Has anyone signed up for "RightTrack" or similar safe driver tracking programs?

[laughing_paddler]

My frugal DW spent part of her afternoon of her day off trying to get us a lower home/auto insurance bill. Interestingly, the policy [with Liberty Mutual, through our credit union] offered an option to install a device in our cars for 90 days that measures things, about which their site says:

"The RightTrack discount is based on the following driving patterns: the number of miles you drive, the time of day or night you drive, rapid acceleration, and hard braking."

https://www.libertymutual.com/righttrack/righttrack-faq/righttrack-faq-details

I was skeptical when she mentioned it- seems invasive (note they don't say they don't collect speed data...). But, we don't have much to hide- aside from a little in-city speeding once in awhile, as I am now a SAHD and she bikes to work most days (yes in St. Paul MN- she kicks A$$). No hot rods (much to my 3-yr-old's dismay), not even any V6s.

They claim that enrolling in the program can save 5-30%, and they already quoted us some significant savings over SafeCo on home insurance, so why not trim the auto policy too?

Anyone have any experience with this? Does this freak anyone out? I'm leaning toward doing it after looking at their materials, but what say you MMM hive?

[FIRE me]

I find it too intrusive, but my insurance company wants the snitch to be permanently installed in the vehicle.

[laughing_paddler]

I find it too intrusive, but my insurance company wants the snitch to be permanently installed in the vehicle.

Hmm, yes that does seem like too much to me.

[Quint]

I looked into the Drivewise program with Allstate and found many negative reviews.  Many complaints about electrical issues due to the device hooked up to the OBD sensor constantly rather than intermittently like a mechanic would do.  Others saying if they stopped too abruptly when a traffic signal turned yellow or an animal ran in front of them it was listed as something akin to a braking incident which meant they did not receive much of a discount.  I don't think I read one good review of that program where anyone claimed they received the discount they were expecting.  Even the hours of the day you drove could count against you.  For example I believe it was any driving between say 11 PM and 6 AM (I forget the exact times) counted as negatives.  That was an issue for me as I often work a 1-11PM shift. 

I didn't enroll in the program so I can't speak to the truth of those reviews but it's worth looking in to.

[Dicey]

Do as Quint did and check the reviews. While you're at it, check out the whole company. In my state, LM has piss-poor ratings. No amount of cute commercials makes up for bad service. In fact, the sheer volume of commercials is somewhat alarming. Almost as if they're frantically trying to replace all the customers they're losing. And where's all that ad money coming from?

In your search for lower insurance costs, you might try a bricks and mortar insurance broker. DH did before we were married. She found a company* that doesn't advertise but has very high ratings. It's designed for Civil Servants. DH is not a Civil Servant, but he's somehow eligible (union, maybe?) and the prices are terrific. He never would have found them without the broker. Even if he did, he wouldn't have known that he'd be eligible.

In my single days, I had auto coverage from Wawanesa, a Canadian company that only did business in two US states. Found them because someone at a car dealership told my sister about them. Awesome company with great service and prices. Love, love, loved them. After we were married, DH's company had a better package, so I switched, but I miss them. Who says that about an insurance company? Crazy.

Bottom line: With a little research, you can get the pricing you want without the intrusion. So, I guess my answer is no fucking way. No how, no way, not ever. Not even if they paid me.

(*Can't remember the alphabet soup name of the company, 'cause DH pays the bills, that awesome guy. CSEA maybe?)

[laughing_paddler]

In your search for lower insurance costs, you might try a bricks and mortar insurance broker. DH did before we were married. She found a company* that doesn't advertise but has very high ratings. It's designed for Civil Servants. DH is not a Civil Servant, but he's somehow eligible (union, maybe?) and the prices are terrific. He never would have found them without the broker. Even if he did, he wouldn't have known that he'd be eligible.

We actually have been using a brick and mortar place that DW was using when we met. We've been through several switches with them. FWIW I actually just got off the phone with her and she said she wouldn't have had access to this deal because the credit union was accessing a large pool with lower rates.

One thing that I've wondered about brick and mortar agencies is how they get paid. We've never given her any money directly so I assume the companies give them something? Not bothered by that, just wondering about the way it works.

[Dicey]

I assume they earn commissions. Don't really care, as long as the price/coverage beats the rest.

I'm sure someone with insurance insider's perspective will be along shortly to clarify. Love this community!

[Chris22]

Given some of the underpowered cars people talk about driving with full loads piled into them on here, I wouldn't recommend it.  If you fill your Honda Fit with 800lbs of whatever, you're going to be full throttle up the on-ramp (or run over by a truck).  I'm guessing the insurance company doesn't discriminate between wide-open throttle in a Fit hitting 60mph in 12 seconds and WOT in a Mustang having some fun. 

[ketchup]

My insurance is through AAA and they had us install the AAA app on our smartphones that does basically the same thing you're describing.

I'm a cheap privacy whore apparently so I did it.  I think we're saving 15% because of that (rate was already the lowest I could find).

It claims to care about "smooth driving", "speed", "fatigue", "time of day", and "mobile distraction".  My "fatigue" rating takes a dive every time I drive a few hundred miles at a time.

[neo von retorch]

# It's extremely picky about how hard you hit your brakes.
# It's extremely picky about how many miles you drive.
# It's extremely picky about going over 55 miles per hour.
# The discount is usually pretty minimal.

With AllState, the initial discount made it worth it for me to give it a try, but then I found that I got a "C" rating (vague memory could be incorrect) because I drove x number of miles each week. And your lowest rating negates any higher ratings. So because mileage was considered high, the discount was nil. Even if you get good ratings, the ongoing discount is usually a few percentage points.

Take a close look at "discounts for enrolling" vs. actually ongoing discounts for performance. Ultimately, I felt like I was "stressing over if I'm hitting the brakes lightly enough" and it's just not worth it to me.

[jean-marc]

I have been doing it now for 2 months ( 1 month left) and so far I have a 20 percent discount. Commute to work once a week 250 miles on way from my house and have 7 hard breaking ( mostly distracted during heavier traffic).

I think 20 percent worth it if I can keep it there the max is 30 percent.

This is with Safeco

[Beridian]

I also had Allstate Drivewise.  It had a website you could go to to view your stats.   On the plus side it made me much more aware of my driving habits, I tried very hard to stay within their metrics.  Still it frequently flagged me for things I didn't understand like braking too hard or accelerating too suddenly.  On one occasion I was sure it was my wheels spinning on an icy patch.  In the end I felt the policy was too expensive even with the drivewise monitoring and I took my business to another carrier who does not use such devices.

[skip207]

Out of interest how much does motor insurance cost in the US?

The average in the UK is about £600 at the moment, which is the highest its ever been (around $750).  This is mostly due to 3rd party claims for injury in very minor accidents and "cash for crash" scams that happen on a regular basis.

We pay just under the £600 for each car.  One for me and one for the wife. 

Not long ago this was £300 ish.

We also have these drive apps in the UK, they are more trouble than they are worth.  Firstly, anyone I know who uses them gets if they are lucky 5% discount over the year but sometimes their insurance goes UP!  Secondly they are a scourge on our roads as people pull out in front of you and then proceed to accelerate at such a slow rate its dangerous.  Its becoming more and more common to see people doing this and also driving way under the speed limit because they are unsure what the limit is.  See this on national speed limit roads a lot (60mph limit) and people will be doing 30.

[Davids]

I did it a couple years back where it needed to be on for  90 days. The result was 10% discount on my car and  15% discount on my wife's car. Yeah it is intruisive but I don't mind.

[Sibley]

I've got the Allstate one currently. Probably isn't worth it for me. I'm an aggressive driver, and I know it. I also have WAY fewer accidents than the passive drivers I know. I do find it amusing that my 3 friends who are terrified of my driving are also the ones who've had at least one car totaled in the past 4 years (1 is up to 3 cars now). Technically, none of the accidents were their fault, but realistically all but one of the incidents could have been prevented if they'd slammed on the brakes.

In the meantime, the only car damage I've had was someone backing into my parked car, and the time I misjudged where the garage was and got paint on the car. It buffed off.

[AnEDO]

So far we are on track to get a 10% discount from Right Track (5-30% is the range).  The only things bringing it down appear to be what they consider "Rapid Deceleration"  It is difficult to not trigger these events.  I am neither an aggressive or passive driver but just go with the flow of traffic.  I rarely press hard on the brakes when I drive as I follow at a good distance.  Most of my commute involves a slew of traffic lights though and there isn't much you can do if the light changes and you have to stop for it.  I thought for sure I would qualify for a larger discount.  Shrug- I'll send it back in in a couple of months, get the discount and move on with life.