Car Insurance Experience

[dazzleman]

Here's another question I didn't think of earlier.

What do you guys think of those monitoring devices that some insurance companies ask customers to use, in return for a small rate discount?

Is this something you would do?

Personally, I think that the less information they have about my driving, the better.  What they know right now is that I have a clean driving record and no accident claims.  I am the gold standard driver.  Why take a device that will let them know that I have a heavy foot?  I don't trust these companies and I think that any information that they get will be used against me.

[giant_mtb]

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't want one of those tracker things. If they want/need my vehicle's black box data, they're gonna have to get it themselves, I'm not handing that over on any regular basis.

Though they're probably already tracking my speed/etc. through the damn Progressive app on my phone. I should delete that and just use the website when I need to.

[veeman]

Here's another question I didn't think of earlier.

What do you guys think of those monitoring devices that some insurance companies ask customers to use, in return for a small rate discount?

Is this something you would do?

Personally, I think that the less information they have about my driving, the better.  What they know right now is that I have a clean driving record and no accident claims.  I am the gold standard driver.  Why take a device that will let them know that I have a heavy foot?  I don't trust these companies and I think that any information that they get will be used against me.

There are some things more important than money.  Having big brother monitor my driving habits is not on my radar as something I wish upon myself. 

[dazzleman]

There are some things more important than money.  Having big brother monitor my driving habits is not on my radar as something I wish upon myself.

I completely agree, especially with the speeds you like to drive at....

[dazzleman]

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't want one of those tracker things. If they want/need my vehicle's black box data, they're gonna have to get it themselves, I'm not handing that over on any regular basis.

Though they're probably already tracking my speed/etc. through the damn Progressive app on my phone. I should delete that and just use the website when I need to.

Can an app on a phone really do that?  If it can, that's pretty scary.  How would it know what car you were in, and if you were just riding in the car with a friend as opposed to driving yourself?

[giant_mtb]

Can an app on a phone really do that?  If it can, that's pretty scary.  How would it know what car you were in, and if you were just riding in the car with a friend as opposed to driving yourself?

Oh for sure an app can do that...I do my best to restrict any apps from unnecessarily tracking my location. The Progressive app doesn't have location permission on my phone, but you never know.

The only apps I use that have background access to my location (ie, access to my location even when the app itself is not open/running) are Google Maps and the app for Kota's GPS collar.

But yeah, you have a good point. Progressive would basically have to subpoena my location information if I made some insurance claim and they disputed the circumstances since I'm not enrolled in their driver monitoring service. But yes, if I was enrolled in such a program, they can just do said monitoring right through the app I believe, as well as an OBD dongle.

A dash cam is a much easier option to protect yourself.  Speaking of which, I still need to put my dashcam in the new Taco.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I used to have monitoring as a truck driver. They sent me to NYC and then gave me shit for having too many hard brakes.
Fine. Next time I’ll just crash into the fucking idiots who keep cutting me off. Get the detritus out of your vagina and wake up. Driving in this country is an actual fight for survival at times. Insurance companies would rather you leave your vehicle parked in a locked garage 24/7.

[Morris Minor]

The limits on the rural roads in this area are 45  - blanket-completely arbitrarily applied. Nobody except octogenarians stays within that; the "natural" speed is 55-60. Obviously I need to exercise the cars now & then, so the margin of illegality is considerably wider, well into target-rich territory for an insurance company considering claims.
So no, I don't have a spy in the cab.

[dazzleman]

The limits on the rural roads in this area are 45  - blanket-completely arbitrarily applied. Nobody except octogenarians stays within that; the "natural" speed is 55-60. Obviously I need to exercise the cars now & then, so the margin of illegality is considerably wider, well into target-rich territory for an insurance company considering claims.
So no, I don't have a spy in the cab.

Good decision IMO.  Whatever small discount they give you for having the device can't be worth the potential for incriminating yourself with normal driving.  Now that I have been feeling a bit better recently, I am getting back to my normal speeding patterns.  Much more fun than driving at or near the speed limit.