Car owners who rarely drive pay as much car insurance as those who are constantly driving. A pay-as-you-go system should be implemented: At the gas station you scan a card (yet another card to carry) that keeps track of how much gas you buy. Every gallon of gas has an euivalent insurance time-frame and extra cost. That way, the more you drive, the more insurance you have to pay. The less you drive, the less you pay. Sidenote, this system favors vehicles with good gas mileage, but it doesn't have to. "Miles driven" could be substitued for "gallons of gas." There would be discounts for those that drive a lot (truck drivers, etc..), and those that continue to have a healthy driving record.
I know there are other details to be worked out, but that is the start. What do ya'll think?-- bensini, Jan 24 2003 "Pay-As-You-Go" Car Insurance http://news.bbc.co....usiness/3573912.stmBaked - by Norwich Union [hippo, Oct 04 2004] dangerous intersections http://www.statefarm.com/di/danlist00.htm [yabba do yabba dabba, Oct 04 2004] MetroMile https://www.metromile.com [theircompetitor, Oct 24 2017] Not necessarily true - the last couple of times I've renewed my car insurance they've asked me my annual mileage, presumably on the basis that low mileage people cause either less or more accidents than high mileage people, thereby adjusting the premium.-- PeterSilly, Jan 24 2003 Um, I'm having a bit of trouble with the logic here: First you say, "the more you drive, the more insurance you have to pay". Then you conclude by saying "There would be discounts for those that drive a lot". Which will it be?-- jurist, Jan 24 2003 Invent a better swindle & the world will be at your doorstep.-- thumbwax, Jan 24 2003 Oil companies could start selling the insurance policies as well - add 5% onto the cost of petrol. You could evade paying insurance by signing up for a BP policy and then filling up at shell!-- Daniel2, Jan 24 2003 I assumed [bensini] was addressing liability insurance, which is all you need to drive legally where I live. But as UnaBubba points out, there's more than one kind of insurance. What kind(s) are we talking about here, [ben]?-- snarfyguy, Jan 24 2003 Note that even if we're thinking of all types of car insurance as a bundle, it's still perfectly sensible that such a collection would cost less to insure than it would if the cars were driven regularly. There's no problem there.
It's not a bad idea, but, as [PeterSilly] says, it's probably already done to the extent that it's really practical (and/or to the extent that insurance buyers will tolerate).-- Monkfish, Jan 24 2003 //The people who actually drove their cars subsidise the insurance payout for our silvertailed friend.// Bubba, that's how ALL insurance works. Those who are lucky and never make claims subsidize the payouts for those who do.
I'm sure you'd have to get a special policy for a "collectible" car. This is no different than it is now.-- krelnik, Jan 24 2003 You Halfakers came up with some great points! Here is my take on the poingant ones: --- Jurist mentioned..."...First you say, "the more you drive, the more insurance you have to pay". Then you conclude by saying "There would be discounts for those that drive a lot". Which will it be? Both. They are not mutually exclusive. A truck driver who drives 100,000+ per year should probably pay less insurance per mile than someone who drives 1,000 miles per year. That is of course, as long as they keep a good driving record. --- Snarfyguy says "What kind(s) are we talking about here, [ben]?" This is primarily for liability insurance, I haven't cosidered other types as of yet. --- I think that the biggest obstacle in the implementation of this PAYG system is this: Because premiums are much lower, after paying for the accidents and mishaps that happen, the Insurance Companies would have fewer millions of dollars to buy big cars and expensive houses.
Thank you to all those that posted comments!-- bensini, Jan 24 2003 But why would an Insurance Company take less profits?-- thumbwax, Jan 24 2003 //this system favors vehicles with good gas milage,but it doesn't have to//with a little modification, this could be made useful. if the raw data collected was the number of gallons bought and the amount charged was that number divided by the economy rating (mpg) users would be charged by the mile. the increase would come when the car deteriorated and gave a less economical performance. this would encourage proper maintainance of vehicles.this should also stop manufacturers exagerating their economy figures.-- stilgar, Jun 15 2004 Par-baked: saw on the news today that insurance companies are launching pilot schemes to test this principle, using mobile phone technology to track the cars.
HB prescience strikes again!-- DocBrown, Aug 18 2004 Some locations are more prone to accident than others, so they want to measure that as accurately as possible, too. And they already have statistics on dangerous intersections and the like (linkage), so if they knew how often your path crossed them, they might charge accordingly.-- yabba do yabba dabba, Aug 18 2004 Apparently being baked-- theircompetitor, Oct 24 2017 Wow, great idea.
Only 1 bun? Well, make that two at least.-- doctorremulac3, Oct 25 2017 The idea's author, [bensini], got their account the day they posted the idea.
[bensini] annoed on a half dozen ideas over the next two years and then passed from view, possibly run over by an uninsured driver, or eliminated by a powerful insurance agency.-- normzone, Oct 25 2017 Bensini, come back! You've been vindicated!-- doctorremulac3, Oct 25 2017 random, halfbakery