Smart Auto Insurance Blog

Progressive Insurance Company has expanded their optional usage-based auto insurance program to include drivers in Missouri.  The program called MyRate gives drivers a customized auto insurance rate based on their driving habits, (i.e. how much, and when their car is driven.)

New Missouri auto insurance customers get an immediate first-term discount of up to 10% when they sign up for MyRate.   When they renew their policy, they could save as much as 25%. or be charged up to 9% more, based on their driving habits.

The MyRate program is now being rolled out nationally pending regulatory approval on a state-by-state basis.

More information about Missouri auto insurance.

In an effort to fight global warming, the Washington State legislature is considering a bill that would allow auto insurers to use electronic monitoring devices to charge different rates based on a person’s actual driving habits, reports the Seattle Times‘ Chantal Anderson. Individuals who have reduced their car usage (by using bikes or public transportation to commute to work, for example) could save up to 15% on their Washington auto insurance premiums.

Auto insurance companies that are offering or planning to offer pay-as-you-drive programs in other states include Progressive Insurance (through its Progressive MyRate program), Allstate auto insurance, Hartford insurance, and Unigard. Progressive wants to keep its proprietary rating information confidential, and the senate bill will be rewritten to reflect those concerns.

Chantal reports that the bill looks likely to pass the state Senate, but could face opposition in the House. Privacy advocates are worried about the “Big Brother” potential of the tracking devices, although the data allowed to be collected and the ways in which it can be used must be approved by the insurance commissioner.

Progressive Insurance is launching its MyRate tracking device in Kentucky this week, according to Alex Davis from the Courier-Journal. The product is a small computer that plugs into a car’s diagnostic port under the dashboard (for cars built after 1996) and tracks a person’s driving habits. Based on those results, individual auto insurance premiums will be calculated

Behaviors tracked by MyRate include:

• How often a driver slams on the brakes
• How often a driver accelerates rapidly
• When a vehicle is used
• How many miles are driven