Theres no shortage of devices that plug into your cars Onboard Diagnostic (OBD-II) port to gather data. And theres also no shortage of auto insurance companies that want to give you one for free in order to gather data about your driving habits in exchange for premium discounts: Progressive's Progressive's Snapshot, Allstate's Allstate's Drive Wise and State Farm's State Farm's In-Drive, to name a few. <\/p>\n
Now Liberty Mutual is sweetening the deal by offering Automatic, an OBD-II device that normally retails for $99.95 but is given for free when a driver signs up for a 90-day evaluation program called RightTrack that will be initially offered in Connecticut. Users who sign up share their driving data to earn up to a 30 percent discount on their Liberty Mutual car insurance by demonstrating safe driving habits such as smooth braking and accelerations, according to the auto insurer. And they also get access to Automatics other services, such as engine diagnostics, vehicle location and emergency crash response accessed via a companion iOS or Android smartphone app. <\/p>\n
Automatic OBD-II device. Photo by Automatic. <\/p>\n
Users get all the benefits of Automatic, Thejo Kote, CEO of Automatic, told Forbes.com, and theyre shown in the app exactly what they should do to get the discounts and learn how theyre driving. While driving aggressively will obviously send data from an OBD-II device that wont endear you to an auto insurer, Kote said that knowing other information that can affect your premium, such as driving at various times of the day, is the differentiating factor between the RightTrack program and other OBD-II auto insurance trackers. <\/p>\n
You get feedback through the application about what you could be doing to earn a higher discount, Kote added. One thing that has never happened with customers who use an [OBD-II device] to earn a discount is knowing exactly what they should be doing and how they are being measured. He contends that the process hasnt always been transparent, and we think it should be. <\/p>\n
All customers who participate in the program get at least a 5 percent discount if they finish the evaluation period, and they get to keep the device and all the benefits of Automatic, Kote noted. They can use all the features for those 90 days, and then after the 90 days they get all the features of Automatic without any charge. <\/p>\n
Automatic has already partnered with Ford to integrate with the automakers Sync system, Nest to connect with a users home climate control system and even the Jawbone UP wristband to guilt car owners who take short trips by knowing how many steps you could have logged if youd walked instead of drove. Kote said he sees this as a trend of companies leveraging the benefits of data-tracking devices and in many cases giving them away to their customers to deliver value to consumers and to businesses. <\/p>\n
The larger theme I see happening here is the example that Nest is doing with utilities, he added. A lot of utilities give away Nest free to their customers. Companies are coming together to give these great experiences to customers. Like having some control over your insurance rates through knowing how your driving can affect the cost, and getting other benefits to boot. <\/p>\n
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Exclusive: Liberty Mutual, Automatic Team Up To Offer Insurance Discounts, Free Services<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Theres no shortage of devices that plug into your cars Onboard Diagnostic (OBD-II) port to gather data. And theres also no shortage of auto insurance companies that want to give you one for free in order to gather data about your driving habits in exchange for premium discounts: Progressive's Progressive's Snapshot, Allstate's Allstate's Drive Wise and State Farm's State Farm's In-Drive, to name a few. Now Liberty Mutual is sweetening the deal by offering Automatic, an OBD-II device that normally retails for $99.95 but is given for free when a driver signs up for a 90-day evaluation program called RightTrack that will be initially offered in Connecticut. Continue reading