Progressive's Snapshot program has been catching some attention from both consumers and other insurance companies for its innovativeness as well as its ability to collect higher quality data on its policyholders driving habits. The company continues to push forward with its program as it announced its fourth issued patent for the program this past on January 9.
This specific patent relates to producing a "driver safety score based on monitoring driving data," (Progressive Insurance Gets Fourth Pay-As-You-Drive Patent, Ben Zitney, Online Auto Insurance, http://news.onlineautoinsurance.com/companies/progressive-usage-based-car-insurance-patent-95973). President and CEO of Progressive, Glenn Renwick, says on the new patent that "for 15 years we have invested a great deal into the research, development, testing, and piloting of usage-based insurance programs and will continue to do so. It's gratifying to know that the U.S. Patent (and Trademark, or USPTO) office recognizes the uniqueness of our system technologies."
Since this is the fourth patent on this program Progressive has been issued, it is obvious that the company has been aggressive with their action patent their technologies, even the phrase "pay as you drive" has been registered to Progressive. With such actions, other insurance companies have begun to jump on the bandwagon, as the Celent report states 55% of the top 20 property and casualty insurers in the U.S. now have such programs to offer to their policyholders. It is the "lower manufacturing cost and other factors that are making the program more cost-effective for companies," (Progressive Insurance Gets Fourth Pay-As-You-Drive Patent, Ben Zitney, Online Auto Insurance).
The Snapshot program consists of data collecting device that is inserted into the diagnostic port of a vehicle and then information is relayed to the company, such as how many miles are drive, and the driver's safe habits such as braking and accelerating at a decent rate. This is why the program is so appealing to insurance companies; it allows insurers to obtain data that is more reliable than a driver's mileage estimate or data available on policyholders that is public.
The program is being dubbed a "win-win" by experts because "the data allows coverage providers to calculate risk and price coverage more accurately, and discount car insurance is awarded to drivers who are shown to be safe behind the wheel," (Progressive Insurance Gets Fourth Pay-As-You-Drive Patent, Ben Zitney, Online Auto Insurance). This voluntary program definitely can benefit the consumers who chose to partake in it, as it can save a consumer up to 30% if device shows they are logging low mileage and operating safely when braking and accelerating.
The program allows participants to keep track of their progress, which is available after only one month of being in the program. After that first initial month a policyholder is eligible for savings depending on the data that was received. This device will remain installed until the end of the sixth month when the policy term ends, which at that time a renewal discount can potentially be offered. This program has gained popularity as it is now used by 250,000 Progressive consumers in 39 different states and the District of Columbia, (Progressive Insurance Gets Fourth Pay-As-You-Drive Patent, Ben Zitney, Online Auto Insurance).
