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One novel method that auto insurers have been experimenting with is voluntarily reporting data that can only help, not hurt. So, for instance, if you install t

by jawns 4y ago

One novel method that auto insurers have been experimenting with is voluntarily reporting data that can only help, not hurt. So, for instance, if you install their monitoring device in your vehicle and it shows that you don't drive in risky ways, you qualify for a discount. If you choose not to volunteer this data, or the data shows that you're a risky driver, you pay the base rate. Now, is that really "volunteering" the data, or do you end in up roughly the same position as with the credit bureaus, where you need to turn over lots of personal information to get reasonable rates? I think reasonable people can disagree about that.

TylerE 4y ago
Careful. What seems to really happen is they jack the base rate up a bit, and their threshold for safe driving is “never speed, at all, or use more than 10% throttle or 25% brake”
eyelidlessness 4y ago
This works for things like car insurance because most people aren’t driving secretly insured cars they don’t tell other insurers about, and because many of the factors determining your car insurance rate are cited by the state. It could work for loans too, but it’d require creating a state agency which… well, I decided not to post that surely unpopular opinion.
toast0 4y ago
> One novel method that auto insurers have been experimenting with is voluntarily reporting data that can only help, not hurt. So, for instance, if you install their monitoring device in your vehicle and it shows that you don't drive in risky ways, you qualify for a discount. If you choose not to volunteer this data, or the data shows that you're a risky driver, you pay the base rate. How is this help, not hurt? Insurers are tightly regulated in most states, and the sum of the premiums for a group can't be mlre than the losses for that group plus an allowed profit margin. If you give someone else in my group a discount, that's coming out of my pocket in some form or other. (Of course, if the discount encourages them to drive in a way that reduces losses, that could be money going into my pocket too; either way, I'm not letting them snoop on me, thanks)

by jawns 4y ago

TylerE 4y ago

Careful. What seems to really happen is they jack the base rate up a bit, and their threshold for safe driving is “never speed, at all, or use more than 10% throttle or 25% brake”

eyelidlessness 4y ago

This works for things like car insurance because most people aren’t driving secretly insured cars they don’t tell other insurers about, and because many of the factors determining your car insurance rate are cited by the state. It could work for loans too, but it’d require creating a state agency which… well, I decided not to post that surely unpopular opinion.

toast0 4y ago

> One novel method that auto insurers have been experimenting with is voluntarily reporting data that can only help, not hurt. So, for instance, if you install their monitoring device in your vehicle and it shows that you don't drive in risky ways, you qualify for a discount. If you choose not to volunteer this data, or the data shows that you're a risky driver, you pay the base rate. How is this help, not hurt? Insurers are tightly regulated in most states, and the sum of the premiums for a group can't be mlre than the losses for that group plus an allowed profit margin. If you give someone else in my group a discount, that's coming out of my pocket in some form or other. (Of course, if the discount encourages them to drive in a way that reduces losses, that could be money going into my pocket too; either way, I'm not letting them snoop on me, thanks)