The majority of customers see the traditional approach to insurance pricing using auto insurance quotes
as rather redundant. The principle based on indirect variables for
assessing the risk of getting a claim can sure be unnerving for many
customers who are bound to deal with more expensive insurance just
because their income is not high enough, they are single or live in the
wrong neighborhood.
And the question is if there are any alternatives to the traditional
auto insurance quotes or we are all forced to comply with this redundant
pricing policy employed by insurance company. Fortunately, there is one
- pay-as-you-drive coverage.
The principles
The essence behind this type of insurance is quite simple really and
has been around for many years. First, the insurance company requires
you to install a small device that tracks down your driving performance.
Insurers stress out that they deliberately exclude the GPS tracking
feature so the actual location of the car cannot be tracked. Then they
gather a lot of data from your car - vehicle usage, distance driven,
acceleration and deceleration patterns, speed charts and so on. After
analyzing all this information the insurer has a very clear and almost
real-time picture of how risky the driver actually is without using any
indirect factors such as credit rating, age or marital status. This
little device shows exactly how good of a driver someone is, and if they
are good enough they usually receive a substantial discount off their basic premium.
The cons
Eventually, user-based coverage seems like a more democratic and
objective variation of insurance pricing. It's more flexible and
advanced than traditional auto insurance quotes as it gives a very clear
picture of your driving abilities and habits. However, that's actually
where the main drawback may be nested for some drivers. Naturally, most
of us are good drivers in the sense that we don't break traffic rules on
a daily basis and aren't very aggressive on the road. But if you drive
aggressively and you don't care about rules getting such a device would
certainly be a bad idea since the insurer will learn how exactly you
tend to drive and will charge you with a very hefty premium if he finds
it unsatisfactory.
And there's also the question of privacy, which seems to be a
sensitive topic these days. Carrying a monitoring device in your car,
even if it is claimed to lack a GPS targeting function, can make just
anyone paranoid. That's the reason why the big insurers actually have a
limited time period for their user-based policies - making clients drive
under constant monitoring can make them nervous.
The conclusion
The final conclusion on pay-as-you-drive coverage is quite simple: if
you can get it and consider yourself to be a decent driver then get it.
It is one of the simplest ways to save on auto insurance these days and
can be more effective then comparing auto insurance quotes.
Nevertheless, if you don't pay too much attention to traffic rules,
going with this option may actually be a bad choice since it will drive
your premiums up and the insurer will know of your risky behavior since
then. However, it's never too late to learn how to drive properly and
safely, and this monitoring device may actually be a very effective
impulse for making the effort.
