Back in 2005, we covered Norwich Union's Pay-as-You-Drive program in the UK to charge consumers for auto insurance based on how often, when and where they use their vehicles. Starting in Texas, the United States will soon see a similar service for the first time thanks to MileMeter's "auto insurance buy the mile."
Like Norwich Union's offering, MileMeter will use consumers' usage levels to determine how much they must pay for auto insurance. Unlike Norwich Union's, however, MileMeter will not use any kind of vehicle tracking device to record that usage. Rather, consumers will buy coverage in advance in increments of as few as 1,000 miles; when their odometer reaches the end of that increment, the coverage expires. The cost per mile varies with the geographic area and the age of the driver, but a reasonable ball park for a 30-year-old driver and minimum coverage in a midrange urban ZIP code in Texas might be 4 cents per mile, MileMeter CEO Chris Gay says. Multiple drivers in a household can also be covered for a single vehicle.
Dallas-based MileMeter will launch in Texas this summer, with plans to roll out quickly to other states, Gay says. In the meantime, it's attracted a fair bit of attention, not least because it was one of only seven finalists in the most recent Amazon Web Services Startup Challenge. Because it doesn't use gender as a basis for determining rates, MileMeter has been ardently supported by the National Organization for Women (NOW). And by rewarding drivers who use their cars less, it has the potential to make an environmental impact as well. Sounds like a win-win all around—time for more entrepreneurs to start thinking in increments!
Website: www.milemeter.com
Contact: curious@milemeter.com
Spotted by: Ozgur Alaz
Katherine and Ozgur:
Thanks for the post on MileMeter! We appreciate the interest and the coverage. Please let us know if there are other questions we can address.
Sincerely,
Chris
MileMeter
Ozgurbey:
Merhabalar ile kolay gelsin! Good catch on the MileMeter story. I linked to your piece at my blog for the Innovators-Network ( http://blog.innovators-network.org ) in hopes that some of my readers will visit Springwise.com and check out the whole story.
Mutlu Yillar!
Anthony Kuhn
Innovators Network
Ozgur:
I'm sorry if I assumed you were of the male persuasion. I have only met men with the name Ozgur and did not realize (until after I posted the above comment and thought to check) that you might be of the fairer sex. If so, please accept my apologies.
Maybe "Ozgur Efendim" would have been more appropriate?
Affedersiniz lutfen!
Anthony Kuhn
In South Africa, Hollard Has brought out a similar product - http://www.payasyoudrive.co.za/
I am insured with them and it works out much more cost effective.
While it might seem reasonable to assume that the National Organization for Women endorsed MileMeter because it does not divide prices by the sex of the car owner, the facts are more interesting. NOW's Insurance Project began the research and development of breakthrough odometer-mile pricing in the mid-1980's on finding that the so-called "break for women" was simply a discount on the youth rate to serve as a door-opening bid for dad's business. Men's higher average accident involvement at all ages was in direct proportion to men's higher average miles driven. Adult rates were in fact unisex. The remedy for the overcharging of all cars driven less than average miles for their class was to change from traditional car-year pricing to per-mile rates that let insureds buy miles much the way they buy gallons of gasoline at per-gallon rates.