- Telematic apps that you install on your phone let your insurance companies know how saf
ely you drive. - Based on your scores you may qualify for an insurance premium discount, however you won’t incur in higher premiums.
- There may be an initial resistance to install these apps due to privacy concerns.
- In my personal experience and after using the app for a month, I have estimated savings of 22% when my insurance is up for renewal.
- The app has made me a better (safer) driver.
I remember signing up for the Telematics app and being approved
over a year and a half ago. However the fact that my phone would be tracking my speed and driving habits made m
e apprehensive about enabling the app. For one I had always had a habit of going at a faster speed than the posted limit, but like to believe I am a safe driver since I have not had a single accident where I have been at fault in 20 years of driving.
I bit the bullet a bit over a month ago and enabled the State Farm app, here’s my findings:
- The main criteria to rate each trip on a maximum of 100 points is the following:
- Time of the day you’re driving, peak hours are more risky.
- Respecting the posted speed limits.
- No harsh braking.
- No hard turning. T
urning 90 degrees past 30km/hour is questionable.
- There’s 3 trips you can be forgiven on, don’t use them up too quickly.
- The app does generally detect whether you are on a bus.
- You can edit each trip once to indicate whether you were a passenger, on a taxi, on the bus, etc. Those trips won’t be tallied for your overall score.
- You do not need to remember to fire up the app every time you are about to start driving. I have a 5+ year old cell phone (Nexus 5) and haven’t had missed any trips.
- Finally after my month of driving, I have obtained a rating of around 90 which should grant me a 22% discount come insurance policy renewal.
My veredict: I will keep the Telematics app, since achieving a 22% discount is something significant on car insurance which tends to be quite expensive in Ontario. Furthermore I find my driving has improved as I feel less compelled be the fastest person around, and rather be the one saving the most hard-earned dollars.
Thank you for the this informative post! I’ve been looking for a way to lower my car insurance, but didn’t know about the Telematics app!