There are certain monthly expenses you can’t get by without – car insurance is one of them. While it is a necessity to guard against the unpredictable, it is a constant battle to keep that cost at a minimum. Everyone wants the best coverage, but no one wants to overpay that insurance. On the road there are two types of drivers – good drivers and bad drivers – wouldn’t it be great if good drivers could be rewarded for their good driving habits and the ability to avoid accidents?
Because I am always on the lookout for ways to cut down on our monthly expenses, I was intrigued when Progressive offered a new product to do just that – reward good drivers with lower priced car insurance. Since my car insurance is already with Progressive, and I am, of course, a great driver (grin) the promise of a possibility of lowering my monthly insurance was very appealing.
How Does Snapshot Insurance Work
With Progressive’s Snapshot insurance, drivers receive a device that plugs into their vehicle to monitor their driving habit. The tiny device easily plugs into the OBD II port in your car and monitors three things while you drive:
- How far you travel – based on duration of each trip, not on actual miles.
- Time of day you travel – specifically monitoring to see if you drive between the hours of 12 am – 4 am.
- Frequent quick breaking – breaking slowly and safely keeps this trigger under control
Once the device is plugged in, data is wirelessly transmitted to Progressive about your driving habits. (No geographical information is gathered or stored.) And drivers are sent a weekly report card based on these driving measurements via email. During the initial 30 days a baseline of driving habits is established, to determine how much savings is available to the driver – up to 30%.
My Experience With Snapshot
I am pleased to report that at the end of 30 days, I received a B+ average for my driving. That score offered me a savings of $160 – $240 per year, which is quite significant. Because my insurance is already through Progressive, I am currently looking into how to take advantage of that savings offer for my family. Yeay!
One of the interesting things about the weekly report is that you can actually see why you are graded the way you are. My personal deductions were for distance traveled (my husband drives my car once a week to work across town and my vehicle is used for family trips to the beach) and quick breaks. Because I have no reason to drive in the middle of the night, I received perfect marks in that category.
Saving money on my car insurance is fantastic, and I am excited to have proof and validation for being a good driver. But the Snapshot program isn’t perfect, and there are some features that take some getting used to.
When I first started using the device, I thought I was losing my mind. I kept hearing this soft beeping noise when I turned on the car. I kept asking my daughter, “Did you hear that?” Once I realized it was the device, I was ok with it quietly beeping when the car is initially turned on. My issue with the device is that it also beeps whenever you break quickly.
I am not a habitual quick breaker, but when I need to break quickly in order to avoid a wreck I do so. I found it to be very distracting to have the device beep at me when I needed to quick break. The beeping noise served as a reminder to me that I was doing something that would tarnish my ability to save money. Not something I need to be worried about when I am trying to avoid hitting another car or small animal that has run out into the road. If I could change just one think about this device, it would be to eliminate the quick-break chime.
The ultimate question is will I continue to use the device (and live with the beeping after the program). For a savings of approximately 9-15% a year, yes. During the first weeks, I was very annoyed by the sound but as my initial 30 days came to a close I realized I noticed it less and less. So the ability to save up to 15% off my bill is significant enough for me to continue with the Snapshot program.
You can test the Snapshot program for free for 30 days to see how much money you could save. If at the end of the program you decide not to continue, simply return the device. If you enroll in the program, the device remains in your vehicle (at no additional cost) until you cancel or change your insurance policy.
Learn more about Progressive’s Snapshot insurance online.
Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Progressive.