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ALL AROUND OLD BRIDGE
Discount! Michael Vitale 104 Interchange Plaza, Suite 102 Monroe Township, NJ 08831 Cell: 201.306.5988 Office: 609.655.3066 x255 Fax: 609.655.4959 Email: michael@vitaleinsurance. com Website: www.vitaleinsurance.com The holiday season has now come to an end. As we take down the lights, put away all the gifts, and make our returns, we start to realize the financial costs of the past season. Our budgets may have come and gone as we were shopping, cooking, and traveling. If only there was a way to cut a cost
or actually save some money. If you are a good driver, there may be a quick way to do just that! In the past few years many auto insurance carriers have begun to offer an insurance discount program for customers who have good driving habits. Oftentimes, those drivers are saving anywhere from 10% to 30% off their auto insurance costs.
Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) is an innovation by auto insurers that more closely aligns driving behaviors with premium rates for auto insurance. Insurers use Telematics, the process of monitoring a driver’s behavior while he or she is driving, to track mileage and other key driving behaviors. In order to accomplish this task, the insurers provide the drivers with devices that can be self-installed into a special port in the vehicle. (Vehicles are already equipped with this port, or sometimes even have a monitoring system, as part of their manufacturing). In real time, the device records and tracks a handful of key elements such as miles driven, times of usage, rapid acceleration, hard braking, air bag deployment, and others. A UBI discount then takes those Telematics and formulates a discount based on particular driving habits. Most major auto insurance carriers now offer this discount program in some way to “reward” good driving habits and records. They may require
FEBRUARY 2018 you to either download an application to your phone, or install a small device in your each of your vehicles, for three to six months (depending on the carrier) to track the Telematics. Each vehicle, and its driver, is tracked, so while there is definitely an industry average, it is possible to receive different percentage discounts for each driver in a household (a household with more than one vehicle). Some drivers are apprehensive to join a UBI discount program, as they are concerned that their rates might actually go up, due to poor driving, or a great amount of mileage/usage. Other drivers may be hesitant, due to concerns over their privacy. At this point in time, the companies I represent (as well as those researched for this article) do not raise a driver’s rate based on the UBI review period. A driver with poor driving habits will simply NOT receive a further discount after the review period. There have been a few such programs in the industry for about
ten years, but many companies just created their own programs recently, within the past two to three years. Therefore, if you have been with your current carrier for a few years, you may want to give them a quick call to inquire about any programs they may offer. Many customers are excited to save money based on their good driving, while others are encouraged to become a ‘better’ driver in order to obtain the discount. Either way, the programs are helping to create a safer driving environment, while simultaneously offering a great way for all of us to save money. If you are not currently enrolled in a UBI discount program you may want to give your auto insurance representative a call. Who knows... you may be able to receive a nice post-holiday reward for your good driving habits! Michael Vitale, Licensed Insurance Professional for Auto, Home, Life, Medicare Supplement, and Disability Income Insurances.