I recently opted to try the Liberty Mutual plug in tracker as they told me it guaranteed 5% discount minimum and up to 30%. The criteria they track is number of miles, fast start, fast stops and time of day. Driving between midnight and 4am is higher risk. I find it odd that they do not track speed. Also I am noting that their use of fast stops and starts does not take much to qualify for an event. I can logon and track all of the events that are registered. Overall not very happy with it as my neighborhood has an entrance that you must accelerate fairly quickly since it is a curvy hill coming from both directions. To go slow out of their presents much more risk. I know these are very general factors and it is voluntary but just sharing my experience. By the way my discounts are showing as 9% for sable, 17% for grand marquis and 11% for Montero. Better than nothing but I think it would be difficult to get over 20%.
Car Insurance - Plug In Tracker
- Thread starter spk2000
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I have Liberty Mutual insurance. Been there, done that with the trackers; and you're right, it doesn't take much to record an "event" of hard stop/start. While I was running these things (and watching myself online), I was amused that speed didn't seem to matter. I ran over 100 on (very lonely straight interstate) a few times just to see what would happen. Nothing.
The main thing I learned while running those trackers is that people are crazy. I would look way ahead for red lights and let off the gas (coast) accordingly. People would whip around me, zip past me, flip me off, etc., just to be ahead of me at the light. When the light turns green, it's wide open throttle Indy to the next light.
That was a couple years ago. I still have Liberty Mutual, the "discounts" were only good for one term (6 months), and I don't totally agree with their scoring system. Sometimes, hard acceleration or braking is appropriate and prudent driving. What are Highway entrance ramps for? And what adult over the age of 30 HASN'T ever had a small child (or big one) do something unexpected in front of you (in a residential area)? And speed doesn't matter at all?
Sorry, I don't remember the discounts I got.
The main thing I learned while running those trackers is that people are crazy. I would look way ahead for red lights and let off the gas (coast) accordingly. People would whip around me, zip past me, flip me off, etc., just to be ahead of me at the light. When the light turns green, it's wide open throttle Indy to the next light.
That was a couple years ago. I still have Liberty Mutual, the "discounts" were only good for one term (6 months), and I don't totally agree with their scoring system. Sometimes, hard acceleration or braking is appropriate and prudent driving. What are Highway entrance ramps for? And what adult over the age of 30 HASN'T ever had a small child (or big one) do something unexpected in front of you (in a residential area)? And speed doesn't matter at all?
Sorry, I don't remember the discounts I got.
I have also noted when light changes quickly and I brake to stop I get an event. If I run the light nothing is recorded
Liberty offered the gadget to try and lower our auto insurance after the raised it by $600. ($1800 yr to $2400yr). Called to complain to agent but they closed a LOT of their brick and mortar offices to save money. If we had a claim I could understand the increase but I think they were just raising premiums as we pay in full per year. Called around and found that Erie insurance could beat them ($1600 yr). Changed house insurance over to Erie and saved more, plus they have a locked in rate...
I still get emails and calls to switch back to liberty. Ha ha ha ha. No chance
I still get emails and calls to switch back to liberty. Ha ha ha ha. No chance
When my new car had OnStar I got a report pertaining to driving habits and thought it was ominous, now I see that OnStar is flirting with partnering with insurance companies. That's a little too much big brother for me. I have been driving a long time and never had a ticket but yet the report showed I had a number of unsafe events, what it doesn't show is that most of those were trying to avoid some moron on their phone.
I've been offered a device and declined it. My thoughts were that they track everything including GPS patterns to see how, when and where you use the car along with what's been mentioned.
Too big brother for me. I generally don't have hard stops and accelerations but as was mentioned when getting on a highway I want to get on a highway not eventually get there and I hate it when people "coast" onto the highway. I use compression braking a lot as I look ahead and see if the light is turning red ... I don't need to get there fast to stop but there are times that you need to slam on the brakes.
Probably the best type of discount is the defensive driver course discount which lasts for 3 years and big brother isn't watching. I have Geico and the price paid for the course gets more than paid for by the discount I would receive.
Too big brother for me. I generally don't have hard stops and accelerations but as was mentioned when getting on a highway I want to get on a highway not eventually get there and I hate it when people "coast" onto the highway. I use compression braking a lot as I look ahead and see if the light is turning red ... I don't need to get there fast to stop but there are times that you need to slam on the brakes.
Probably the best type of discount is the defensive driver course discount which lasts for 3 years and big brother isn't watching. I have Geico and the price paid for the course gets more than paid for by the discount I would receive.
I have an Automatic Pro — just for my own logging and tracking purposes — and it registers anything greater than 0.3G as a "hard" stop/start. That works out to a 0-60MPH time of just over 9.1 seconds, and a similar amount of time to slow from 60 to 0.
Sounds kinda dangerous to me. If such changes in velocity are difficult for you to deal with — whether with your own car or those around you — then you should probably stick to public transportation and leave the operation of heavy machinery to those who display competence with it. This will save you money, reduce pollution, and make the roads generally safer by reducing the amount of traffic in general, and the "dangerous" ("inept") traffic in particular.
Sounds kinda dangerous to me. If such changes in velocity are difficult for you to deal with — whether with your own car or those around you — then you should probably stick to public transportation and leave the operation of heavy machinery to those who display competence with it. This will save you money, reduce pollution, and make the roads generally safer by reducing the amount of traffic in general, and the "dangerous" ("inept") traffic in particular.
I tend to accelerate harder off of green lights and stop signs. I'm not a big speeder and I think part is the down low grunt that the OHV 3500 V6 has. A lot of roads around here are 2 to 3 lane with traffic lights regularly.
I don't think these devices are good for someone like me.
I don't think these devices are good for someone like me.
Originally Posted By: 64bawagon
... now I see that OnStar is flirting with partnering with insurance companies. That's a little too much big brother for me. I have been driving a long time and never had a ticket but yet the report showed I had a number of unsafe events, what it doesn't show is that most of those were trying to avoid some moron on their phone.
Nice, isn't it? Your driving gets flagged while the idiot talking on his phone wouldn't trigger the device. Insurance companies want to manage risk, they try all sorts of things to more accurately do this, but unfortunately the things they try will never be 100% accurate. I'm sure they can point to statistics that hard stop-start drivers are in more accidents, but yet collecting this information with these trackers cannot take other factors into consideration.
... now I see that OnStar is flirting with partnering with insurance companies. That's a little too much big brother for me. I have been driving a long time and never had a ticket but yet the report showed I had a number of unsafe events, what it doesn't show is that most of those were trying to avoid some moron on their phone.
Nice, isn't it? Your driving gets flagged while the idiot talking on his phone wouldn't trigger the device. Insurance companies want to manage risk, they try all sorts of things to more accurately do this, but unfortunately the things they try will never be 100% accurate. I'm sure they can point to statistics that hard stop-start drivers are in more accidents, but yet collecting this information with these trackers cannot take other factors into consideration.
I don't know why anybody would volunteer to be spied upon like this. I also don't want their equipment and software interacting with my vehicle through the OBD port. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see car makers try to deny a warranty claim due to these devices, even though it likely wasn't the culprit. I also wonder what else the insurance companies might use this information for. They could offer me a 75% discount and I wouldn't do this.
I just left Geico when they raised my rate over $500 / year for 3 cars for no reason. Also learned that when I use the insurance tow that I was paying for that counts as a claim. While searching for new insurance they kept telling me I had a claim when I knew I did not. Turns out I had a brake locked on a rotor while I was renting an apartment so no good way to repair in lot. Used the insurance tow and now this apparently is a claim on insurance. Lesson learned.
Originally Posted By: dlayman
I don't know why anybody would volunteer to be spied upon like this. I also don't want their equipment and software interacting with my vehicle through the OBD port. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see car makers try to deny a warranty claim due to these devices, even though it likely wasn't the culprit. I also wonder what else the insurance companies might use this information for. They could offer me a 75% discount and I wouldn't do this.
You'd be surprised....for a small discount, they can pretty much spy on your car...
Just had a co-workers claim denied because of this. She had to slam the brakes on to avoid a dummy racing out of a driveway in front of her. She was rear ended, and the accident was a nice mess. Her insurance came back saying if she had not braked so hard, she would not have caused the accident, so it was really her fault and denied the claim, and left her open to the lawsuit by the other guy.....
She is fighting it, will report what I hear.....
I don't know why anybody would volunteer to be spied upon like this. I also don't want their equipment and software interacting with my vehicle through the OBD port. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see car makers try to deny a warranty claim due to these devices, even though it likely wasn't the culprit. I also wonder what else the insurance companies might use this information for. They could offer me a 75% discount and I wouldn't do this.
You'd be surprised....for a small discount, they can pretty much spy on your car...
Just had a co-workers claim denied because of this. She had to slam the brakes on to avoid a dummy racing out of a driveway in front of her. She was rear ended, and the accident was a nice mess. Her insurance came back saying if she had not braked so hard, she would not have caused the accident, so it was really her fault and denied the claim, and left her open to the lawsuit by the other guy.....
She is fighting it, will report what I hear.....
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
You'd be surprised....for a small discount, they can pretty much spy on your car...
Just had a co-workers claim denied because of this. She had to slam the brakes on to avoid a dummy racing out of a driveway in front of her. She was rear ended, and the accident was a nice mess. Her insurance came back saying if she had not braked so hard, she would not have caused the accident, so it was really her fault and denied the claim, and left her open to the lawsuit by the other guy.....
She is fighting it, will report what I hear.....
That's crazy. What company is this?
Who hit her? The Pope? I don't understand why her insurer wouldn't be shifting blame to "the other guy" by default. Plus, in most states, she's legally obligated to brake as hard as necessary to avoid colliding with another vehicle. Ditto for the guy behind her, who's clearly the one at fault here. Was the other driver not insured or something?
You'd be surprised....for a small discount, they can pretty much spy on your car...
Just had a co-workers claim denied because of this. She had to slam the brakes on to avoid a dummy racing out of a driveway in front of her. She was rear ended, and the accident was a nice mess. Her insurance came back saying if she had not braked so hard, she would not have caused the accident, so it was really her fault and denied the claim, and left her open to the lawsuit by the other guy.....
She is fighting it, will report what I hear.....
That's crazy. What company is this?
Who hit her? The Pope? I don't understand why her insurer wouldn't be shifting blame to "the other guy" by default. Plus, in most states, she's legally obligated to brake as hard as necessary to avoid colliding with another vehicle. Ditto for the guy behind her, who's clearly the one at fault here. Was the other driver not insured or something?
Originally Posted By: spk2000
I just left Geico when they raised my rate over $500 / year for 3 cars for no reason. Also learned that when I use the insurance tow that I was paying for that counts as a claim. While searching for new insurance they kept telling me I had a claim when I knew I did not. Turns out I had a brake locked on a rotor while I was renting an apartment so no good way to repair in lot. Used the insurance tow and now this apparently is a claim on insurance. Lesson learned.
Interesting about the towing as I had it on all my cars but my wive's new car has Ford's roadside assistance. I think it's good to shop around every so often for insurance to make sure you are getting a good rate. The best company I ever had was Wausau (sp?) Insurance - cheap and very good ... of course they went out of business. I believe almost every insurance company ups their rates on customers as we become complacent.
I just left Geico when they raised my rate over $500 / year for 3 cars for no reason. Also learned that when I use the insurance tow that I was paying for that counts as a claim. While searching for new insurance they kept telling me I had a claim when I knew I did not. Turns out I had a brake locked on a rotor while I was renting an apartment so no good way to repair in lot. Used the insurance tow and now this apparently is a claim on insurance. Lesson learned.
Interesting about the towing as I had it on all my cars but my wive's new car has Ford's roadside assistance. I think it's good to shop around every so often for insurance to make sure you are getting a good rate. The best company I ever had was Wausau (sp?) Insurance - cheap and very good ... of course they went out of business. I believe almost every insurance company ups their rates on customers as we become complacent.
I would imagine that the insurance companies make a nice chunk of money out of these tracking devices selling the data they produce. It would be interesting to see their disclosure of personal information statement when it comes to these devices.
Originally Posted By: spk2000
I just left Geico when they raised my rate over $500 / year for 3 cars for no reason. Also learned that when I use the insurance tow that I was paying for that counts as a claim. While searching for new insurance they kept telling me I had a claim when I knew I did not. Turns out I had a brake locked on a rotor while I was renting an apartment so no good way to repair in lot. Used the insurance tow and now this apparently is a claim on insurance. Lesson learned.
It should be illegal for companies to charge you for *using* the service you pay them to provide. End of rant.
I just left Geico when they raised my rate over $500 / year for 3 cars for no reason. Also learned that when I use the insurance tow that I was paying for that counts as a claim. While searching for new insurance they kept telling me I had a claim when I knew I did not. Turns out I had a brake locked on a rotor while I was renting an apartment so no good way to repair in lot. Used the insurance tow and now this apparently is a claim on insurance. Lesson learned.
It should be illegal for companies to charge you for *using* the service you pay them to provide. End of rant.
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