Discount Auto Insurance Program – Based On Driving Factors
You can now get discount auto insurance based on the total amount of miles you drive. It is starting to spread across the country. This underlying thought has been around for a for a long while but now insurance carriers are beginning to initiate the discount auto insurance program. The next opportunity you get to get auto insurance quotes see if it is available.
First offered on the west coast as a pilot discount auto insurance program and has recently been approved for New Jersey through Progressive insurance. To my knowledge only one other company offers auto insurance quotes this way; GMAC Insurance who's program is only available to people that have Onstar in there vehicles.
Progressive insurance will attach a devise to you car to monitor the speed at which you drive, your breaking habits and mileage totals. GMAC's Onstar includes GPS tracking devise but I'm not aware of how they calculate your driving habits. This causes concerns to many people.
Some non-profit organizations and government officials are concerned about the tracking measure that will be used. Some feel by adding one of these devises to your car you could be giving up some constitutional freedoms. Another concern is that all people will not be able to benefit from this program. Like people that live in rural areas need to drive further than the average city dweller.
The discount on your auto insurance could be as much as 9% over people that don't participate in the program. My concern is how much can your premium be increased if your driving habits to fit what the insurance company has set as normal. Also how does the insurance company determine what is the correct breaking pressure?
A concern of mine is if this program is picked by all the main insurance carriers in the future if you don't part take in the program will your premiums automatically increase. I understand the insurance company's point of view of offering lower rates to more responsible drivers that do not drive that far but years down the road how will this affect all of us?
This program was released in New Jersey on August 8th of 2008. Let's see how long it will take to be available in all states. It will also be interesting to see what other insurance companies adopt a similar program.
I believe it should be your decision to make if you want to participate in the discount auto insurance program like this. You know how you drive and how far you drive. I am totally open to the concept but I am a little weary about how they might track my driving habits and what they are compared too.
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