It’s a typical part of the auto insurance discussion. “Do you want to participate in a telematics program?” While many people want to take advantage of the savings associated with a program like this, others are apprehensive about a driving monitoring program. As the auto insurance industry continues to evolve, we think you should give telematics a try, and here’s why:
Insurance Rates are Increasing
One way to fight recent inflation and increasing auto insurance rates is taking advantage of every discount you can get. Telematics programs can offer a large reward for a short time commitment. Many telematics programs only last 90 days and provide discounts for the lifetime of the policy with that particular carrier.
Feedback is Helpful
Our advisors promote telematics programs with good reason: they’ve given most of them a try themselves! For example, these programs record:
- How quickly you brake
- The time of day you drive
- How quickly you accelerate
- Using unsafe phone apps like texting, video calling, social media, or watching videos while driving
One of the best benefits to telematics programs is that drivers get personalized feedback of where the problem areas are on a daily commute. If you know more, you do better!
Telematics is the Future
Telematics programs use phone apps or other GPS devices to monitor driving habits and evaluate risk. They are extremely helpful when carriers are trying to assess general driving behaviors to set rates. For consumers, they can also provide safe-driving rewards or future cost savings on your insurance policy for safe driving.
Right now, telematics programs are an added discount. Moving forward, all signs point to telematics programs being here to stay. As companies continue to see the benefits of these tracking programs, they will want to continue to use them, or potentially require them.
Let’s Move Forward!
If you speak to your Cincinnatus advisor about auto insurance, in most cases we will suggest you should give telematics a try. With industry behaviors point towards them being the norm and providing a large discount, there’s a lot of benefits to participating in telematics. Additionally, our agents know the ins and outs of each carrier’s programs and can point you in the right direction based on your needs. Here are the telematics programs our preferred carriers offer:
- Grange – OnTrack
- Hanover – SmartPath (for teen drivers only)
- Progressive – Snapshot
- Safeco – RightTrack
- State Auto – Safety 360
- Travelers – IntelliDrive