We are bombarded 24/7 with all the silly ads from Progressive, GEICO, 21st Century, Farmer’s University, Nationwide, Allstate saying they can all save us $400+ per year. The ads are at about the level of a 10 year old. I suppose that is what we get in our dumbed down society.
Progressive is really the only one in the group you name that can boast meaningful analytics. GEICO is getting there…the rest are way behind the curve.
Sorry for the cynicism. Snapshot probably is pretty neat, and usage-based analytics is a very interesting topic. This article just seemed a little salesy to me.
Flo will tell you that. Their name even makes me shudder. Their CEO is a big Obama supporter. Perhaps they will get a bigger piece of the pie when all is said and done.
Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican darling and hero was the founder of the Bull Moose Progressive Party and a true Progressive by today’s terms. He called for many of the exact same things President Obama calls for today. I’m sure he’s turning over in his grave at what his party has become today.
How do I get free advertising on this site? I usually look to this forum to learn something I do not already know that is truly newsworthy. If it takes x amount of dollars to operate a company and all of a sudden rates are reduced by 30% am I to assume this is just fine with the company. You are now drinking the same koolaide as the public who buys into the adds we see everywhere. I did not realize market share was the main driver in the equasion. This math is the same fuzzy logic that would have us to believe we can add 30 million uninsured people to a National Health Care program and costs will go down as we manage costs as shifting will no longer occur. Did we also add more medical professionals. Give a break as long as it is covered by health insurance.
Veteran Agent is well informed. Not only are they big Obi supporters but also big supporters of Gay Pride Parades. Clearly this is an IJ favor. Pride comes before the fall!
The day I let a company with as sketchy a history as Progressive install a recording device in my car is the day I turn in my keys!
This is way too Orwellian for me.
The article makes it clear that Progressive sponsored the study so you can decide whether you give it credence or not. Why attack IJ for publishing it? Harris follows accepted research methods. Usage-based insurance is a competitive force, whether from Progressive or other carriers and it is growing. Maybe some are confused and upset upset that companies like Progressive are successful at it. Rather than be smart and be sure they are affording their customers the best service including discounts they have available, they attack the company for ties to Obama. Pathetic. They don’t represent the bulk of agents or carriers. What does Obama have to do with this? I don’t think he took a position on auto insurance in the last election:) Grow up. How about a serious discussion of usage based insurance— it’s being used in workers’ comp, too.
Exactly, Obama doesn’t have anything to do with this. There are some clients that DO like this option and for those that don’t you need not propose it. Ohhhh, maybe you can’t write Progressive?
How are they using usage-based analytics in WC? (Out of curiosity.)
I agree with your desire to have a good discussion about usage-based insurance. My discomfort with this article arises because it seems like much of the information being published right now comes from sources that are heavily invested in the technology (Progressive and Towers Watson). Even if you were to withhold judgment based solely on that, the content of their information seems specious at best. (I.e., “50% of drivers drive less than average”; “84% of drivers think they’re good drivers”.)
There are a few things that I have been dying to hear discussed about usage-based analytics:
I’m curious about the effect of self-selection among participants. From what I’ve read, many of the people who have been participating in early versions of the programs are genuinely better than average drivers. But in the general population many people are worse than average drivers. I haven’t heard much discussion about what happens when they start joining these programs. (Higher rates, yes?)
I’m also really hesitant about the idea of getting a device in everyone’s car. Progressive installs a box. What about people who buy direct online? Presumably they have to get a box installed. What about people in very rural areas? That seems like a pain. There’s also a lot of talk about getting smart phones to transmit the data. Having tried out State Farm’s Driver Safety app (because I really am curious), I can say that it KILLS your battery, and it’s a pain to remember to turn it on. If you don’t have unlimited data on your phone plan, who pays for it?
What do companies imagine the uptake to be? Surely not everyone? Although if companies like On-Star eventually become willing to collect and sell the data I could see usage-based analytics catching on like wildfire (they won’t at the moment). Really, if data transmission became a standard feature on cars then everything would change.
It just seems like this article, like much other content out there, wants only to talk about “discounts, discounts, discounts.” It’s disappointing.
As long as the program gives discounts to safe drivers, it is a benefit to customers who join the program. As soon as insurance companies see the program as a way to penalize drivers who do not meet their definition of “safe”, the program is dead.
I would like to get one of these and attach it to a driver in a NASCAR race. Mr Jones, you on average drive less than the 12,000 miles a year but you averge about 170 MPH and only seem to take left turns
I know many readers, amazingly enough even those of an insurance journal, will disagree with me, but unless and until the cost of our behavior is “internalized” via personalized pricing on insurance, we will not be incented to improve. The risk lovers—texters, speeders, night riders, etc—will be subsidized by the risk averse.
In India only 29% people Insured.Both Group & Life Insurer .Only in people got insurance, village are not get insurance.I* am asking all livings are take and help people to help.
I’d save a fortune with my frozen odometer…. of course I get 0 MPG.
We are bombarded 24/7 with all the silly ads from Progressive, GEICO, 21st Century, Farmer’s University, Nationwide, Allstate saying they can all save us $400+ per year. The ads are at about the level of a 10 year old. I suppose that is what we get in our dumbed down society.
Progressive is really the only one in the group you name that can boast meaningful analytics. GEICO is getting there…the rest are way behind the curve.
Was this just an ad for Progressive?
Breaking News:
“Progressive commissioned a study which found… their product is awesome!”
Sorry for the cynicism. Snapshot probably is pretty neat, and usage-based analytics is a very interesting topic. This article just seemed a little salesy to me.
Flo will tell you that. Their name even makes me shudder. Their CEO is a big Obama supporter. Perhaps they will get a bigger piece of the pie when all is said and done.
Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican darling and hero was the founder of the Bull Moose Progressive Party and a true Progressive by today’s terms. He called for many of the exact same things President Obama calls for today. I’m sure he’s turning over in his grave at what his party has become today.
How do I get free advertising on this site? I usually look to this forum to learn something I do not already know that is truly newsworthy. If it takes x amount of dollars to operate a company and all of a sudden rates are reduced by 30% am I to assume this is just fine with the company. You are now drinking the same koolaide as the public who buys into the adds we see everywhere. I did not realize market share was the main driver in the equasion. This math is the same fuzzy logic that would have us to believe we can add 30 million uninsured people to a National Health Care program and costs will go down as we manage costs as shifting will no longer occur. Did we also add more medical professionals. Give a break as long as it is covered by health insurance.
Veteran Agent is well informed. Not only are they big Obi supporters but also big supporters of Gay Pride Parades. Clearly this is an IJ favor. Pride comes before the fall!
Oh Geez, a study done by progressive with 1,030 people in a country of 310,000 million. Total garbage!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_significance
The big three reasons cited in the article as a reason for savings seem to be the biggest three lies told to companies.
The day I let a company with as sketchy a history as Progressive install a recording device in my car is the day I turn in my keys!
This is way too Orwellian for me.
The article makes it clear that Progressive sponsored the study so you can decide whether you give it credence or not. Why attack IJ for publishing it? Harris follows accepted research methods. Usage-based insurance is a competitive force, whether from Progressive or other carriers and it is growing. Maybe some are confused and upset upset that companies like Progressive are successful at it. Rather than be smart and be sure they are affording their customers the best service including discounts they have available, they attack the company for ties to Obama. Pathetic. They don’t represent the bulk of agents or carriers. What does Obama have to do with this? I don’t think he took a position on auto insurance in the last election:) Grow up. How about a serious discussion of usage based insurance— it’s being used in workers’ comp, too.
Exactly, Obama doesn’t have anything to do with this. There are some clients that DO like this option and for those that don’t you need not propose it. Ohhhh, maybe you can’t write Progressive?
How are they using usage-based analytics in WC? (Out of curiosity.)
I agree with your desire to have a good discussion about usage-based insurance. My discomfort with this article arises because it seems like much of the information being published right now comes from sources that are heavily invested in the technology (Progressive and Towers Watson). Even if you were to withhold judgment based solely on that, the content of their information seems specious at best. (I.e., “50% of drivers drive less than average”; “84% of drivers think they’re good drivers”.)
There are a few things that I have been dying to hear discussed about usage-based analytics:
I’m curious about the effect of self-selection among participants. From what I’ve read, many of the people who have been participating in early versions of the programs are genuinely better than average drivers. But in the general population many people are worse than average drivers. I haven’t heard much discussion about what happens when they start joining these programs. (Higher rates, yes?)
I’m also really hesitant about the idea of getting a device in everyone’s car. Progressive installs a box. What about people who buy direct online? Presumably they have to get a box installed. What about people in very rural areas? That seems like a pain. There’s also a lot of talk about getting smart phones to transmit the data. Having tried out State Farm’s Driver Safety app (because I really am curious), I can say that it KILLS your battery, and it’s a pain to remember to turn it on. If you don’t have unlimited data on your phone plan, who pays for it?
What do companies imagine the uptake to be? Surely not everyone? Although if companies like On-Star eventually become willing to collect and sell the data I could see usage-based analytics catching on like wildfire (they won’t at the moment). Really, if data transmission became a standard feature on cars then everything would change.
It just seems like this article, like much other content out there, wants only to talk about “discounts, discounts, discounts.” It’s disappointing.
As long as the program gives discounts to safe drivers, it is a benefit to customers who join the program. As soon as insurance companies see the program as a way to penalize drivers who do not meet their definition of “safe”, the program is dead.
I’m extremely disappointed with the Insurance Journal for publishing this article. This reads as an advertisement rather than an unbiased article.
I agree with P&C Underwriter, this looks like a Progressive commerical rather than a news article. Shame on you!
was this biased article or a Progressive ad?
Wait until Under Writers start using your social media habits and updates as one of their metrics to rate your insurance.
I would like to get one of these and attach it to a driver in a NASCAR race. Mr Jones, you on average drive less than the 12,000 miles a year but you averge about 170 MPH and only seem to take left turns
I know many readers, amazingly enough even those of an insurance journal, will disagree with me, but unless and until the cost of our behavior is “internalized” via personalized pricing on insurance, we will not be incented to improve. The risk lovers—texters, speeders, night riders, etc—will be subsidized by the risk averse.
In India only 29% people Insured.Both Group & Life Insurer .Only in people got insurance, village are not get insurance.I* am asking all livings are take and help people to help.