What You Need to Know about Car Insurance Tracking Devices
One way that you can potentially save money on your auto insurance is to use a tracking device on the cars that you drive. These trackers provide driving data, as well as other information, to your auto insurance company. The company tracks data on your driving habits and analyzes it to determine if you are a safe driver, then may give you a discount accordingly. You may be considering whether to allow your insurance company to track your driving habits. Here’s some information in regards to how you can make this determination.
The Basic Way That Tracking Devices Work
These high-tech devices gather data on driving habits such as how often you take risks, where you go, and more. In general, an insurance company will analyze cars for six months at a time to get a sense of exactly how safe a driver is. There’s a lot of variation based on each insurance company. Sometimes they offer auto insurance discounts to safe drivers.
Many programs use a mobile app on the user’s phone. The app often requires that Bluetooth or another location service be turned on when you’re driving. You’ll then be able to view your driving habits on the app and on the insurer’s website. Others may use a device that plugs directly into the car.
Many programs may have automatic opt-in approaches, so if you aren’t going to save any money on it, then you might want to opt out of the program. On the other hand, you may need to let the tracking device run for six months before you will even know if you get anything or not. Either way, it’s a good idea to be aware of what’s going on before you just let the opt-in stand.
The Technology Involved
These tracking devices generally work through your car’s diagnostics port. It’s called the OBD-II port. This is the same port where auto shop employees or mechanics hook up their scanners to see what’s going on with your car. The tracking devices then send the data that they gather to the insurer. Keep in mind that not every car even needs external tracking, though. Some vehicles utilize a vehicle’s internal data connection in order to communicate with certain insurance companies. So, just because you don’t have an external plug-in installed doesn’t mean that an insurance company can’t just track your vehicle in another way.
Other Considerations
The most common types of data collected by the tracking device include your driving and braking speed, the distance your car was driven, and the overall time that you spent driving.
They can often determine your car’s exact location, as well as all of the points where you had to brake hard, and so on. They will determine your level of safety based on factors like these. If you have more modern features like collision warning and automatic braking, many tracking devices can tell how often you have had to use these kinds of technology, as well.
Some insurance companies will offer programs like “pay as you drive,” which charges for insurance based on how far you go in a month, instead of just a set rate for the whole month. In this case, you will actually be tracked to make sure you only travel the distance you’ve agreed on, or by how many miles your car actually goes.
Tracking devices are beneficial for good drivers, as they can demonstrate their skills and responsible driving habits. As a result, they can provide justification about why they should receive lower premiums. In addition, auto insurance trackers could potentially help to prevent theft.
Moreover, vehicle tracking are shown to lead to more responsible driving and potentially result in fewer car accidents. A study by Forbes showed that drivers insured with GPS vehicle tracking were involved in fewer accidents, as much as 20 percent in some cases.
Deciding Whether to Use a Tracker
You can generally opt out of auto insurance programs that track your vehicle if you aren’t comfortable. Most of the time you can simply cite privacy as the reason why you don’t want to have a tracking device installed in your car.
Regardless of whether you are leaning toward going for a discount or opting out to preserve your privacy, it’s important to be aware of what auto insurance trackers are and how they can help you to save money.
