https://www.allstate.com/drive-wise.aspx

Recently, some insurance companies have come up with programs that use a tracking-app to keep track of the number of miles you drive and/or other factors that could affect your premiums. If you sign up for them and agree to them, you could get some discounts you wouldn't otherwise be getting.

The traditional argument against these, of course, is that it compromises one's freedom and privacy....and, if companies could afford to send out discounts/refunds, then the policies were probably overpriced to begin with. Perhaps, perhaps not....those are complex issues that not only are not going to be settled by simple posts on a forum, but also, in some cases, could involve political matters that the moderators don't want us discussing. So, I won't get into those.

I have GEICO Insurance, which as of now, does not offer that specific program, but does offer a lot of regular discounts and very low rates to start with...I have been very pleased with them over many years, and still am. My brother has Allstate, which does offer that program...it gives you a flat $75 to sign up for it, and then pays you according to how good your driving-habits are, and how clean you keep your nose, legally. It monitors your acceleration / braking (jack-rabbit starts and panic-braking can cost you, although, if you had to make a quick stop to avoid a child, deer, collision, etc..... (or, if the vehicle's automatic-braking system does it for you), Allstate allows you to explain the circumstances and will remove the infraction if you have an otherwise good record. He told me just this evening that Allstate informed him he has (roughly) an additional $125 check on the way, and is continuing to earn money back....that's more than a $200 refund so far, although I forgot to ask him the amount of time this was for.

Can't say it will work out for everyone (my brother, like me, is a conservative driver, and generally doesn't go into seedy or high-risk areas)...but it's certainly working out for him, and probably would for a lot of other people as well. I like that Allstate program myself, but I also like the conditions I currently have from GEICO (they have low prices to start with, and don't need refunds)...and I'm on GEICO's Policy-For-Life customer-list....they cannot drop me for any reason, as long as premiums are paid (I have that in writing). In other words, I have a policy for the rest of my driving life, even if I goof up and get tickets or have an accident.

 

Yeah I'm not going to have big brother track my every move, I feel like getting in the car, the freedom of driving wherever you want, that's a unique part of the American experience. Sometimes I just go on pointless drives into the countryside, sometimes rather briskly, sometimes not, just depending on my mood. Sometimes late at night when there isn't any traffic, I will get on the interstate and give the car the good old "Italian tuneup" if you get my gist. I occasionally drive aggressively, but not in town/in traffic, I just go with the flow 99% of the time. I feel like my rate would be jacked by those 50-100 or so miles a month where I "let loose"

 

If they tracked my driving, they'd triple my premiums. Haha

 

I had Allstate for like 15-16 years and recently moved to Progressive and saved...wait for it...$1,700 a year. No, thats not a typo. My premium went down from $3,500 to $1,800. So I could have traded having Allstate track me for $200, big whop lol.

Worst part, my agent for whom I stayed at Allstate for so long knowing I could save money also writes for Progressive. In all the conversations he and I had about trying to get the premium down he never suggested pricing out Progressive.

"If you explain your braking to Allstate they will remove the infraction"...lol no thanks. Just find an insurer that will give you better rates than Allstate.

 

it has been offered by various insurance companies for a long time. maybe they do with a phone app now, but it's been done with an obdii port plug in widget. i had it, i think it was with progressive, before, but dumped it because it's too stupid. no matter how carefully i drove, it should 'dangerous braking' or 'aggressive drivng' or some other nonsense in their stats. part of it is because if someone pulls out in front of you and you hit the brakes, their system is too stupid to know it wasn't your fault you had to brake, they just think you're an aggressive driver. as for accelerating, sometimes you can't even get onto a crowded highway without accelerating briskly, and again, they treat that as bad driving. i think the only way one could get a good score would be to drive in circles on a deserted area.

i couldn't care less about the location tracking, but i have no interest in that feature/app. but you got me thinking, maybe if i just have the progressive app on my phone now it's tracking me... hmmmm. i just uninstalled it.

(re: bold) how gracious of them. um, no thanks.

allstate is the WORST for home, car, etc.

 

Yep, been available for quite awhile now. Monitoring is down by a dongle that plugs into the OBD port. My OBD Port is occupied on both my truck and car by this;


I use it to read supplemental gauges on my phone

Lou

 

At least here, Progressive is not known for being the best at paying claims. In 2019 we saved a combined $2000 (home, cars, and umbrella) by switching from Nationwide to Erie, dropping our combined annual cost from $4700 to $2700. And this was after I'd been with Nationwide for almost 50 years and they are headquartered here.

Of course your agent never priced out Progressive as reduced premiums equals reduced income!

 

I think Progressive will be at least as good as Allstate. I have a good Progressive agent, he was actually my Allstate agent originally and he sold his agency and now is back in the business as an independent agent.

Erie is excellent, the guy who ran into my LS had Erie and they were really fantastic.

Cost him my business though, he knew I was unhappy with the cost...

 

That's one reason (among many) why I like GEICO. They don't have agents, don't pay them, and can use that money instead to help keep premiums down.


Flo might not agree with that (just kidding)

 

Costs him even more income when he loses a client altogether for the sake of trying squeeze a couple of bucks more in commission. I'd take a lower commission instead of 0 commission....

 

Thats one reason why I will never go to Geico. I like having an agent I can trust, who can step in and help me get a claim processed or turned out the way that I want it to.

Geico is THE WORST in the industry when it comes to the claim process. They're the hardest to deal with for a bodyshop also.

 

They also have terrible pricing. I use to have them and saved 40% by switching to Wawanesa. I got my buddy to switch as they were charging him almost $2k a year for his Tesla while my coverage was faaaar better and 40% cheaper. He called up Wawanesa and switched after the quote.

 

Yeah they are nowhere near as cheap as people think they are.

And in terms of them not paying agents creating savings that they can then pass on to customers, their massive ad budget costs way more than agents would cost lol

 

I use an independent agent and check rates at every renewal. Also, since we have 3 cars (down from 4) and 2 daughters (no longer teens - older one moving out in a week - yay!), it’s actually cheaper for us to split the car insurance into 2 separate policies. One that covers home and the cars that the kids never drive (wife’s LS and my TourX) and one that covers only the CX-9 (and the recently sold Fit). Who knew - kids are expensive 🤦‍♂️.

 

Yup I have firsthand knowledge of this. It took a little of a fight for them to fix my car correctly the way I wanted. My friend that runs the body shop knew it would be a battle and that they just wanted to do the bare minimum. They really squeeze the body shops. Your experience with Erie is exactly what my friend says, they are the best to deal with and will fix the car correctly with no fight.