FUTURE OF CAR INSURANCE

by Guest » Thu Dec 20, 2007 06:19 pm
Guest

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE LOOKING INTO RATING YOUR AUTO INSURANCE BY HOW MILES YOU DRIVE? The future of auto insurance will be changing and the insurance companny will install a device in your car that tells how many miles u drive each month and bill you by that so if you drove very little your insurance would be cheap and if u drove alot it would cost you a pretty penny

Total Comments: 24

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 08:54 pm Post Subject:

I would think they would have to have your permission to install anything on your car. That just don't sound right to me. I could see them offering lower milage discount but for the whole industry to go to this, don't see it happening, could be wrong though. what do you insurance gurus think about this?

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 07:31 am Post Subject: auto insurance premium calculator.

Hi Chuck!

I agree with dreamer at this point. :) The automobile insurance companies are not planning to install anything in your car without permission.So don't worry about about it..:(

While determining your premium rate the auto insurance companies analyzes your overall chances in filing a claim against the insurance. This they mainly do based on some important factors. More the risk in claiming your insurance, higher would be your premium amount.

Amongst many other factors that determines your premium rate, the number of mileage you drive your car is also another distinct factor. Some companies offer good discount, if you have driven your car for low mileage.


Thereby, to measure this mileage some means are being discovered.The telematic system is a system that monitors the driving performance of a driver.


Currently the Norwich Union has introduced a system which is a combination of global positioning system (GPS) and cell phone in a car which is known as "Pay as You Drive" .

It's purpose is to determine the performance of the driver as well as the amount of risk that the insurance community might have to take. Based on this the insurance companies offers good discount rate. It has been assessed that in 2005 after the introduction of this system there was a 20% fall in the accident rate.

The Progressive Corporation has also introduced a telematic auto insurance for the residents of Minnesota known as TripSenseTM .

This is mainly a black box that you would have to plug into your car's OBD-II port. This way the the box would monitor
1.the mileage driven
2.the speed at which the vehicle was running
3.time
4.other relevant information.

After one month, by connecting the box in your home computer, you can monitor yourself if you can avail a discount on your auto insurance.

If you feel that you are eligible, you may download the information and show it to the insurance company to get the discount. I believe you are speaking about this system..Chuck..:D

None of the systems are a compulsion, it is on you if you want to avail the offer.. to determine your discount rate.:)

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 08:53 am Post Subject: simple logic

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE LOOKING INTO RATING YOUR AUTO INSURANCE BY HOW MILES YOU DRIVE?



Actually, if we think logically about their reason we'd see - the more distance we cover with our car...the more our car gets prone to accidents...more would be the risks to be covered by the carrier...& so on.

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 11:38 am Post Subject:

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE LOOKING INTO RATING YOUR AUTO INSURANCE BY HOW MILES YOU DRIVE



They already do to some degree...I pay a lesser prem. because my vehicles are rated for less than 10k per year...Now they haven't checked up on it...(wouldn't care if they did)...but all companies/agents ask when writing a policy how many miles do you drive right? (my company does anyway)....personally I don't think it's too bad of an idea.

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 11:41 pm Post Subject:

I think you are referring to GMAC offering a discount if _On-star_ users allowed GMAC to track how many miles they drove.

Keep in mind that On-Star is a _GM_ product and GM used to own GMAC and still owns most of their loans (basically, GM still have their hands on GMAC).

So insurance companies are not looking to _install_ tracking systems in vehicles. I also can't see many people agreeing to this. GMAC wants to do it in order to rate the policy based on a person's mileage. If a person drives a lot, they would just refuse the "discounted" plan. If they drove seldom, they could elect to have the information recorded. I suspect that GMAC would offer higher rates to everyone who did not elect for the "discounted" plan in order for the information to be useful.

But in all, I see this as a failed experiment even before it starts. I think other carriers looked into this years ago (Progressive?) and each one lost interest.

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 02:54 am Post Subject:

But in all, I see this as a failed experiment even before it starts. I think other carriers looked into this years ago (Progressive?) and each one lost interest.



Progressive did introduce this program and it's alive and well according to their website. The name of it is TripSense. It's not widely available currently with only three states offering it. Minnesota was first, which was where it was piloted in 2004 and Progressive introduced it to two other states in mid January this year, Michigan and Oregon.

The way it works is you plug a computer chip called a TripSensor into the On-Board-Diagnostic port on your dashboard. It records the necessary information and you in turn periodically upload the information from it via your home computer to their databases to earn your discounted rate.

Doing so is certainly not forced upon you. It clearly states that it's your choice whether you upload the information or not but necessary to keep getting your discounts. They don't "make" you do it if you decide for whatever reason not to. The voluntary nature of uploading is stressed (although I can't imagine why you'd want to participate in this type of program if you were unwilling to share that!).

Time will tell whether TripSense will catch the public's interest as it's introduced in other states but according to Progressive, drivers can save up to a quarter off their current premium rates.

It's something to think about anyway. :)

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 11:03 pm Post Subject:

It would be really ironic if they denied a claim because you didn't declare the mileometer or whatever it's called.

It's a fairly good idea, and it can do other things as well. If the data gets transmitted automatically, and your car gets stolen, they can say that it's a 20-mile-drive from your house.

Although, increasing the rate based on mileage, I'd think it would be the other way round. If you've driven 300,000 miles without an accident, you must be one good driver.

My opinions on this are rather varied, but all in all, it's an excellent idea, as long as it remains voluntary.

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 05:58 pm Post Subject:

Why do insurance companies ask if you drive this vehicle to work or not? Is it cheaper if you do or not.

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 01:26 am Post Subject:

This is kinda interesting. There are also programs out there in some areas for teenage drivers. You volunteer for the program and they install a camera(watching the driver) and other sensor information. When there is sudden acceleration or sudden deceleration they will email the parent the time/date and a copy of the video. Apparently it has been helpful in getting teens to stop some bad habits. And of course installing the system entitles you to a discount.

Tripsense sounds like a more adult less invasive version. Personally I wouldn't have an issue using this system.

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 02:24 am Post Subject:

I would think that it would cost them a ton of money to put these devices on every vehicle that they insure and a ton of people go their entire lives with out ever filing a claim, so I just don't see how this would be a smart or good financial move for the insurance industry. I mean if you think about it, the higher the mileage, the less the vehicle is worth and they check out this information especially on a total loss, it is part of the calculation of value. Your mileage is taken yearly on your vehicle yearly when you renew your plates and then go for inspection, if you pay attention this information is documented before the inspection sticker goes on the vehicle. I don't think the insurance companies will invest in something like this, just sounds goofy. I could see if you had a lot of claims and this would be a way to offer you insurance if you agreed to be monitored, I don't know that I would agree to this, they can get the information off the state when I report it once a year, or simply ask me, they can verify if they want, I have no reason to lie, but I would not want a black box hooked up to my vehicle.

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