Car Insurance - Smart Ride

My insurance company (Nationwide) has a plan where you can get a 5 % discount from your present rates if you install a electronic devise into the diagnostic port on my vehicles - this devise records data that will be used to determine what kind of driver you are - they say that depending on the data you could get discounts up to 30% - my question is - is anyone familiar with this kind of setup - and if so have you ever heard of this devise causing damage to you vehicle's computer - I don't know if such a plan is available up in Canada - thank you

yeah seen a few companies advertising that up here... havent herd of anybody using it yet... not a fan personally of somebody tracking my driving habits...

I would think it will work both ways, if you are an aggressive driver it gives them a excuse to jack up your rates.

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Originally Posted by Loony

I would think it will work both ways, if you are an aggressive driver it gives them a excuse to jack up your rates.

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they claim that it will wont increase your rates... which is probably true until its time to renew lol

I drive a jeep. I wonder what those things would indicate my driving as. Pretty much stay within the speed limit. It's not a vehicle you race around in. On the other hand though. What would it show for my 4 wheeling off road. I hope it comes with a wash your vehicle reminder.

I have a friend who works for insurance and she has one in her car. Haven't heard anything about it or if she still has it in thre after a year LOL. It just plugs into where a mechanic reads your computer. It won't void any car warranty.

but she has said chances are your insurance will go up unless you drive like an old person. Passing someone? It will show the sudden acceleration then decrease. They don't know you are passing... they think you are just driving recklessly.

We all know how insurance company's work..

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Originally Posted by Goosesniper

I drive a jeep. I wonder what those things would indicate my driving as. Pretty much stay within the speed limit. It's not a vehicle you race around in. On the other hand though. What would it show for my 4 wheeling off road. I hope it comes with a wash your vehicle reminder.

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your insurance will go up, cant keep your vehicle on the road lol

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Originally Posted by fishy steve

your insurance will go up, cant keep your vehicle on the road lol

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Funny. They will screw You either way.

I can see it now. Everyone that has one in their car is driving 80km an hour....Side by side.....No one gets ahead and huge cluster of traffic because of it. LOL

Looked into these a while back. I thought they might have been a good idea for company vehicles. My research showed far more than I needed to see. These things track acceleration, braking, hard cornering, signal light use and the list goes on. Then I found some even track where your vehicle is and what speed you are travelling while there. This all sounded great for single driver company vehicles until you hear the horror stories some units (progressive US) cause to electrical systems. Wires burning, engines dying under acceleration and lights out scenarios. No thanks.

Its not a good idea. It does make claims easier to blame though;

Oh gee mister ___, we realize that the other driver made a left in front of you but our device shows you going 3 km/hr over the speed limit so you are 50% at fault.

Something like that anyway.

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Originally Posted by Big Jack

Its not a good idea. It does make claims easier to blame though;

Oh gee mister ___, we realize that the other driver made a left in front of you but our device shows you going 3 km/hr over the speed limit so you are 50% at fault.

Something like that anyway.

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our device shows that you had one finger up your nose and you hadnt had your morning poop yet

these are good for new drivers with high insurance costs. It gives young people a chance to prove to the insurance company they are or are not the high risk statistic.

Older drivers who think they are great drivers will get their eyes opened when the machine reports back to "big brother" that you accelerate hard, stop fast, fail to come to complete stops, don't always use your signal and your vehicle is not parked in a locked garage overnight.

these have been out for long enough that the insurance companies should have statistics to tell people how many customers that installed them actually had their premium reduced.

until it becomes a terms of service requirement, don't volunteer to install it.

Hate to think what it will show on the trip from the highway to my house on an icy morning....or better yet, out back to get a load of firewood....

A co worker put one in his vehicle last year. He said his monitors acceleration, braking and distance to work. The insurance company looks for patterns in your driving habits. If you accelerate to pass someone the odd time it won't be held against you. If you are constantly accelerating because you find the need to pass every car in front of you because you think they don't know how to drive then it will be held against you. I have driven with this guy and he is a pretty passive driver but as a result of using this monitor he did get an 18% discount in his rates.

I have two vehicles and I'm the only driver - so this devise will show how little I drive my truck - which should increase my discount - also I guess if someone steals your vehicle it can be found with this devise - so I'm going to put when in my vehicles and see what happens -

I am a good driver. I keep up with traffic even if traffic isn't following the designated speed limit, I stay in the right land lane on a multi-lane highway unless I need to pass, etc. I drive as a "normal person" would. However, I know the laws which govern the highway (both officially and unofficially) aren't the same laws which govern how the insurance company assesses you for your insurance rates (or for assessing fault for accidents). Most of these programs will monitor your driving habits for the year and then adjust your savings (at the time of renewal) as you go through the year. What about people who the insurance companies figure out who are very poor drivers but have not had karma catch them yet? Will the insurance companies start to jack their rates up right away? Insurance companies are infamous for using any excuse to increase rates but not so forgiving when we exhibit good driving habits. What constitutes at 30% savings or is it on a subjective scale? There are too many unknown factors for me to embrace these programs.

Dyth

Just went through insurance battles myself.

My abstract is less than clean, it's actually over 5 pages printed last time I saw a physical copy.

That being said,

I have never been in an accident nor caused an accident, I have never made a claim, and drive anywhere from 80,000 to 100,000+ L< a year for the past 7 years.

That being said, I have managed to get almost every ticket knocked down to 15km over (52.50 no points)

Have never lost enough points to warrant a letter, or meeting.

And have no serious driving infractions, (i.e 50 over, drinking/drug related, etc)

I have had fleet insurance for the last 7 years, and actually had to sign a letter for my wifes last vehicle stating I would not drive it, didn't think much of it, as I had no need to drive her rogue.

Fast forward to this past November, when the wife got the new F150, at this point in time, I have 3 infractions remaining on my record (think it goes back 3 years) and insurance company again, will not insure me and make me sign a letter excluding me as a driver.

As of this past March, the third oldest infraction dropped off, and I am down to 2 from 2013 left showing.

I call Johnsons, and see if I can get on, and they say yes I can now with only 2, but the rates are insane.

At this point in time, AllState has just opened up shop in Timmins, So I call them and give them the low down. Not only will they insure me, they gave us cheaper rates than what just my wife alone was paying. Saving over 300+ a year, with both of us covered.

Needless to say I can now drive the truck :)

Insurance, one of the biggest scams going as Seinfeld puts it.

You pay into it for years hoping to never use it, then once you do need it, you have to pay to use it, and once you've used it, you have to pay more for it, in hopes you never have to use it again.

I don't drive aggresively, but I do drive assertively. I expect other drivers to be courteous and do what is necessary to promote the efficient flow of traffic. That is my story and I am sticking to it regardless of what my wife has to say on the topic.
Having said that, there is no way I am going to sign up to impale myself on the almost certain increase in my car insurance. The chances that I will willingly drive on a 400 series highway at 100 kph are ZERO.
I have good rates with AllState so I am not going to mess with that. Now, without hijacking the OP, we might want to pay attention to the fact that the current Ontario government is remiss in getting onto the insurance companies. They are over charging provincially...

CBC News reports:
"Ontario consumers may have overpaid for auto insurance by $3 billion to $4 billion between 2001 and 2013...

So, if you want your insurance to go down it might be a more worthwhile endeavour to prompt the local MPP to get the Auditor General to weigh in.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1931439/on...n-2013-report/

On a related note, it may be worth noting that your driving habits will become digital and be at risk of disclosure. It may be worth reading this article. All I know this that I am not going allow an insurance company to have access to where I go on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Just too much information to allow them access to and too high a risk that they won't share it or have it hacked...

http://globalnews.ca/news/1929063/de...s-for-drivers/

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Originally Posted by TurkeyRookie

Just went through insurance battles myself.


You pay into it for years hoping to never use it, then once you do need it, you have to pay to use it, and once you've used it, you have to pay more for it, in hopes you never have to use it again.

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my mom who will have bin driving for 50 years this coming year got in her first accident 2 years ago, not her fault... her insurance doubled... crooks