Monthly Cost Reduction Strategy 2013: Progressive Car Insurance -Snapshot Program

In the US, the cost of car insurance is really high.  I have a teen driver [minor child] and a distant student.  There are a total of 4 drivers in the family and four vehicles.  I needed to find a way to reduce my monthly cost and I’ve been calling Progressive recently to reevaluate my policy.  So far, I’ve managed to reduce a big chunk of the premium initially by applying the following discounts:
1. Distant Student/Good Student discount for my daughter who is in college [90 miles away]
2. Minor Child/Good student discount for my son who just received his driver’s license 6 months ago.
3. 3 year safe driving record
4. Paperless discount
5. 5 year accident Free
6. Multi Car discount
7. Paid in full discount
8. Multi Policy discount
9. Homeowner insurance discount

When I was done talking to the Progressive Representative, I inquired about other ways that I can reduce the premium of my account,   she mentioned Snapshot – but I never heard about it.  She explained to me how it works and the mechanics of discount.  I was hesitant at first but as I read more about it, I was convinced that the Snapshot Program might work to my benefit since we don’t drive that much here in Round Rock and besides we are not aggressive drivers [I think, I’ll find out with the daily report]

The maximum discount that we can avail is 30%.  But when you look at the spreadsheet below, even a 10% discount is already a big chunk of savings.

View Excel File
At $1514.00 Per 6-Month Premium

Here’s the info about the Snapshot Program

Here’s the actual Snapshot Report of my vehicle

Vehicle #1-son, Minor driver [good]

 

Vehicle #2-daughter, College student driver [not good, but she is learning how to drive safely]

Vehicle #3-wife [getting better]

Vehicle #4-me [look at the zero hard stop!]

Sample of a detailed chart, my daughter had 10 hardstops in one trip

Progressive needs at least 30 days worth of data before they can apply the discounts to my account.  The discount is set per vehicle, so one bad driver cannot affect the other vehicle. The total period of study is 6 months and after that time, they will apply the full discount depending on the result of the Snapshot device.  One thing to note for the skeptics is,  the rate will not go up if they found out that you are a risky driver.  Of course they say that up front but who knows what really happens if your driving data is really that bad. Just beware, maybe it’s time to reeducate/reprogram your driving skills.

For me as a parent and a leader of my household, this device provided me a feedback of how my co-drivers in the house is doing on the wheel.  The other day, I confronted my daughter who incurred 10 hard stops at 50mph in San Antonio and she explained to me that it was because of the traffic.  Overall, I am satisfied with our performance, the data revealed that our family does not get out from the cave that much.  If you look at my driving, it is all work-home trips.

So, if you have Progressive Insurance, you might want to consider the Snapshot device.  The device is not intrusive since it does not have a GPS locator.  The only thing that is in question is I can tell when the car is moving and how long.  As a parent, that is good enough information to know the activities of my children.  Of course they can unplug it or use a friend’s car but that is another story.

To my wife and kids, our goal is 30% discount – meaning, you really have to drive safely everyday.

Daddy is watching!