Are you a historically good driver? Have you managed to rack up a clean driving history with practically no incidents to speak of? If this is the case, you may be eligible for a fairly new program that many drivers are taking advantage of to save money. This is a program that can save you a great deal of money in the long term.
There is one catch, though: You will need to let an insurance company track and monitor your driving. This is a development that has many insurance dispute attorneys up in arms. Other members of the insurance and consumer protection industries have also voiced their doubts. But many thousands of drivers prefer to focus on the savings they earn.
What is the Monitoring System All About?
There are some serious pros and cons to letting an insurance company monitor your driving. The system itself is an interesting one. It comes down to a simplified form of UBI, aka usage-based insurance. You pay for as much insurance as is warranted by the usage you put on your car during a specific time. Less use equals less to pay.
However, in order to qualify for this program, you will have to make a pretty large concession. This is to allow your insurance company the privilege of monitoring your driving in real-time. Some people are quite fine with allowing this unprecedented peek into their private lives. Others are bound to have a less sanguine attitude.
These types of programs can be seen as a boon for the careful or infrequent driver. After all, if you hardly ever use your car, you can’t complain about a system that rewards you for your judicious use. But if you have any kind of concerns about your privacy, this is the exact kind of “Big Brother” oversight that you may prefer to resist.
What Info Will Your Insurance Company Have?
It’s crucial to know in advance what kind of info you may be giving over to your insurance company. Yes, they will compensate you for this info in the form of lower premiums or the occasional bonus. But before you let an insurance company monitor your driving, it may be a good idea to find out just what they plan to do with this info.
One of the biggest concerns that many people may have will be with the privacy of their data. Will it be kept private for the sole use of your insurance company? The fear that many people harbor is that it may be sold to anyone who has the money to buy it. This could result in your being subject to all sorts of annoying spam for years.
There is also the fact that your info needs to be kept in an absolutely secure fashion. This is not the kind of activity that a company can afford to cut corners on. The fear of losing millions of peoples’ data to a hacker or spy is one that should very rightfully be on everyone’s mind. Not all people feel safe giving away this info.
What Are the Biggest UBI Benefits?
The biggest benefit that comes with letting your insurance company monitor your driving will be the amount of money that you can save. The system itself is a very simple one. You will need to install a plug-in into your USB port or via an app on your smartphone. Once you have done so, your insurance company monitors your driving.
With some programs, the level of discounts can reach up to 40 percent. With other programs, you may be able to cut your premium payments in half. These are incentives of a very serious nature that will add up to a great deal of savings in the long run. As a result, there are a whole lot of people willing to put up with being monitored.
The list of benefits that come with this program is a long one. This will be all the more true if you drive a fuel-efficient vehicle for short periods of time. The lower the mileage you rack up, the less likely you are to be involved in an accident. This may result in major savings, although the average rate is something like 20 percent.
Are There Any Serious Drawbacks to Consider?
There are some serious drawbacks to the program that you may wish to consider. Not all of the kinks have been worked out of the system. For example, if you are penalized by the program, you may disagree with the amount by which your premiums may go up. This is a serious issue that has earned the scrutiny of many insurance dispute attorneys.
What happens if you switch jobs and end up working at a new location that is much farther away than your old one? This is a case where your old mileage monitoring may no longer give you the same discounts that you were used to. In fact, it may now be costing you much more than you are willing to pay. This is a serious economic issue.
In a case like this, you’re going to have to weigh all of the pros and cons in order to decide if you wish to continue with the program. This will be harder to do if you are locked into a long-term arrangement with your insurance company. This may be the main reason why you need to think long and hard before agreeing to this program.
What if You Have Problems with Monitoring?
There are many issues that you may have with the insurance monitoring of your driving. If you feel that they have reached an unfair judgment against you, you may need to hire an insurance dispute attorney to take your case. The Bodden & Bennet Law Group is here to help you with your insurance company disputes in Boynton Beach, FL.
Insurance disputes may be complex and tedious affairs. You may need expert legal assistance to file your claim. Our goal is to stand by you at every step of the process. We will work to get you the full amount of compensation that you are owed. Get in touch with us today to learn more about what we can do on your behalf.
