CAR POOL WITH BIG BROTHER ITS FUN AND CHEAPER

David Bartlett knows he is a safe driver. The 24-year-old Short North resident doesn’t drive too fast or late at night and always wears his seat belt.

Now his insurer is convinced, too, and is rewarding Bartlett with lower rates.

Bartlett’s savings comes from Progressive’s “Snapshot” program, which the insurer says can reduce rates by as much as 30 percent.

Under the program, policyholders plug in a device — which fits in the palm of a hand — into their car’s diagnostic port, typically below the steering wheel. The device tracks drivers’ speed, miles driven, braking habits and time of day when driving takes place. That information then is sent to Progressive using technology called telematics.

Bartlett was able to cut his monthly insurance premium from $120 to $80. He also was able to score some additional savings because the company forgave a speeding ticket that he had on his insurance record.

This and other similar programs being rolled out by insurers figure to lead to big changes in how auto insurance is priced in the years to come.

Until now, insurers have based rates on generic factors such as age, gender, accident frequency, tickets, place of residence and credit scores.

Use of technology to base rates on actual driving habits is likely to benefit, for example, a young man who is safer than his peers or someone who might drive only on weekends.

“These things are very powerful, and they are coming,” said Brian Sullivan, editor of Risk Information, which publishes newsletters for the insurance industry.

In essence, the devices could do for drivers what the credit industry has done for consumers — create a score that will help determine how risky a particular individual might be to insure, just as a credit score indicates financial risk and determines whether consumers can get loans and how much interest they must pay.

The changes could alter driving habits for the better as people adapt their driving styles or even reduce the amount they drive to save money on premiums, experts say.

“This is the personalization of your insurance and also allows for behavior changes,” said Richard Hutchison, general manager of usage-based insurance for Progressive, which just began national advertising for its Snapshot discount.

Customers of Progressive, based in the Cleveland suburb of Mayfield Village, typically are saving about $150 per year, or about 10 to 15 percent, for participating in the Snapshot program, the company says.

The device has its limits in what it can track: It does not know who is driving the car or the car’s location, and the company says it won’t share the information unless it’s required as part of your policy.

The technology is not new, but the costs of building the devices and transmitting the information they generate have come down enough to allow insurers to begin using them extensively.

Progressive customers using Snapshot can go online after the device has been in place for 30 days to see what kind of discount they are earning and what they can do to rack up more savings.

The device is used for six months. After that, customers return it to Progressive and the company calculates the final discount that will be applied going forward. At worst, a driver’s rates will stay the same.

So far, about 250,000 drivers have signed up for Snapshot, the company said.

MORE
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2011/04/17/dr...

Views: 74

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by Tara on April 18, 2011 at 10:56am

I can't believe there are 250,000 people who signed up for this Orweillian device! I'm all for saving a buck but not at the expense of my privacy. How can anyone justify that this is OK in their minds?

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

tjdavis favorited Sandy's video
52 minutes ago
tjdavis posted a photo
1 hour ago
Christopher Walker is now a member of 12160 Social Network
11 hours ago
tjdavis posted videos
19 hours ago
Burbia commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Reflection

"Let's see if this goes past indictment."
yesterday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Something Watches From Out there in the Wilderness
"cheeki kea That's very interesting history. So many things about history that go ignored or…"
yesterday
Burbia commented on Burbia's video
yesterday
Burbia posted a video

Programmed To Kill/Satanic Cover-Up Part 433 (The Charlie Kirk Conspiracy Show)

https://www.programmedtokill.net/projects---- DISCLAIMER! ----Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair u...
yesterday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

American werewolf- 2018

"Yip I've looked again and this is what the creature looks like, even has stripes just like…"
yesterday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

American werewolf- 2018

"The mystery continues I guess. ( reminds me of something out of the under world )"
yesterday
cheeki kea posted a photo
yesterday
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post Something Watches From Out there in the Wilderness
"Another fine story Doc V. I think it's Dogman the werewolf out there roaming around in high…"
yesterday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
yesterday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post What Four UFO Whistle Blowers All Suffered in Common?
"Less Prone Thanks for you comment Buddy! Dabbling in government kept secrets can cost you dearly. I…"
yesterday
Burbia posted a blog post

Sebastion Piñera and 5G

 Sebastion Piñera “The start of the bidding process for the 5G network. Let’s listen to the threats…See More
yesterday
tjdavis posted a photo
Friday
Doc Vega posted a blog post
Thursday
Less Prone left a comment for Tammy
"Welcome"
Thursday
tjdavis posted a video

Mike Benz: DARPA & USAID are Weaponizing Music to Control Human Behavior

Watch every episode ad-free & uncensored on Patreon: https://patreon.com/dannyjonesMike Benz is a former State Department official and current Executive Dire...
Thursday
Tammy is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Tuesday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted