Driving is under your control

Whenever you start thinking about insurance, the first thought tends to be about the risks of different types of traffic accident or the ways in which you might lose the vehicle. You make lists of collisions, vandals writing their names on your bodywork, thieves driving the vehicle away, floods carrying your car off, and so on. Then you get to all those other personal factors like where you live, what your credit score is, and so on. After a while, you wonder how you can hope to find cheaper cover when, so often, whether you make a claim or the amount of the damage has nothing to do with the way you drive. Now add in the fact that you have no control over the cost of gas or of how much the body shop will charge to repair any damage and there's a temptation to give up. Except that's a bit negative.

No matter what you may fear, insurance is really all about whether you are going to make a claim. Those who have the best track record, have the lowest premium rates. So don't give up. If you have a defensive style of driving and avoid all the most obvious situations in which you may get into an accident, the insurer will reward you over time. Then you ask whether there's any way in which you can speed up time.

Welcome to the brave new world of technology. Thanks to the development of all our cell phones and other mobile computers, there's a way of continuously transmitting information from your vehicle. Manufacturers are now fitting some clever chips to monitor exactly how your vehicle is performing. If something starts to go wrong, the vehicle displays warning messages and can signal your usual mechanic with details. This covers everything from whether your tires are properly inflated, the level of wear in the brakes, and so on. Add in the GPS transmitters so that, if someone steals your car, you have a reasonable chance of finding it, and the package is genuinely useful.

Insurers are now moving into the field with recording devices and cameras. They are offering up to 30% discounts if you agree to a "spy" sitting in the vehicle with you. This records how far and when you drive, and how "well" you drive, i.e. the pattern of acceleration and braking. The assumption is that anyone who drives away from stop lights like a bat out of Hell and then brakes violently is not a safe driver. Insurers are now offering you personal car insurance rates based on whether your driving style matches the insurer's model for safety. This is revolutionary but, if you are prepared to change your behavior, there's a direct cash saving coming your way as a reward. All it needs is a little sacrifice in your privacy. In theory, the risks are not great. The contract of insurance will limit access to this data and only the insurer will be allowed to process and store it. Anyone else will have to get a court order before being allowed to view it. So if you want cheaper auto insurance quotes, check out usage-based insurance.