Car insurance with discount based on your driving style?

Discounts based on your driving style?

In a world of change, technology is becoming more important every day and seeping into all aspects of our lives. Insurance companies are also using new technological gadgets, for instance to analyse your driving style. With a favourable driving style, you can turn these developments to your financial advantage. By installing an app on your smartphone or having a plug fitted in your car, your insurance company can record and analyse your driving style and you get a premium discount if you adopt a safe driving style.

How do insurers analyse your driving style?

Some insurers use an app to measure your driving style, while others use a connector to put in your car. These apps and connectors analyse your driving style based on the power used and GPS. For instance, they record where you drive, how fast you drive and how hard you brake and accelerate. By adopting a safe driving style, such as not braking too suddenly, not driving too fast and driving calmly through corners, you get points that reward you for your driving, which can save you money on your insurance. Especially for younger and older drivers, this can be a significant benefit. Drivers under 24 often pay more, as they have not yet proven themselves as safe drivers. The elderly also often have to pay a surcharge because they belong to high-risk groups. By demonstrating your safe driving style through an app or tracker, you can easily save money in these high-risk groups. But even if you do not belong to one of the risk groups, you can save money if you drive safely.

How does the benefit system work?

Most insurance companies only reward really safe drivers. If you have an average driving style, you get only a little discount, which is why regular car insurance is sometimes lower than discounted driving insurance. This is because the basic premium for this special insurance is higher than for comparable other car insurance policies.

Problems with driving style insurance

As with most technologies, there are problems with apps and plug-ins. For instance, the apps are sensitive to all movement. Not just to movement of your car, but drains your smartphone battery and the behaviour you set to avoid an accident, such as swerve for another car or brake hard for a child crossing the road, for example, is recorded as negative driving behaviour. For insurance policies that work with a stick, you only qualify if you have a car suitable for the tracker. It cannot be used in hybrid or old cars, for example.