Comments on: A New Way to Save Money on Car Insurance (Really)

By: Financial Planners at Respond

Financial Planners at Respond — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:34:32 +0000

There are few other ways to save money on car insurance:

1. Make sure you get all discounts you qualify for.
2. Keep your driver’s record clean and up-to-date.
3. Adjust your coverage to assume more risk.
4. Drive a “low profile” car equipped with certain money-saving safety features.
5. Shop around for a good, low cost insurance provider.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:43:31 +0000

There is no way I would allow someone to monitor my driving. There would surely be something they could use against me in the future. I prefer to pay my current premiums and go about my normal driving habits.

By: Sean

Sean — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:35:12 +0000

I’d think it would be an apples-to-apples comparison (before vs. after, same drivers), but I’ll have to double-check.

By: KMC

KMC — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:31:57 +0000

@ Sean - I wouldn’t doubt it. But I’ll bet it’s just selection bias at work. People who are in accidents tend to be ones who speed (statistically speaking, of course). Those same people are unlikely to submit to monitoring of their speed.

@ CCIB - That very thing is happening with OnStar. The data collected by that system can be and is being used in courts.

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:24:53 +0000

If I remember correctly, one interesting aspect of these programs is the participants had less accidents. So if more people submit to the tracking, does that mean there would be less accidents overall?

By: Curious Cat Investing Blog

Curious Cat Investing Blog — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:59:37 +0000

Cool idea. I also agree with your mention that optional things become mandatory. There are challenges for the company I would imagine too. Most people speed a fair amount. Believing this versus having data of exactly when and how much someone is speeding is not the same thing.

I can imagine lawyers trying to use the evidence that the person is careless and endangering others (when in fact they are doing what everyone does - but for most people we don’t have the data).