine. BUT if you ever get into a large car accident where someone is potentially hurt I can guarantee the other insurance company can get their hands on that data through the courts and potentially fuck you. They'll paint you to be a street racer for hitting speeds over 80... which a modern prius can hit comfortably on the highway...

[espressoo]

The policy I'm referring to is Milewise from Allstate. Doesn't look like it's available nationwide but is in my state. Saving money sounds great but I've decided against enrolling in this policy due to similar concerns everyone seems to have.

From their site. It over simplifies what the actual user agreement says. I think the marketing team wrote this below but the legal team wrote the user agreement.

The Milewise device detects miles driven, speed, time of day, specific driving events (like sudden braking) and location. This info is used to calculate your trip costs and provide personalized feedback you can view online and in the app.

[agentrnge]

So how tricky would it be to rig a car OBD simulator to feed in super gentle never over 0.05 g of fake driving data with gps coordinates of 15 mph school zones. not condoning insurance fraud at all, just thinking out loud.

[RickFLM4]

Do they have a way to know when it’s unplugged and the car is being driven?