Don’t Drive Much? Get a Discount on Insurance

It looks like technology is finally catching up with consumer demand. Both GMAC and Progressive are beginning to offer discounted auto insurance based on the amount of miles you drive. This has been notoriously difficult to implement in the past, because drivers often lie when giving mileage numbers to insurance companies.

Now, new onboard technologies are allowing insurance companies to track your mileage…and other driving habits. GMAC is taking advantage of their OnStar technology to give discounts ranging from 14% for those driving less than 15,000 miles per year to 54% for those driving less than 2,500 miles per year. Progressive tracks mileage and other driving habits using their TripSense program which requires installation of a small device onto a car’s onboard diagnostic port. Customers must then download the information at regular intervals and send it to Progressive. Discounts for this program range from 5% to 25%.

Hopefully other insurance companies will begin to offer similar programs in the near future. However, be sure to read the fine print to make sure you are comfortable sharing certain non-mileage information that the agreement may require.

Source: Wall Street Journal