Car insurance by the mile

[Lazarus]

Here's a new market in Texas that charges auto insurance by the mile. If you don't drive much it can be a fairly good savings.

My question is how do they know the mileage? Do they track you with a GPS.
Still an innovated idea.

[MazdaMatt]

They ask for odometer readings...

Put on giant tires and you get a discount

My insurance company does adjust based on milage, but its not linear.

[wagonman76]

State Farm has done that for as long as I can remember. Their cutoff is 7500 miles annually. There may be other cutoffs at higher mileages, but my mileage per car is pretty low being split between 3 cars.

What if someone is a safe, high-mileage driver?

Even if an individual possesses excellent and safe driving habits, he is exposed to “dangerous” drivers and hazardous road conditions every time he drives. The more he drives, the greater his chances of having an accident. Therefore, the risk of an accident is correlated to the quantity of driving (roughly linear, all else being equal). MileMeter insurance is priced by the mile to reflect this risk factor and provide equitable pricing for everyone.

I dont agree with this, but its their way of doing things, so take it or leave it. Ill leave it. I think your chances of an accident are greater driving 10 miles a day in city rush hour than 50 miles a day on a sparsely populated side road.

[MazdaMatt]

what's the old saying? most accidents happen close to home?

I would really prefer if they rated not based on statistical averages but more of a punishment system. Start at x/yr, every 5 years reduce it by a factor and every incident will multiply by a factor... I've NEVER had a claim or seen flashing lights, but i have paid high rates for years because I'm a young male driver.... i want my money back

[ankit]

^I hear you on that. Especially because I'm being compared to idiots that choose to act like they are driving their vehicles as if they were in video games. On the other hand I drive as if I were about 60 years older and a different gender.

Now to the original thread...we get discounts on our cars for odometer readings. They just wanted me to read out the odo reading over the phone (just trusted taht i was being honest).

[TestDrive]

Originally Posted by ankit

They just wanted me to read out the odo reading over the phone (just trusted taht i was being honest).

In the event of an accident, you can bet their adjuster will look for a discrepancy.

[Matt Herring]

My insurance company just asked for my daily commute miles to work (which at the time was 15 miles...and I told them 10...not sure if it made a difference). They also asked for the zip code I live in and the zip code I work in.

When I moved to another city in February they asked me the same questions (which is now a 4 mile commute to work and in a new zip code). My premium went down $200 with the shorter commute and...what I assume...is a safer zip code to live/drive in.

[Duffman]

Originally Posted by ankit

we get discounts on our cars for odometer readings. They just wanted me to read out the odo reading over the phone (just trusted taht i was being honest).

They get people that cheat at the time of accident and the adjuster comes and reads your odometer in person.