More families are investing in telematics to lower insurance rates

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- It’s important to watch how you drive on the road.

Some insurance companies now have devices that will do that for you, and they come with options to lower your payments.

Hundreds of vehicles pass this intersection on Highway 45 in Columbus every hour.

So, how do insurance companies know who’s watching the road and who’s not?

“It judges off of speed, sudden braking, and it goes with your text opening and things of that nature,” said Joey Bragg, Farm Bureau Mississippi.

Drive down is a car tracker.

Agent Joey Bragg with Farm Bureau says people can save money by practicing safe driving.

“It’s an app on your phone, and it can track your movement. It’s nothing that’s going to spy on you. It’s strictly tracking movement and seeing what you’re routine is a day,” said Joey Bragg, Agent with Farm Bureau Mississippi.

Plug-ins and other devices are used to monitor the roadways.

Bragg says the app is just as effective.

“We’ve seen what other companies have done, and we just kind of rearranged ours so where it wouldn’t ding you on things that aren’t needed,” said Bragg.

Andy Case is the Director of Consumer Services with the Mississippi Insurance Commission. He says it’s catching on.

“Some companies will offer it. Some companies, it’s the only way they’ll underwrite you. Some companies give you a choice. They can rate you traditionally based on your driving record, or you can use telematics,” said Case.

Here at Farm Bureau, Bragg says the program will be in effect on your policy for six months.

“We have our set-up where it’ll take your deductible, and you can raise your deductible as high as you can. That’ll give you a huge discount, and if there’s anything that happens, we will pay that entire deductible. We chose to raise our deductible so it’ll be the entire policy as a discount instead of just a monthly type discount,” said Bragg.

Drivers aren’t required to have a telematics program in their vehicles.

If you’re interested, call your insurance agent to determine how it could affect your policy.