Maybe you have heard of Pay as You Drive car insurance–you install a device in the car that measures how much you drive in exchange for an insurance discount.
You may even remember that Directed purchased a stake in a company in this field called Octo Telematics.
Well, these add on devices for Pay as You Drive are becoming increasingly high tech, now offering On-Star like emergency services and even teen tracking.
State Farm just announced it teamed up with Hughes Telematics to create a device that measures not only your mileage and driving times but it offers services like roadside assistance, vehicle diagnostics, and one touch emergency response.
It also measures your miles driven, rate of speed on turns, and sudden acceleration. And there’s a smartphone app for remote access to the system.
The above services are free for the first 6 months. Then the step-up services cost between $5 and $15 per month. But your insurance discount starts at 10 percent and most users who drive 12,000 miles a year get a 20 percent discount on insurance.
The service launches in Illinois this September and may roll out to other states. State Farm already offers a program in 5 states with OnStar that provides Pay as You Drive discounts for OnStar customers.
A State Farm spokesman said the new Hughes program is its most sophisticated to date and permits the highest discounts.
“This combined offering represents a first in our industry,” said Mike Wey, senior VP of State Farm.
Source: State Farm
