Allstate Drivewise: An Honest Review

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I’m kind’ve annoyed about something, and I need to get it off my chest.  Let me first say that I’ve had Allstate Auto Insurance for at least ten years.  When I was rear-ended in a car accident a few years ago, they handled it fairly well.  I’ve always been happy with the service I’ve gotten (for the most part), and I haven’t had any serious issues.  However, with all that being said, I feel like they made a fairly skeevy move recenty.  Let me explain.

The last time my car insurance rates were up for renewal, I noticed that my premiums went up quite a bit compared to the average car insurance rates.  So, I called the office to see what my options were.  Since I was already thinking about taking the full coverage off of my periwinkle minivan, I went ahead.  That move, in itself, saved a ton.  And, since I was already on the phone, they also told me about their Drivewise program.  In case you don’t know what Allstate Drivewise is, here’s how they explain it on their website:

“Drivewise is a program that gives safe, low mileage drivers the opportunity to earn a discount for driving safely. Drivewise also provides feedback on your driving behavior that may help you reduce your risk of having an accident.”

Basically, they mail you a contraption that connects to the dashboard in your car.  It monitors your speed and braking patterns and determines whether you’re a safe driver or not.  And, in exchange for participating, my Allstate rep told me that I would save 30 percent….which is A LOT.  I mean, I probably wouldn’t have done it to save 5 percent or 10 percent….but 30 percent?  Count me in.

So, I hooked the thing up to my car and completely forgot about it.  That was, until, I got an email from Allstate explaining that I could track my Drivewise discount on their website.  And, that’s when things went downhill….

DSCF2560According to Allstate, my discount is only going to be 17 percent, about half of the 30 percent that I was promised.  Why?  Because I’m doing it wrong.

According to their website, there are three levels of risk within a 24 hour time frame:

  • High Risk: 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.
  • Low Risk: 4:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
  • Moderate Risk: 11:00 a.m.  to 10:00 p.m.

And, although I have never driven during the high risk time zone, I often drive during moderate risk hours.  You know, from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. when almost everything in my life happens.  So, I suppose if I want to save the full 30 percent, I can just avoid driving during the day.  Sounds easy, right?  Unfortunately, there’s more……

More Problems

Apparently, I had a braking episode.  You can see the alleged incident highlighted in red on the graph.  I’m pretty sure the alleged incident took place in the Walmart parking lot, as a matter of fact, and the braking was entirely necessary compared to the alternative of running someone over.  However, should I really be penalized for it?  I mean, I’ve had Allstate Drivewise for three months now, and I’ve only had one braking incident.  What if I slammed the brakes so I didn’t hit another car?  Or, maybe a dog ran out in front of me.  Who knows?  Regardless, I’m not sure how they can count a single braking incident against someone when they have no idea why I was braking.  It seems like the “why” part of the equation should matter, doesn’t it?  It’s not like I had road rage or anything.

Regardless, although I’m happy to save 17 percent, I feel like the program is somewhat misleading.  Maybe I’ll work on not driving from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.  “Sorry kids….we’re walking to daycare today!”  Oh, and next time a dog runs out in front of me, I’ll just run it over.

Next → AllState Rewards Program: Great Deals or Marketing Scam?

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310 Comments

  1. Very interesting, I’ve always wondered how those contraptions work… I’m not a fan of analysis by a device. And it’s weird to me that your premiums went up just before doing this, that feels more scammy to me than the drivewise thing!

    I’ve had a few different carriers in my day, but for the last 6 years I’ve been using Geico and couldn’t be happier. Haven’t had my premiums go up yet!

    1. I think it’s weird that our premiums went up too. Our cars are getting older and cheaper to replace so our premiums should be going down.

      1. Older and cheaper cars are more likely driven by young and inexperienced drivers, who on average cause more damage.

        1. Except that we’re not young or inexperienced…and Allstate knows it. Neither of us have been in a wreck that was our fault…ever.

          1. Holly, I’m older than you. LOL
            And after coming in here all these times i agree, they do not explain drivewise or the way it works.
            I still think you should write a book.

          2. ”The adventures of Holly Johnson” ofcourse!!!

          3. I’ve never met someone that is mad to save money. You’ve only had it for 3 months and you are already up to 17 percent. Why don’t you give it a little more time and see what happends.

          4. John, Its down from, not up to…
            when you sign up for drivewise, they send you the gadget, you plug it in to your car. later you go in the house, turn on your computer, sign in to drive wise. look up towards the top, it will say 30%. which means they gave you 30% discount. from that day on every event drops that percent down.
            no ones ‘mad to save money’. everyones mad coz it was never explained right.

          5. Those are not the only factors…EGR (Experience Group Rating), safety ratings on vehicles (pulled through VIN#), PIP (in Michigan) and Bodily Injury (which is what the lawyers sue to the limits~it’s really Pain and Suffering)…risk factors determine the bulk of the rate, though experience driving does count. SO DOES CREDIT. Statistically, more of the drivers that have trouble paying their bills are in a higher risk category.

        2. Also, as a car ages, it may become obsolete and either harder to find a mechanic or parts for it – therefore making it more expensive to fix. Liability on a car that has no loan is a much better idea than full coverage unless you have a wreckless kid driving it. I had liability as a kid (in Oklahoma – state laws are different than others) and it was a blessing!

        3. I just got off the fone with drivewise, they told me they will look into my extreme braking. They’ve had other people complain and took off the extreme braking due to weather related. mine were 1 minute before turning my car off, one was 3 extreme in one minute. i think that is proof i wasnt flying down the road jamming on the brake.
          next, i talked to my agent. drivewise is being redone, braking will be coming off completely. you’ll have speed, over 80, time of day, and miles.
          he also said there will be other things changing for the better,, whatever that means.
          I told him drivewise makes people worse drivers because why stop for a yellow or red light if it lowers your percent. he said other people say that too n complain alot, thats why braking is coming off. he couldnt tell me when. same with someone cutting you off to turn right in front of you. you swerve to miss them instead of braking n getting an event.
          now i’m not sure if i’ll keep it or get out of it.
          theres something else i’m not sure on, that 10% they give you to start stays the second 6 months. he said if i end up with 11 or however many percents it adds on to the 10 percent so it would be 21 percent discount.
          wait n see i guess..

          1. Your agent has no clue what he is talking about. You start at 10% but it can go up or down. The 10% is not permanent. Just thought you should know. Oh and there is nothing about the braking coming off that I’ve heard of.

          2. I’m also on Drive wise. My car was stuck in my driveway because of teh heavy snow for 3 days. I tried to ge the car out by rocking it using the brakes and going back and forth. Drive wise had 6 extreme breaking episodes one day and 4 the next and my car never left the driveway. Needless to say I have a bad driving record on Drivewise becasue of that. Also, driving on US68 at 65 mph (the leagal speed limit) they actually have stop lights on that road at that speed. Slowing down as not to run a yellow light caused a hard breaking incident. Drivewise does have some bugs in it.

          3. John,,,,, They took off 2 of my brake events, i had 3 in one minute. It seems they leave one per day on weather related or not. Heres the email:::
            ”Thank you for contacting Allstate’s Customer Technical Support. Your concerns are important to us and we appreciate the opportunity to address them.

            Please allow me to sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. The breaking events have been removed except for the first one on the following days. 2/4/14, 2/8/14, and 2/1314 this has been done per our business rules.

            Please contact me by e-mail ( i took out her number n email)(use 1 877 431 7670 to call drivewise) within 48 hours if you have any questions. I can be reached between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.”

            John, It seems no one knows the whole story, my 6 months it up 20 April so i’ll know more then. but, it starts at 10% for signing up the first 6 months. they give you 30% to start your second 6 months. every event lowers that percent. Now, he explained to me you keep the 10 percent every 6 months you keep the gadget hooked up in your car. If you go down to 15 percent at the end of the first 6 months your 15 percent plus the 10 percent adds up to 25 percent discount for the second 6 months IF you keep drivewise. if you disconnect it your percent for the second 6 months is 15 percent.
            Your percent is at the top of your sign in page.
            LOL, They took off my extreme brake events but my % stayed the same, 11%.
            Its still wait n see what happens. I sure hope some of this makes sense to someone.

          4. You do NOT keep the 10% sign up bonus. My policy is up for renewal. I originally got the 10% sign up bonus. Now when I plugged in the drivewise it started right away at 7% and has never changed. The new policy is giving a 7% discount and that is it. A whopping 23 bucks. Not worth it to me at all. They are giving you incorrect information!!

          5. thump thump

            damn dogs……..

            Tina,,,,,, i understand what you are saying. i only said what they tell me.
            i hope you come in n post what you find out. i expire on the 20th n my new policy kicks in after that so i’ll know more then.
            i dont understand why you started at 7%.

          6. It works like this…..you get a one time 10% discount for each car you sign up for drivewise. So you can’t lose that 10% discount you get for the sign up (in other words you can’t get less than the 10% discount the first time), but it could be (in theory) up to 30% depending on driving habits. After the initial 10% sign up discount you get in the first 6 months you now no longer get an automatic 10% discount. It’s all based on driving habits and the discount could be 0% especially depending on miles driven which to Allstate is the most important and figures into the discount or lack thereof in the highest proportion of all 4 categories. Miles driven can wipe out an A+ in all the other categories if you drive a lot of miles. Now comes my commentary…….Allstate seems to be saying go 79 mph all you want, just not between the hours of 7A.M. and 6P.M. or 11P.M. and 4 A.M. and no braking for anything just keep it at 79 and swerve skillfully!!!

          7. Ha! Sadly, I agree that’s the driving type they are encouraging.

          8. I have had ‘drivewise’ for 7 months. At the beginning, I got a 10% (NOT 30%) refund. Then, my percentage went from 18% to 14%. It doesn’t make sense. They say I have an A- average…two A+ ratings (braking and speed) and two B+ ratings (for time of day & mileage…TOTAL miles for this 7 month period is 2,630!!!) Why would they rate my mileage as B+ with only 2,630 miles??? They say keep your milage below 35 miles per day…that would come to over 7,400 miles for that time period. There is something definitely WRONG with this picture!!!! And, as to the ‘time of day’, less than half of my driving time is in the ‘moderate’ range with none in the ‘high risk’ range. Yet, they are saying that my “projected reward” is only 14%!!!!! I think their numbers are totally bogus. I have seen them add ‘trips’ to my log…some at 2 o’clock in the morning!!! (Nope, I don’t get out in the middle of the night!!!) Maybe we should all turn them in to the Attorney General…maybe that would get Allstate’s attention and let them know we don’t appreciate being scammed!!!!

          9. 10% is the enrollment discount for the first policy period – that will remain the same, as long as the device is plugged in and reporting and the email agreement is read and accepted… at renewal a Drive Wise Performance Rating discount will be assessed. The discount offered can be anywhere from 0%-30%…

          10. I just signed up for it after my rates went up too. And don’t know anything about the braking piece coming off – its definitely staying on there. I must be a far worse driver because I have had three extreme braking events and three hard braking events in a little over a month. Did I tell you that I live in South Florida…where people do not know how to drive AND it thunderstorms every day around 5pm and I have to drive through construction on my commute to work…. And my office is located across the street from the entrance to Century Village. I have to use my brakes to avoid hitting some of the idiots on their phone not paying attention. I have not seen anything that says what my future savings will be yet, but even if its a little bit, I guess I won’t complain, but it is a bit misleading. It was interesting to see the stats on my driving though and maybe Ill be more aware of it….

      2. When a car gets older it is a greater risk therefor it is more expensive to insure.

      3. mike brez says:

        This is a common misconception. Yes your vehicles value goes down over time but when you get in an accident they use new parts to fix it. They also pay for the labor which gets more expensive every few years.

        1. So you’re saying, because a cars value depreciates we SHOULD pay more?
          It has absolutely nothing to do with replacing whats broken with new parts…
          A fender for a 99 Jeep Cherokee is about $150; a fender for a 2014 Jeep Cherokee is about $350.
          That’s how the world works, but it doesn’t mean it makes sense.
          Logical? I think not.

          1. If any of you are having your premiums increase as a vehicle gets older, I suggest you find a different insurance co. You might see a small increase in liability, but collision should go down every year, lowering your overall cost for the vehicle. I just switched to All State (had no choice as my long time co. quit carrying auto) and you all have got me a little worried. I will keep a close eye on them and dump them in a heartbeat if my premiums go up as the cars age. I’ve never seen that in over 45 years of insuring cars.

          2. The vehicle age does have something to do with it. The claims process- taking a vehicle to a bump shop, obtaining parts – and most if not all companies will use aftermarket parts, the only time factory parts are used is if there is a lienholder/GAP coverage/expanded new car protection that REQUIRE it. The safety rating of the vehicles are also large factors – every year they improve. The older vehicles don’t have the same features…

        2. I disagree about yhe new parts bit. I was rearended last fall. I had to wait for the insurance co (allstate) to locate used parts before my car could be repaired. Guess my car was just too old for new parts even tho they were avsilable

      4. Have you heard of the device damaging the car’s computer system? Causing owner a big expense!

        1. ! It’s throw service engine soon codes every other day and I’ve had them checked out by my mechanic and all is good. They clear the code car runs fine

    2. Agreed. Interesting that they raised your premiums and then offered a “discount”. I like Progressive. The home side is a little weird because they outsource that, but I liked the car insurance.

      1. I had progressive for 12 years, been driving for 45 years. Accidentally ran a red light, no accident,no one hurt. 6 month payment was $600.00 now they want $1,000.00. Cancelled policy went with Allstate back to $600.00 for six month period. That was my second ticket for 45 years of driving first one was for 5 miles over the speed limited.

    3. you were lied to by the rep that helped you get the discount, it starts at 15% then based off good driving has the potential to save you an additional 15%. For someone to go on a rant about a product that is actually saving them money is rediculous. So what if you only get a 17% discount? You could be getting a 0% discount!!! If you are not happy with the device take it out of your cartruck and pay the rates that everyone else pays. Seems pretty simple.

    4. Kelly wallace says:

      Hi, I’m not sure if anyone as given allstate’s view here because there are numerous posts and I didn’t have time to read through them. Here is my two cents as an agent with allstate:

      1) the Drivewise program should never hurt your rate.

      2) 10% refund is incentive for signing up for the program not a permanent discount to reimburse you for your trouble to install the devise.

      3) Allstate does NOT raise your rate as your vehicle gets older. Something else is going on in your state rate wise or perhaps uniquely to your discount situation of this is happening.

      4) the max discount is 30% for achieving low mileage (25-30 mi day), safe speeds, safe hours (no late night trips) and safe stops. If something unavoidable happens, as a later post mentioned, Drivewise is happy to help. Give them a call.

      In order for a program to have integrity and work for both parties, a set of criteria must be followed and allstate is willing to discount your rate over your existing rate.

      Kelly wallace

      1. Kelly, i think you need to read thru all of the posts. if everything was right with drivewise they wouldnt post on here.
        LOL at ”If something unavoidable happens, as a later post mentioned, Drivewise is happy to help. Give them a call.”
        i called in march this year n still waiting for them. second level is sending me emails now telling me they are still working on it.
        22 july, ”I am following up to a prior email sent July 1st regarding your drive wise discount. We are still working to apply the 14% discount to your policy. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
        one or two times a month i get one all saying the same thing.
        right now i think they are waiting me out to see if i send the gadget back before they can come up with an answer..
        i think the answer is easy, they can fix it or they can tell me theres nothing they can do.
        ofcourse theres no one i can talk to about it, my agent knows less than i do about drivewise. so all i can do is sit n wait for them to email me again…..
        SO,,, for you to say ”Drivewise is happy to help. Give them a call” doesnt really mean anything. all you are saying is what they tell you to say.

        1. “Happy to help” means exactly what it says. They are happy to help. “Happy to help” does not mean do exactly what you say and do some sort of backend magic to immediately change the program. Police officers are often happy to help when they are handing you a ticket. Happy to help correct ones driving habits.

        2. Just to follow up, I’ve been using Drive-wise for about a year now. It appears you have to get an A+ on all three scoring criteria. Braking, Time of Day and Speed. If I do that, then I can achieve what now is closer to 20% (they seem to have reduced it from 30% to 20%). I also use my smart phone which allows me to monitor real time my results for each trip and dispute a trip immediately. My last discount on my auto premium was 10%. If you drive at all during the weekday then you will get less than A+ on “Time of Day.” So to break this down further, 5am – 11pm weekend is lowest risk; 4am to 12pm weekday is low risk; 12pm – 11pm weekday is moderate risk and 11pm – 4am any day is high risk. This definitely rewards those that don’t drive much such as retirees. Also, your prior six month history affects your current six month history. I agree the criteria seems punitive, but 10% off is more than what I would have gotten before. I guess I don’t see the downside to that.

          1. I have been using drive wise, and I agree with most comments, you have to be someone who doesnt drive much, is willing to run over someone so you dont have a breaking event, and work at night, but not drive during those high risk hours, whew!! oh, and I am all that was just described, lol. I am looking at a 25% discount when my car is up for renewal. I will not be renewing with allstate, this drivewise is a scam. I warn all my friends not to sign up for it.

      2. Kelly, as an Allstate agent myself I’m going to have to disagree with you. Everything you said sounds good and it is pretty much taken right from the Allstate literature on DriveWise. However, that is NOT what customers are actually seeing. I myself tried out DriveWise. All of the concerns I’m reading here are completely valid. I had low mileage, braking, etc and my discount was an insult. In fact I scored an A while my wife scored an A-. Sounds good right? My discount was only 5% and hers was 3%. Seriously? An A grade gets you 5%? What would I have to do to get 30%? Is it even possible? There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to how these percentages are picked. No one at DriveWise customer service can give a straight answer – even to an agent in their own company!

        Braking is NOT being removed as a factor. It is also one of the most incorrect items. Not because “I braked so I wouldn’t hit a dog” although I do agree that these things shouldn’t count against a driver, but because of the way it reads the data. It simply looks at how much you decrease speed within a certain time. I actually got a hard braking event because I pulled in to my driveway and hit my brakes a little too hard. Yep that’s right, I decelerated too fast in my own home driveway and got dinged for it.

        I feel that DriveWise is so misleading I do not even offer it any longer to my customers. If they ask about it then I’ll explain to them and it’s their choice but I do not volunteer that info. I do not want my customers seeing me as someone who mislead them. I honestly feel like this is a class action suit waiting to happen.

        1. I have been an Allstate Customer for 30+ years and have been paying way to much for my Auto insurance. Allstate charged me for my Low use vehicle as a high usage vehicle.
          I had 6 cars on Allstate Auto insurance and now have 2 and soon to be ZERO.
          The DRIVEWISE PROGRAM is pretty much corrupt and Allstate is loosing customers.
          Allstate Agents will tell you whatever they think they can get away with to keep you as a paying customer or at least my agents have. Do your research, I have and am now signed up with Geico at 1/2 the price and a higher customer satisfaction. Probably soon to change my home owner’s insurance too.

        2. Hummm, Seems like a lot of unsatisfied Allstate Customers…. So why do you continue to be a customer??? I switched to Geico am paying 1/2 of what I was with Allstate and no Drivewise module!!!

          1. Judith Pecho says:

            Well, I just left Geico cause they misled me when I switched from Hatford several years ago. Loved Hartford, got good benefits cause I was a good driver, etc., but Geico did not tell me the quote was for six months. Misled me intentionally. I stayed with them but rates creeping up just too much for the amount of driving I do. Under two thousand a year in mileage. Out short trips once every week to ten days as a rule.
            Not sure about this box. I am a careful driver and do not generally speed. I do not like quick brakes either, but do not like to have this gadget on my car which someone will interpret after the fact and weeks later. I was not given much information about it frankly and not sure I can find out where to plug it in. Do not like to have monitors around my ankles or my neck. So if I just forget to put the thing on, what then happens?
            The quote was rather confusing because he brought up the umbrella, cause I have property. I thought after the property is sold I might just get a couple other quotes. It is getting so that is cheaper to take a cab to the grocery and on errands, after you consider insurance, car depreciation, gasoline and tires, and being tracked and graded. We are way past 1984.

        3. Just to follow up, I’ve been using Drive-wise for about a year now. It appears you have to get an A+ on all three scoring criteria. Braking, Time of Day and Speed. If I do that, then I can achieve what now is closer to 20% (they seem to have reduced it from 30% to 20%). I also use my smart phone which allows me to monitor real time my results for each trip and dispute a trip immediately. My last discount on my auto premium was 10%. If you drive at all during the weekday then you will get less than A+ on “Time of Day.” So to break this down further, 5am – 11pm weekend is lowest risk; 4am to 12pm weekday is low risk; 12pm – 11pm weekday is moderate risk and 11pm – 4am any day is high risk. This definitely rewards those that don’t drive much such as retirees. Also, your prior six month history affects your current six month history. I agree the criteria seems punitive, but 10% off is more than what I would have gotten before. I guess I don’t see the downside to that.

    5. Allstate isn’t GIVING you anything. You are paying for all of it, whether you get any discount or not.
      Drivewise = overcharging you 30% so they can give you something in return. Check back after 6 months = overcharging you for that too so they can give you something back WITHOUT INTEREST! Not a smart investment. Accident forgiveness = a $10 fee every 6 months with other insurance companies. I was a 30+ year faithful Allstate customer. Figured out that I was overcharged for this and that. Had 6 vehicles on Allstate Auto insurance, most of them on drivewise. When my drivewise discount on one car hit 0% that’s when I had enough. I did some research on insurance companies on customer satisfaction. Ends up Geico has higher customer satisfaction at 1/2 the price. No gimmicks, just the cost of the insurance.
      I should have switched years ago…

      1. I couldn’t help but laugh at this article. Not only is the information provided not accurate it’s very misleading to prospective consumers. DriveWise, much like Progressive’s Snap Shot, and State Farm’s Idrive is a telematic device you plug in your car to reward drivers that score high in certain performance categories. Yes you can save “up to 30%” every 6 mo. with DriveWise based on driving performance. As with anything consumer’s hear what they want to hear, in your case you heard 30% savings and tuned out the details of program. If you were given a 30% discount for simply plugging in device then everyone would do it and it wouldn’t matter how you drive. It would be a losing business proposition for the insurance carrier as there would be no driver accountability. As you can see that makes little to no sense. This program allows you to save up to 30% every 6 mo. (a discount you wouldn’t have received otherwise). You stated you saved 17% that’s a nice savings, 17 % you wouldn’t have received otherwise. Can’t think of anyone who would complain about that, well you did! Plus your rates do not go up based on poor performance. Rates increase based on general rate increases, accident surcharges etc. You could perform horribly in each performance criteria and your rate would not increase due to DriveWise participation. It means instead of receiving up to a 30% discount you may simply receive 0% for that 6 mo. term. I would suggest before slandering a company or discount program get your facts straight

        1. You must be one of those Allstate employees that falls for their crap too. My agent even admitted that yes they charge you more to give you that discount. They aren’t giving you anything. The device is extremely faulty and they know it. They also don’t care either. Considering a neighbor of mine did a test with it as he also thought it was a scam. He had it in a vehicle that did not move from his driveway for 6 months but yet had numerous hard braking incidents and driving over 80…….hmmmm the car never moved. Needless to say after numerous complaints they admitted they made a mistake and added things to his drivewise that didn’t really happen.

          Just avoid drivewise all together. Allstate offers many different policies that don’t charge you extra to give you a discount or bonus driving check. All of it is to just make more money off of you.

    6. I have had the drivewise for over 2 years and did save 15% on my camero which gets driven very little in comparison to my jeep – which had no savings. I know insurance will never go for it but I honestly think sometimes they should revamp their entire attitude and base it on the fact you have no accidents as #1. If I drive 20,000 miles with no accidents and claims in a year and get no savings, but if I drive 5,000 with the other vehicle and get no accidents I save 15%. While I appreciate any savings doesn’t it make more sense that if you can drive more miles in traffic and still be accident free you should get some savings over someone who drives 5 miles a day in no traffic.

    7. Richard Byrne says:

      I switched to Esurance, an “Allstate” company and my premiums went up AND my Homeowners went up a lot because I lost the bundling discount for having the wrong Allstate company on my car. My drivewise is zero discount for the main car and 29% on my second car which is fair.

    8. This article is stupid. Drivewise starts at %10 to start and can save you up to %30. If you are saving %17 you are driving very well and are getting a great discount.

      1. Thank you! I recently signed up for Drivewise and never got the impression that you will for sure, get a 30 percent discount. My rep told me you could possibly get up to 30 percent, not that you would. 10 percent or 17 percent, I can’t believe people are complaining. Be happy when you can save any amount of money these days.

    9. Christine says:

      Is Geico really trustworthy and reliable? Some have told me they signed up and got great rates the first 6 months and after that the premiums went up crazy high where they should have just stayed with Allstate!!! My Allstate went from $120 to $163 R U KIDDING ME?! For a 2010 minivan?! It’s not even a top of the line minivan! I want to go to Geico but I am so paranoid and scared! Once I leave Allstate who I have been with for over 25 years, I can’t go back!!! Allstate is phenomenal when it comes to accidents and stuff but their rates are insane. It should be called price gouging!!! ONE VEHICLE….$163! I can’t even afford to add renters insurance on my policy because I can’t afford it!

      HELP!

      1. I have had Geico going on a year now from Allstate and I have had no issues with them. My policy did not go up after the 1st 6 months. I however have not made a claim but I know of those who have and they had no problems.

      2. Wikileaks says:

        Many times if you add a renters policy, the discount on your auto equals the cost of the renters policy due to the multi discount. If you pay for the renters policy in full you will avoid $5 per month installment fees.

        Regarding Drivewise, the last I heard they were having people use it on their phone with an app. There were problems with the plug in draining batteries and causing electrical problems. The problem with the app is it doesn’t know when you are a passenger in someone else’s car, but I’m not sure if that has been resolved.

    10. I know this sounds terribly cynical, but in case you haven’t figured it out, these devices are:
      1) an excuse to raise your rates (with vacuum based justification);
      2) a means of raising everybody’s rates at a future point (based on the vacuum based data of a population of users);
      3) a pilot program to justify employing these in all cars, not only to set your insurance rates, but to also tax you based on road usage.

      Insurance companies exist primarily to make money. Wait until they apply this scheme to Obamacare.

      1. Finally! Someone who agrees with me and sees the light! I’ve been saying this for years. They keep raising the insurance rates on our facility here every year. And, we are a government facility for gosh sakes! Nothing has changed! We still cryogenically store the same bodies since 1947. The storage hanger for the ships hasn’t changed either. Since we are located in the desert, we don’t experience extreme weather phenomenon. I mean come on! The actuaries at Lloyds of New Mexico really need to reassess our risk pool here and update their algorithms.

    11. I couldn’t help but laugh at this article. Not only is the information provided not accurate it’s very misleading to prospective consumers. DriveWise, much like Progressive’s Snap Shot, and State Farm’s Idrive is a telematic device you plug in your car to reward drivers that score high in certain performance categories. Yes you can save “up to 30%” every 6 mo. with DriveWise based on driving performance. As with anything consumer’s hear what they want to hear, in your case you heard 30% savings and tuned out the details of program. If you were given a 30% discount for simply plugging in device then everyone would do it and it wouldn’t matter how you drive. It would be a losing business proposition for the insurance carrier as there would be no driver accountability. As you can see that makes little to no sense. This program allows you to save up to 30% every 6 mo. (a discount you wouldn’t have received otherwise). You stated you saved 17% that’s a nice savings, 17 % you wouldn’t have received otherwise. Can’t think of anyone who would complain about that, well you did! Plus your rates do not go up based on poor performance. Rates increase based on general rate increases, accident surcharges etc. You could perform horribly in each performance criteria and your rate would not increase due to DriveWise participation. It means instead of receiving up to a 30% discount you may simply receive 0% for that 6 mo. term. I would suggest before slandering a company or discount program get your facts straight!

    12. Don’t get the Allstate DriveWise device. It caused my Honda to malfunction with 4 different dash lights on. Took it in to the dealership to figure out why the dash lights were on and it was because of the device interfering with car signals. DON’T GET IT FOR DISCOUNT PURPOSE- not worth it at all!!!!!! Cost me $130 and they wouldn’t reimburse.

      1. Wikileaks says:

        There is a class action regarding damage due to the devices. Check to see if you may be part.

    13. They raise your rates, then I shop around, they promise you a discount, then o o o sorry…here put big brother in the car and if you are a good boy/girl …hey this site has plenty of advertising for car insurance give em a call…

    14. Julius Krajewski says:

      i used geico for over 20 years. they automatically took out the payments from my credit card. awhile back i had an incident with the card and had to cx card and get a new one. apparently i forgot to notify geico of the new #. a week or so after the non withdrawal they canx’d my insurance. i called them and said what the hey. they said they’d fix the problem but the new/old policy would cost me hundreds more. apparently loyalty goes only one way. sorry to vent but i needed to tell this story and my wife is tired of me whining about it.

  2. Ummm what the heck? You have to hook up something to your car? The safe driver discount I (used) to get was for not having any tickets or being involved in any accidents. I’m not sure how I would feel about setting up a monitoring device. It just sounds strange and a bit overboard for them to ask people to do that.

    1. It didn’t bother me that they were monitoring my trips. They don’t know where you’re going, after all. What bothers me is they told me that I would save 30 percent, not 17 percent!

      1. They told you that you could save UP TO 30%. That’s if you drive during non-peak hours and have zero hard braking incidents. In your case you had neither, so I don’t see why you’re complaining.

        The insurance companies know exactly why you slam on the brakes. Nobody just does it for fun. They do it so they don’t hit something. Usually it’s the result of not paying attention to your surroundings well enough, or driving through high risk areas. In your case, you were driving in a high risk area. 45% of traffic accidents occur in parking lots.

        It’s not a reflection of your own driving ability. It’s a reflection of how many situations you get yourself into where you’re around a lot of other traffic.

        1. Drivewise is distressingly incorrect at times and a source of extreme consternation among drivers due to the braking issue. For some time, even after connecting my device, I thought it incorporated internal accelerometers. Such is not the case; it merely observes vehicle speed OBDII information. Slippery conditions, no matter the speed, allow drive wheels to easily spin or lock up, causing hard braking events when there was absolutely nothing hard about them.

          1. Exactly!!!!!

          2. Gary,
            I believe you are correct. My car was stuck in my drive way for 3 days because of the snow and ice, but in trying to get my car out, I had 6 extreme breaking events in about 2 min and .4 miles. The car actually moved about .5 feet. Then when driving no the snow and ice covered roads, my ABS kicked in a couple times entering a couple more extreme breaking events. I complained to the Drivewise customer service and they made some adjustments, but it didn’t help my rating. There are bugs in this system. Until they get the breaking thing worked out, breaking should be taken out of the mix or use accelerometers to sense hard breaking instead of the computers data system.

        2. This drivewise thing is a whole crock of shit!!!!! We have it in my husbands truck only as it would not fit in my car as I have a new car and the plug is behind a door so it doesn’t fit. Unfortunately my husband works afternoons for a police dept. Our discount is a whopping 7% as in the categories he gets an A or A+ with the exception of driving time he has a C-. So basically working an afternoon or midnight shift screws you. I have read so many reviews and not a single person out there has ever received the 30% discount unless their car is parked 24/7 and never driven. But 7% really all because he works afternoons.

          1. You are right- it’s a crock of shit

            First off driving at night when there is less traffic on the roads should be a positive nit a negative held against you?

            I have no hard breaking- I am a little over on how much ” I’m allowed” to drive
            I have no speeding over 80 ! And I do some night driving

            I started out at a 10% discount 6 months ago – now I’m at 3% ! For a 3
            % discount – I’ll take the damn thing out and drive the way I want to drive not
            The way they want me to drive!

      2. Allstate does know where you are going. In order for the phone app to work, you have to set it to exact location all the time as well as the motion sensor. It is tracking you when you are out of the car and in your house every time you pick up your phone. Be thankful for 17%. Mine was capped at renewal time at 8% for no reason and the app mysteriously stopped working and wouldn’t record trips. I’m canceling Drivewise because I think it’s a scam.

  3. These programs just feel too big brotherish to me. I’m not willing to part with the details of my driving habits (who knows what else they’re tracking but not disclosing) for the sake of a few bucks. I’d much rather save money elsewhere.

    1. It didn’t bother me that they were tracking the times that I drove. After all, I only drive a few times a week. What bothers me is telling me I’ll save 30 percent and only giving me 17 percent off.

      1. I saw a lot of hard breaks on my report but I know that I didn’t hard break. In fact, I’ve been very careful to stop slowly. But how can you argue with a device? So I only save 13% with Allstate instead of the 30% they told me I’d save. I’m also finding myself rolling through stop signs so I don’t hard break. I think a lot of people might have reacted this same way. It’s as if Allstate is conditioning behavior that will cause them a ticket so they’ll be able to raise rates. I’m seriously considering changing insurance companies, even if it’s more expensive somewhere else. I don’t feel like Allstate deserves my business.

        1. Modulate brake pedal pressure so that the exact moment the vehicle stops moving is imperceptible. That is, reduce brake pressure as the car slows down. A passenger better feels how gently a vehicle comes to a stop than the driver who’s using both arms to brace against the wheel.
          Insurance wants to reduce all accident payouts. Drivers who consistently need to brake hard travel too fast or too closely to the vehicle in front of them. Not tailgating means having enough room to stop gently, all the way to zero. Put your automatic transmission in drive…now find the least amount of brake pressure required to prevent the car from moving…your ultimate goal is to continuously reduce pressure applied to the brake pedal as the car slows, arriving at stationary and minimum pressure simultaneously. Only after the car has come to rest can you press harder to maintain safety. Try not to plant your car too closely to the car before you, in case you are rear-ended while stopped…

          1. Allsate explains a hard break as any time during a break, your speed is reduced by 8 miles per second or greater.
            So how can you safely break going 35 miles per hour and a traffic light takes only 4 seconds to change from green to yellow to red? Do the math!! It’s 8.75 miles/second. And that’s if you start to break instantly when the light turns yellow. Reaction time would be at least .5 sec.
            This program does not promote safe driving. It in fact encourages people to run the yellow light to avoid the hard breaking incident. And they promote this as a drive wise program? What a Joke!

          2. Forget the math; learn to spell brake correctly!
            Thomas, not everyone drives as though it was their first day behind a wheel. Whether walking, bicycle riding, or piloting a motor vehicle, there is time to ‘read’ conditions ahead, including traffic signals. All drivers must be constantly scanning traffic and the roadway ahead by at least 12 seconds, even if theirs is the only vehicle on the road. 12 seconds at speeds up to 60 mph means a driver can judge how long that green light ahead has been glowing during approach. A driver practicing distracted driving will forever be caught off-guard, even while doing a mere 35 mph. Failing to look ahead, failing to anticipate surrounding traffic and traffic light changes is not responsible driving.
            Hint: pedestrian walk signals give visible clues to a pending traffic light change.

          3. you must never drive in traffic. i agree to leave a safe distance, but in that space theres always some ass that cuts in front n crams on his brakes to make a turn in front of you. ever have a deer suddenly jump in front of you?? a kid run close to in front of you?? a dog run out in front of you?? do we hit the dog? swerve away from the kid? i don’t care who you are or how safe you drive stuff happens. this past sunday i got an extreme braking in my driveway, IN REVERSE, one minute before turning off the key n going in my house. seems the wheels spun on ice n snow while backing up a little grade to where i parked,, my foot happened to be on the brake.
            drivewise doesnt consider regular driving on ice or snow or or even in the summer when your car is cut off or the car in front crams on its ”’breaks”’.
            i think it’s funny, drive wise tracks me when i move my car to cut grass under it, or when i take my garbage to the road, or get my mail. all one minute trips. it even gives me 0 hours n 0 miles sometimes,, just shows up. i’m canceling mine this week, had it for almost 5 months. extreme braking in reverse makes me think its a joke.. i’ll get another extreme braking the next time i go out then back in again. good luck with your drivewise…..

          4. I live in Minnesota and the snow and ice has not been good to my discount! I managed to rack up 2 “extreme braking” episodes within one minute and a “hard braking” a few minutes later all while trying to get unstuck in the alley behind my house. I don’t even recall touching the brakes and I think this was the result of pushing on and releasing the gas pedal as the tires spun. There was not another car, person, dog or small animal in the vicinity. My discount dropped like arctic blast temps!

          5. LOL. See, that’s the stupid shit I’m talking about. You shouldn’t be penalized for that.

          6. This is getting funny!!!!! I beat Tom in brake events,,,LOL. I have 3 extreme brake events in one minute, all three in one minute n one minute before turning my car off in my driveway.
            Winter is almost over, i cant believe more people havnt talked aboutdriving on ice n snow.

            copied from GARY above::::: A driver practicing distracted driving will forever be caught off-guard, even while doing a mere 35 mph.
            my extreme braking was under 15mph in my driveway. but i’m practicing..

            Failing to look ahead,
            omg i was backing up, jeez

            failing to anticipate surrounding traffic and traffic light changes is not responsible driving.
            i was a good two hundred feet off the road, in my driveway. no other traffic around.

            Hint: pedestrian walk signals give visible clues to a pending traffic light change.
            Hint: they forgot to put walk signals at the top of my driveway. those snow n ice people were right on the job though..
            end of GARYS stuff.

            now that i think about it none of my braking events were over 25 mph, and i think most were in reverse. i got a few before i figured out to run traffic lights.
            and i do know how to apply the brakes to stop.

            STEVE, go for GOLD!!!!! LOL at yards.

          7. The program is a way for them to determine a wide variety statistics of their drivers. For the inconvenience of you helping them survey drivers, they give you a small discount. While accidents happen and some events can be unexpected, that’s just how life goes. The driver who has a better chance of getting in an accident isn’t a new driver that’s only been driving a year. It’s the driver that’s on the road more, even if that person has been driving 30 years. This data collection may be a way to help put a divide on age discrimination with premiums from an actual data standpoint, rather than a risk assessment based on previous cases.

      2. Holly depending on the vehicle your driving its has built in gps whether you know it or not they could be tracking exactly where you are going and everything! Almost all cars have a gps system in them nowadays whether you have a gps screen you can use or not the gps is still hardwired into your cars computer! So to me any device that monitors anything about my driving isn’t worth it! Besides its going to be completely bias anyways its ment to serve the insurance company not the insured!

  4. I’m not even going to lie, but this wouldn’t work for me. I like to drive fast, and occasionally we like to take the Jeep out for off roading or take the Camaro to the race tracks. Our rates would probably quadruple with the way that we drive! haha

    1. Just so you know, it is not a GPS and they have no idea where you are. It simply monitors your driving habits and in VA you can get up to a 27% rewards check back every 6 months. Not that you are going to get that much as everyone has different driving habits. Also it goes on each vehicle you own that is a 1995 or newer car that is not electric or hybrid. Each car gets a different amount of reward as you do not drive every vehicle exactly the same all the time. As far as speeding, it only monitors if you drive 80 or over as no state has that speed limit at this time. You could be driving 50 in a 25 and the device would have no idea! If you have questions about it ask your local Allstate agent to explain it more thoroughly.

      1. Just a quick question. I just signed up with all state. They never told me about the fact that they were signing me up for drivewise until I got an email about it. Not so sure we want it but why can’t it go in a hybrid? I have a prius that we drive 81 miles one way to work but then the car sits for 6 days in the parking lot until we return and then we drive 81 miles back home.

      2. Actually in Texas you can drive from Austin to San Antonio with a posted speed limit of 85. And there are lots of other freeways there with limits posted at 80. So even though you’re doing the speed limit you could lose a lot more of your discount.

  5. Yeah, I think the why should probably matter. I’m guess they’d rather have people brake hard than slam into cars. But maybe I’m wrong about that. At the very least it would be nice if they were up front about all of this. That’s what drives me the most crazy about these big companies. They don’t tell you about the gotchas until they’ve already happened. That must be a successful strategy since they all do it, but it seems to me like it just creates more anger later.

    1. Maybe.

      I just think that having a “braking episode” every three months sounds about right. I mean, that’s part of driving a car. Sometimes you have to hit your brakes to avoid hitting an animal, a shopping cart, of a skateboard.

      1. you have to hit the animal, swerve to miss the cart or skateboard, swerve to miss a kid too. as far as yellow or red lights, just go thru. better than a hard braking.
        they promote unsafe driving with the drivewise.

        above, my extreme braking was 10.5 to 0, in reverse..
        hard brake is 8 n over, extreme brake, oops, ‘break’ is 10 or above..

        1. I’m immune because of the amount of yearly mileage so I’m not installing it on my car. But after 2 days, it looks like both my wife and my son need to work on their braking.

          I called a family meeting where I castigated them on being heavy on the pedal so we are looking at similar tactics to avoid braking and slowing down. Swerving techniques and just running over small things are very good suggestions.

          We live in a smallish town so traffic permitting, we are also going to try running stop signs and red lights. I also instructed them on driving through yards to avoid backing up. We’re going for the gold!

          1. I think that running over small animals is a small price to pay for a good discount on your insurance. I mean, insurance is expensive and you’ve got to save where you can. right? I would probably draw the line at running over a human being or at least a small child to avoid braking too hard. However, I would be tempted to just gun it for a fat person. I’ll have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

        2. Ok, heres the latest for me. i called allstate, complained about my hard braking, and other stuff about drivewise. if i take it off today, i pay them the whole discount for drivewise which for me is 32 dollars. she asked me to keep it because i only have till april to go, she said try n keep the percentage up till april any way i can n do not take it off. you only keep drivewise for 6 months, (she just told me this 20 minutes ago), after the 6 months its not used anymore and whatever your, (or me), discount is, thats what it will be from then on.
          so, bare with it for the 6 months, try your best, get your discount. thats what she told me…..

          i told her i drive around things i should stop for, that i’ve run yellow n red lights to avoid hard braking. it still bothers me that i got an extreme brake in my driveway in reverse. she told me dont worry about it..

          1. Holly is a Jerk says:

            You are rude to fat people Holly.
            I’ll be tempted to run over any small blonde person because their so small, they’ll break in half.

          2. Omg, I was totally kidding! I weigh the most I have weighed for years at this very moment! I have no room to talk. Just making a silly comment, don’t take it personally!!! Sorry =(

          3. Oh Holly, you should write a book, i’ll buy it. your funny. lol, if you get runned over i’ll pick you up n stick you back together just so you can write more…..

          4. Thanks for your support, Ken!!!

          5. I thought you had to keep those Drivewise concraptions for a year, and spring and summer is coming. I’m anticipating long fishing and hiking trips, other long trips, that would have really put a damper on the mileage piece. Thanks for the info.

        3. A deer crossed in front of me a few days ago-

          I thought do I hard break and lose my whopping 3 % discount or
          Do I just hit the deer and turn in a claim?????

          It’s scenarios like this that tell you drivewise is a crock of shit!

  6. Monitoring devices creep the hell out of me. I don’t think I would sign up for something like this. You should at least be able to dispute the braking issue. Also, penalizing you for driving during certain times of day just seems like a great way to say “Oh well, you don’t qualify for the discount, nothing we can do!”

    1. Well, especially since the “moderate risk” time is 11a.m. to 10 p.m. That’s a big window in the middle of the day.

      1. Yes that’s when 99% of people drive
        That’s why the drivewise program is messed up!

  7. “Maybe I’ll work on not driving from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. “Sorry kids….we’re walking to daycare today!” Oh, and next time a dog runs out in front of me, I’ll just run it over.” I’m sorry, I just had to laugh at that. 🙂 Seriously though, WTH? I know 17% is nice and all, but what do they expect people to do between those hours? Honestly, I’m too fast of a driver and would likely get our rates hiked as a result. I don’t think I’d sign up for something like this, but would just look elsewhere to save. Maybe if they shortened the moderate time I would, but otherwise no.

    1. Yeah, I wanna know who exactly gets 30 percent off. Someone who never drives, maybe?

      1. Tim jones says:

        The will still catch you when you will move your car for street cleaning. Haha
        I am not interested in this junk 🙁

      2. My Allstate rep told me she’s been at her office for years -and in all the years she has worked for Allstate she had 1 lady get a 30% discount- she was 89 years old and drove 2000 miles a year!
        She told me “””””””no one”””””” else has ever gotten close to that no matter what they drive- she said the avg discount is 5-8%
        If your agent told you 10-20% to get you to go with Allstate then they lied to you- and committed fraud!

  8. I did when I had progressive and I think I only saved 15% because at the time I was driving 30 miles to work during peak commuter hours. Guess it’s not safe for me to go to work. 😉 But I think the Progressive one was a little less sophisticated (or maybe not, I never saw the results) and I certainly didn’t get any emails about my driving habits. Lol

  9. Kyle @ Debt Free Diaries says:

    I won’t lie, these types of contraptions make me nervous. Call me paranoid, that’s fine. I’d rather pay a little more and not have to worry about something monitoring me to make sure “I’m a good boy.” It’s just a bit creepy to me.

      1. Wikileaks says:

        Has anyone read the whole user agreement, I can’t help but wonder if they can use the information against you in the event of a claim.

  10. 1800 calorie a day diet says:

    I would not keep your site ahead of implying that i in fact experienced the typical facts somebody present for your company? Shall be yet again incessantly in an effort to look into fresh discussions

  11. Holly!!! So sorry it is not working out. I am doing Progressive’s Snapshot. It is effortless and I will take my 17% if it costs me no time or energy. But that is just Sir Jolly!!

    Have a cool one!

  12. We did the Snapshot by Progressive when it first came available. They were careful to say that we could save “up to” a certain percentage, I can’t remember what it was. And they had a website similar to Allstate’s, I could login and it told me when we were driving, and if we had any “hard breaks”. It was kind of a game for us. We did end up saving quite a bit, because we also don’t drive in the middle of the night or slam on the brakes very often.

    Of course they are just using statistics, and statistically if you have to brake really hard pretty often, once in a while you’ll actually hit something. I guess they should have told you that you’d save 15%, and you’d be happy with 17%!

    1. You’re probably right! =)

      I just think they shouldn’t say you will save 30 percent if the only way to do so is to not drive at all. That’s kind’ve misleading. I don’t drive a lot….but I do drive some. And yes, from 11am-10pm!!! =/

    1. Ummmm…..yeah~ I agree. No matter what shift a person works, they have to drive during that time too. A person who worked third shift would probably be penalized the most!

  13. The truly careful drivers should love those devices, while the not so careful might come to despise them. I would guess that people who have them installed will drive differently with the constant feedback. Anything tracked and measured over time will improve.

    1. Well, I do consider myself a truly careful driver. I’m also an infrequent driver. I go days and days without driving at all!

  14. Nope, I would NEVER EVER consent to being monitored like that. I mean, I completely understand the desire to save money, but being tracked like that feels like a part of your freedom is being taken away. I don’t like Big Brother spying over my shoulder. The fact that the program isn’t all it’s cracked up to be doesn’t surprise me either. No one is going to monitor my driving (that is until the government makes it a law – which sadly will probably happen sooner rather than later!).

    1. I don’t feel that way about it, but I don’t blame you for feeling that way. It’s just our second car, which is rarely driven. I wouldn’t do it on Greg’s car because a) he drives it all the time, and b) he speeds =/

    2. Moss Parker says:

      They already have. Almost all American cars and many foreign models have an equivalent of an airplane ‘black box’ installed that can be used to reconstruct driving patterns after the fact of a wreck (or whenever the government wants to check). I’m glad I learned about this before purchasing a car last July.

  15. I definitely think I woulfnt sign up for a program like that.I think I would end up worrying about whether I’m driving good enough.In the midst of doing that I’d probably end up in an accident.

  16. I signed up for State Farm’s monitoring program. Our car insurance is expensive. We pay $200 a month. So any way to lower what we pay is great to me. But they sent the monitoring device to the incorrect address, it just got returned, and we haven’t gotten it. So… yeah not sure what the status is, but I think we’re not going to do it based on what we’ve heard about it.

    1. If my insurance was $200 per month, I would definitely do it! Even if you only saved 17 percent, that would be a lot month after month. My insurance is much cheaper so the savings isn’t as high for me.

  17. I understand your frustration with not getting the full discount you thought you would, but 17% off is still a sweet deal. I would definitely consider doing this, but I have been with American Family since I started driving and we pay $125 for two cars. Do you think we might get a better deal at Allstate?

    1. Maybe. You never know!

      I price shop for better rates every year and I’ve never found anything lower than the rates I have. But, I also have my homeowner’s insurance and landlord’s insurance on two rentals with them, so that helps. I get a discount for multiple policies.

  18. That line about running over a dog is FUNNY. I guess that makes me a bad person (& dog owner) but I laughed hard at that. Seems like there are limits to what this technology can understand, as it has no context for any driving event. Like you noted, running over dogs & children is fine as long as it happens in the a.m.

  19. Interesting, I have Allstate as well and have not heard of this program. While it does sound misleading 17% is worth it for me as well! Also, I’m thinking if I sign my truck up for it, which I typically only drive in the morning to take kids to school, it could really help. I’ll just make them take the bus home….

  20. We don’t use this type of discount service although we are with Allstate as well. Our privacy is shot to heck anyway so who cares? I wouldn’t mind saving 17% at all! Are you sure they said you would get a 30% discount and not “up to” 30%? I assume companies always mean “up to” when they say “may.” I’m not sure why we aren’t already doing this (though from what you said, we won’t get the full discount either) so I will look into it.

    1. They said that I would save 30 percent but I signed up over the phone so it may have been a miscommunication.

      But, with that being said, I don’t think they should advertise 30 percent if it’s impossible to attain. Since you’re penalized for driving between the hours of 11am and 10pm, it seems to me that no one would be able to get 30 percent off. I don’t know anyone who never drives at all during the day!!!

      1. Holly, they give you 10% your first 6 months. they told me,, you can save 30%. the how’s n why’s came in the little box with the gadget. if you follow their rules it will stay 30%.
        no one with a real life can do that, but it is possible.
        so, whatever percent you end up with after 6 months is what you get, she told me a 5 percent savings is still 5 percent.
        she also told me the police do not check these things so the why’s of braking don’t matter to anyone but them n only for the discount.

        1. ok, correction, they give you 10% on your policy the first 6 months for signing up. they give you 30% to start your drivewise. so it starts at 30% you don’t work up to it. we, (i), work down from it. i’m at 17% now.

      2. They told you “up to 30%”. You see businesses use this strategy everywhere. “From $99.” “Starting at $200.” “Save up to $50.” “Save up to 15%.”

  21. I do think it’s skeezy it’s the same as Progressives program and stupid. The other problem, at least in the Progressive case, is that if you don’t return that little contraption they charge you $100. Since I know that most of the clients we work with are not likely to return the device I don’t even recommend the program.

  22. I am willing to do almost anything to save money particularly on insurance. I saved $25-300 a year because I cut down on my commute.

  23. Thanks for the post. I have heard a lot of other companies offering the same type of deal. I’m glad to get some details about it. Since I routinely return home after 10pm. I think I will be skipping this little offer.

  24. When I first heard about that program…I was thinking I would never use it because they might bump up my rate! Not that I’m a crazy driving but I do drive a good amount. And sometimes I have the need for speed.

    1. they told me it will not increase your rate even if it goes to 0%. it can’t go lower.

    2. Andrew,,,, how often do you drive over 80? it only detects over 80 mph

      1. Moss Parker says:

        Who drives under 80 on highways now? Every morning I’m going 82-85 in the center lane and I’m always being passed.

  25. I think I’d fail the test. I have deer and birds and all kinds of critters attacking me from every angle. Sometimes it seems like we live in the forest because we basically do. I’m afraid I’d try not to break as hard and hit a cow or something.

  26. I did something similar with Progressive. Except, since my car is at home in the States, my father in law drove it for me. He drives super slow and just drove it around the block once a week haha. I still saved 29% and I have no idea what he did wrong to lose that 1%!

    1. Why were you still insuring your car if no one was driving it? We stopped driving and insuring mine 1.5 years ago so I’m curious why you wouldn’t have done the same.

  27. Ben @ The Wealth Gospel says:

    We did Progressive’s version of the program for our two cars. Got a 20% discount on one and a 7% on the other. The 20% one was driven maybe 20 times the entire 6 months because I was unemployed at the time. And they still found reasons to knock me down 10%. Don’t even get me started on the 7% one. Like you said, they punish you based off of assumptions of raw data. I’m also wondering if it’s actually a discount too. Didn’t you say your rates went up before they offered you the discount? Hmmmm…

    1. Yes, my rates did go up ahead of time…slightly!

  28. Full disclosure, I’m an actuary working for an insurance company.

    I would be the one reviewing the statistics and I can tell you pretty much how those variables (when you drive, how many hard braking, what is an hard braking* and speeding episodes) came to be used for what is called in the industry, usage-based insurance (UBI).

    *Hard braking/speeding is every time the accelerometer in the device register something over 0.3G.

    The insurance industry is always on the lookout for new information to use in their rating. You remember when everyone started asking for your credit score? Progressive did it and everyone followed. Credit score helped insurance companies differentiate between more at risk driver and less at risk driver (although I personally think credit score is more related to your behavior as a person). But not every state agreed to allow its use.

    Again Progressive innovated with UBI (look up mister Robin Harbage). Based on experiment and data collected over the years from volunteers they figured out that they could differentiate drivers with even more precision than credit score. Great! Plus you could argue with states legislators that it would encourage good driving behavior so it was a more easy sale pitch.

    They found out that you were more likely to be involved in an accident when driving during certain period of the day (mostly at night). That frequent acceleration and hard braking drivers were also more likely to be involved in an accident. Don’t forget that on the road you should drive assuming that everyone else just got their license. Seriously!

    Even if all those new information are gold (gold is best) for us actuary, we face a lot of logistical problem when analyzing the data. How do we treat highway exit/entering for example? Plus, it’s not everyone that wants to be tracked everywhere they go (although if you have a cellphone, you can be tracked anyway)

    In a sense, in the long run, here what is going happen. Each year an insurer has to collect enough premium to pay for claims and expenses. You can that amount as fixed. Now the insurer has to charge every risk a certain premium to achieve this goal. Since drivers that use the contraption and are good drivers will be paying less, everyone else has to pay a tiny fraction more to compensate.

    But rest assured, it’s been around in the US and UK for a long time and the adoption rate is no where near that of credit score.

    For the moment, unless the average premiums in your state or province is over 800-1000 per year, this type of program is hard to justify from a profits perspective.

    Device cost is a 100 to 150, roaming cost is 4-10 per month plus you have to give a discount because no one would install it if their premiums could go up.

    It’s really interesting to read all those comments about user perspective.

    Thanks (sorry for poor english)

    1. Well, I’m glad to get 17% of even 10% off. I just don’t think they should be deceptive about it. Just be honest….that’s all I’m asking!

      1. Hi Holly,
        I just signed up with Allstate in NY coming from Costco’s Ameriprise program. Allstate gave me a better quote than Ameriprise by $200 per year so I’m already doing better. Then the agent said I can save more money by installing the Drivewise device by getting 10% off the 6 month premium right away.

        The agent said I could save up to 30% based on the driving that I do. I have 2 cars and don’t mind having it give whatever more discount is available. Also, the Drivewise website said that it will not increase the premium at any time ever.

        Therefore, it works out for me no matter what happens. We’ll see when I have it first installed and see the reporting.

        On another note, if your subscribers want to save more on their auto insurance, they should be taking their defensive driving courses every 3 years for 10% off.
        There is a special on Defensive Driving right now…
        http://www.makemoneytogiveback.com/defensivedriving.php
        They should use code AE101 for another $5 off.

        Thanks for the blog review of Drivewise.
        Hope this helps,
        Alan

  29. I have had Drivewise installed on two of my vehicles for about a month. One in a 2011 Camry and the other in a 1998 4Runner.
    You start out with a discount (ex 15% per vehicle) and that discount can raise or lower based on the criteria pretty well outlined above.
    The nice thing is that you can opt in if you know you are a low-mileage driver, and you can again opt-out if you find that your discount lowers to say only 5-6% and you don’t want to be monitored anymore.
    It’s silly how so many people posting on the internet, carrying cell phones, paying taxes, basically just existing are so afraid of giving up privacy. One thing I have learned working in Information Systems is that you should just never expect privacy. To live that blindly is the scary part.
    That being said, since I drive very little and also have a motorcycle on my insurance, I can ride that all I want (no Drivewise, obviously) and drive my other vehicles in the mornings or all I want on the weekend (which is considered lowest risk).
    Hard braking is pretty straightforward. Since the human mind doesn’t have an accelerometer, the easiest way to know if you are hard braking (other than the obvious) is slowing 8mph within 1 seconds time. Slowing in excess of 10mph in one second is Extreme Braking.
    Keep in mind that these averages you can see any time, but they are averaged over an entire year. So one occurrence is not going to impact you, and is clearly going to be a statistical outlier, something that was probably an external effect such as someone cutting you off.
    Overall I would have to say it’s a pretty fair program, and will pay off if you already are a good driver. They don’t even really publicize it all that much, and certainly don’t try to force anyone into it. I would definitely not expect any more than 17-20% discount, however. I walk to work every day and put maybe 10,000 miles TOTAL on BOTH vehicles combined in a year. So far my discount is hovering around 15%.

    1. 15% isn’t bad. I just wish they wouldn’t lead people to believe they have a chance in hell of getting 30% off.

      1. If you never drive you’ll get the 30%,

        Lol

  30. These things are way too Big Brother for me, discount or not! I can’t imagine that these sorts of things will be good for consumers in the long run.

  31. Holly..Greetings pilgrim!! I laughed all through your email because I fell for it too but now I want to cry..I totally agree with you about the hours & braking. My year is almost up..in August before we left for vacation I was an A-…now I am barely a B driver. .we drove through the night so I realllly engaged in high risk driving hours!! I went from a B+ to a C!! It wad fir one

    1. Ha! Yeah, my rating is slipping too. Too much driving during normal daytime hours I guess =)

  32. Let’s explore usage based insurance discounts: A price reduction compared to the price, which that carrier would have charged you if the premium had been calculated using the conventional rating approach. Even given a 30% discount, you could still be overpaying by hundreds. Why? Because insurance is not priced like conventional products where the concept of discount has more meaning. Your original pre-discount premium might easily be 55% overpriced to begin with. What?

    Consider: Two identical coverage, standard car insurance policies (containing collision and comprehensive), where the premiums do not involve any telematics monitoring scheme and are calculated using conventional base rates. These two premiums could differ in price by $1,000. That’s right, differ.

    Many drivers fail to understand insurance pricing and falsely believe that pursuing discounts is the route to best price and value. It is not. But insurers like this misconception; they can sell on it by inflating or implying the role of discounts. In reality discounts are of secondary importance – a sideshow.

    If you like your carrier and are thinking about trying their usage based scheme, then sure you should expect some premium benefit. The question is, after all your hassle and 15% achieved – how competitive is the resulting premium? Statistically (in 2013) it is likely that you are still significantly overpaying. Why? Because of the scope of market rates that exists for a driver of your basic profile and location. Rate means not price or premium, but a regulated base cost that acts as the quote starting point. Huge discrepancies in premiums arise because of insurer filed rates that vary enormously.

    1. Wikileaks says:

      Ding ding ding! We have a winner! 🙂

  33. Oh, this is rich! I’ve never been creeped out by big brother. Just go about living life as though everyone else had telescopes and loved watching only you. I’m 62 and retired. My wife and I drive to an occasional class and errands. We have Allstate and 3 days ago plugged in our Drivewise devices. No hard braking events…yet. Dare I say that I drive like an old man? No, not because I’m feeble, timid or senile. I’m not exactly hypermiling, but do appreciate the self control required.

    To me, smooth, gentle driving is what taxi drivers excel at. I do my best. Besides Allstate’s insurance reduction with Drivewise, fuel costs will also go down. Coasting is my new mantra. Leave enough space to coast and hard braking becomes a thing of the past. I’m actually looking forward to when the vehicle itself will do what DriveWise now does and adds location tracking as well. I want to pay only for the insurance I use; don’t drive–don’t pay. Drive when and where accidents and traffic are rare–pay little. If I don’t make insurance claims, reduce my rates over time, please.

    1. We do a lot of coasting in my husband’s Prius! If you coast enough, it hardly uses any gas at all!

  34. You probably won’t believe it but I am actually getting a 30% discount on my allstate policy with drivewise, however, though because I paid a year in advance to save 120.00. I know only get 10% on drivewise until my policy period is up, not every 6 months as stated in the brochure. My wife was getting a 21% discount, up until the policy 6month renewal, then it went down to 18%, however, that policy is also paid for 1 year and so now she still only gets the 10% discount.

    1. I’m glad that SOMEONE is getting 30% off. Go Peter!

      1. Wikileaks says:

        The only problem with that statement is Allstate does NOT offer a year auto policy and you CAN’T pay for a year policy. They only have ever offered a six month auto policy in which you MUST wait for the renewal premium for the next 6 month policy period before they will accept payment. Homeowners with Allstate is a one year policy.

  35. The reason you get soo many hard braking events is because if you hit the brake and your speed goes down 8 miles in like 2 seconds you get a hard brake. I have 9 hard braking incidents in 6 months and got 30%. To avoid this and mine happened when I stopped or was backing out of a space, you have to gently brake and slowly back, even if you don’t brake hard it registers as if you did. Hope this helps you.

      1. Holly, the way my agent explained it to me was that there was an initial 10% discount, and that if all things alligned perfectly could be up to 30%. Sounds like your agent did a bad job explaining.

  36. “….up to..30% discount…” I suppose that there is dishonestly in creative marketing.

    1. What is so hard to understanding the “up to” part.

  37. Tracking, monitoring, big brother and being creeped out. Wow, does anyone here drive near traffic intersection cameras? When you’re driving on public roadways, do you believe you have a right to anonymity? Psst–there’s a license plate on your vehicle and software on those traffic cams can read the characters. Let me guess, absolutely none of you screams bloody murder when you are victimized and want the perpetrator caught.
    Oh, I get it. Some of you don’t want the company you pay to insure you to know anything about your driving habits. Until someone gets hurt, that is. Then you’ll pay someone else to defend you, should that be necessary. With increasing numbers of vehicles on the roadways, accident reconstruction will depend on recorded data. Statistically predicting driving habits that most often cause accidents is the way of our crowded future.
    How’s this–offenders who don’t pull over during the approach of an emergency vehicle could receive automatic warnings on their driving record. Accumulate several warnings and the owner receives a ticket. Stop right there–listen, what if it’s you or someone you love in that ambulance? Some vehicles already have automatic parallel parking and emergency braking.
    I’ve read too many comments against big brother and against the accuracy of this Drivewise device. Okay, diss Drivewise, but unless you understand technology don’t expect anyone to believe the seat of your pants proclamations. Those of you with smartphones; check out the free app available from the website drivewise.ly

  38. It really just sounds like your agent misled you. I am signing up right now and they said you get a 10% discount immediately and based on your driving, you could receive UP TO a 30% discount. 10% is enough to try it and 30% is even better IF I can get there.

    1. oh my god everyones different….. listen, you get 10% for signing up, has nothing to do with driving. you get 30% to start with. look at your drivewise graph. depending on you it goes down from there.

  39. I am an Allstate insurance agent and I can tell you that to start off for the drivewise discount is only 15% for the first 6 months. I can also tell you that other companies have this device and they charge for it. Allstate came up with this because we have listened to our customers for years saying that they are good drivers and they should not be penalized for the bad drivers. You are not required to participate, and can opt out of it at anytime.

    1. Interesting Shari – mine started off with only 10%
      Good and bad on these. I have a truck I use for towing my 5th wheel, I guess 2000-3000 miles a year. I have had this device in for 2 months, and am saving a whopping 3%! A number of braking events – well guess what, I tow….big clue. One downer – it went in for brakes the other week, and they did road test it – should have taken the thing out.
      Have a Camaro, weekend warrior, 4-5k a year. Was at 17% took it out, and yes went over 80, down to 7%.
      For me – basically useless, and as Holly points out, these guys don’t know any of my circumstances. I just informed my agent they will be sent back. I can’t see myself saving much, and the opportunity for Allstate to raise premiums, penalize me in anyway – i will not give them the opportunity. While they say ‘No’ they do they state ‘IF” we do, we’ll let you know. Of course they will let you know, i trust insurance agents as much as Lawyers, real estate agents, and car salesman…and won’t give them ammo to use..

    2. Shari, where are you? i’ll take my policy to you for 5%.
      i’ve read this whole thing theres so many different opinions. you agents need to get together on this…
      maybe i’m being lied to, who knows…
      this morning i was again talked out of canceling drivewise for the 4th time. i hate it but she tells me i’m getting a discount for my next 6 months.
      i’m beginning to wish i knew the real story, do i keep the gadget for 6 months then it goes back or what? is my % i end up with at 6 months what i keep after that?
      i hate this gadget, it gave me an extreme brake in reverse in my driveway,,, lol
      i was backing to where i park one minute before turning off the key. well it was on ice n snow it spun a little.. stupid though..

  40. I did the same and signed up. Not knowing the hours and how it worked. Well imagine I work night shift as an RN, so yes I drive at times they do not like. Wonder if they would like needing EMS, Fire, ED, etc and state we can’t be out during those times.

  41. Well guess what! After installing the devise and driving almost 11 months with no change in my 30% discount, now that my renewal is coming up, I go from a 30% discount on Friday to a 21% discount on Monday, funning thing is I never took the car out over the weekend! But some how went down 9%, only put on 1500 miles, no speeds over 80, mostly finish driving by noon and after one year of perfect 30%, never changed even once, now 21% discount, and the agent can’t explain why?

  42. This is a trend that I first saw with our family’s health insurance. Rates increased across the board and the amounts of discounts in the form of cash deposited in our HSA were dependent on “health factors” of the adults on the policy. Smoking, BMI, BP, cholesterol are measured in the fall prior to open enrollment. Amounts added to the HSA depend on how many factors you pass. So it’s risk factor.

    I feel like I should get a discount inside an insurance pool that also insures people with higher risks that are controllable. If I am overweight, my discount should be less.

    As far as being monitored for driving habits, I have no problem voluntarily putting devices on our automobiles so our insurance company can reduce our rates as a reward for driving under certain speeds, at safer times, and at speeds that don’t necessitate hard braking. These are conditions under the control of the policy holder and if I were insuring activities, I would probably try to reduce rates for those who keep their controllable actions at a less risky level. Incentive.

  43. Holly- I’m sorry your agent, or customer care misled you regarding the discount. I feel your pain regarding the breaking incidents. @ 17% you are doing really well, in my experience the overall mileage the car is driven is the single biggest factor in the drivewise discount. I’m only getting 5%, but its 5% less than someone else who fits my risk profile and is not enrolled in the program. This lets your driving habits differentiate you from the pool of risk you happen to fall into, it provides you with a far more accurate rate and gives you more control over how you are rated individually. Nobody likes paying for insurance until they need it, and despite what many think there is a solid mathematical basis for any and all rate increases. In fact most states (NY for sure) require any rate fluctuation over a certain % be approved by a State entity before they can go into place. In short, its lousy that the discount was poorly explained to you, but look at the bright side you are getting a 17% discount you didn’t have before and its because of how well you drive.

  44. I apologize if this has already been covered in one of the many comments, too many to read through, but the initial problem lies with your agent (no pun intended) telling you that you would save 30%. As a long time Allstate employee (and believe me, I’m not a banner carrying cheerleader for the company by ANY means), I have seen many different promotions by the company. In my experience, most of the time when a customer isn’t happy with the result, it’s due to bad explanations by agents.
    When DriveWise was released it had a very simple explanation: a 10% enrollment discount for your first 6 months with the device. The following renewal will receive a discount based on the driving data from the first 6 months. The discount goes UP TO 30%. Many agents (not just Allstate) are more concerned with the short term business on the books and will do just about anything to keep it on, even if it means irate customers in 6 months to a year. Sorry for your bad experience!

    1. J, so when do we unplug the gadget n are done with it? i was told 6 months.
      that said i’ll send it back after 6 months, which she said to keep it till then. two days ago i got 3 extreme braking in my driveway, in reverse, all in one minute n one minute before turning the key off when i stopped. 10.5 to 0, 11 to 0, 13 to 0. it was pretty much ice under snow. i have to drive up my drive, turn to the left, then back up a grade to park. it spins a little every time i back in. i’m down to 11% now because of it. i hate the gadget…..

  45. Appreciate this thread. I’ve been with Allstate a few years and was just told today about Drivewise. My premium has just gone down. I’ll definitely use this device to save a few bucks. Not concerned about the privacy stuff. More interested in whatever savings. I appreciate the opportunity to read everyone’s thoughts.

  46. Must have missed the 6 month drivewise concraption usage period, so thank you for that, what a relief! I thought it was for a year. I don’t like it, I find myself wanting to make As, why, to save money and add to my driving stress? No, all wrong–I love driving why should I feel so controlled? Spring and summer is coming, I’m anticipating long trips, I have to stress over how I drive all those long miles, why is it bothering me so much? It’s getting to me, even commenting on my BF’s driving, -comments like that would have been a hard braking event, when it was necessary to avoid other careless drivers that squeeze and rush in w/o signaling, errrr.

    1. Susan, you can keep it forever if you want, do not unplug it before the six months. wait till you get your new policy n see what you get. no one knows exactly how it works yet. after your six months you keep the % you earned the first six months.
      drivewise doesnt understand other drivers cutting you off n crap like that.. they dont understand if you leave that perfect distance between your car n the car in front of you SOMEONE WILL GO THERE. usually a no turn signal right turn..

  47. I have been on the drive wise program for about 4&1/2 months. My discount projection was estimated at 15% until I had to make a long trip for a funeral. The trip was about 875 miles one way. My braking and speed have always been rated A+ and my time of day between B+ & A-. I have driven well over 1 million miles in my life time without causing an accident. I guess that genuine experience doesn’t count for anything.
    My wife is constantly downgraded because she does all of her driving during the morning and evening rush hours.

    1. Sounds like she just needs to stay home if she wants the full discount!!! =)

    2. It sucks!

      I had to make a 350 mile trip from michigan to penna for a funeral then back again
      So 700 miles round trip- not only did I experience the loss of a loved one my discount went down due to making the trip home to attend the funeral !

      That plain sucks!

  48. Out of 600 miles I’ve driven 0.7 over 80 and my speed is a B-. What a joke.

    1. I’m taking mine out! They can keep the stinking discount!

  49. Drive wise got me very angry too. I have been a safe driver for a long time, no accidents or tickets ever. I kee pa safe distance between me and the drivers, keep near the limit, and follow defensive driver techniques . GUess what, Im a BAD driver and get 0.00! Why, because I drive sometimes at night, and hit the brakes. Am I expected to slam into the driver in front of me in stop and go traffic?

    1. I am just curious to what discounts people have received. My husband who works afternoons of course is knocked down on his grade for having a job dammit. The things we do so we can pay these assholes…lol!!! His average grade is a B and our discount is 7%. From the day we signed up it never moved from 7%. That is what it started at. You would think since they so call claim up to 30% that it would start there. Not so much. So just curious what other’s overall grade was and the discount.

      1. Tina,,,,, if it started at 7% call n complain. it is supposed to start at 30%.
        dont call your agent, call drivewise first.
        i’m at 11%
        my 6 months is up on 20 april.. i’ll know more then about %’s n what happens after..
        i has several weather related extreme brakings, they took off all but two but did not give my %’s back.

      2. Tina, Did they tell you about the online policy? its 10%. its not online billing, just your policy. ask your agent about it.

        1. Ken,

          Our policy renewed and it went up for what reason I don’t know. Still working on an explanation of that. However the discount was 7% it never changed. Now this new 6 month period it started at 10% and is still at 10%. Still trying to figure out though how my policy went up without any changes except for their 3% difference which should not result in the monthly payment going up $24. The entire 10% discount was only like 35 bucks so now with a 7% discount my rates went up $24 a month. Allstate is ridiculous. My husbands final overall grade was a C because god forbid he work afternoons and drive home after 11pm. Allstate encourages people to A – not work or B not drive ever. If you do just make sure you run every light as to not have a breaking incident…lol!!!!!

          1. Tina,, My new policy starts on the 20th, i’ll know more then… i have the new paperwork for the new policy, my payment is exactly the same. my drivewise is still 11%, i’d think there should be some difference, like whatever 1% would be.
            after my new policy starts on the 20th i’m going to my agent n have it explained more, at that point i will cancel drivewise so i dont have to run lights or worry about small children. i’ll be able to hit thge brakes whenever i need to n do it safely. if it goes good i’m going to ask about your 7% n why it didnt start at 30% just coz i’m curious..
            this whole thing is still confusing n it seems they have different rules for everyone.
            i’m looking at drivewise now,,, my grade went from C to C+ for braking, overall went from B to A- its still at 11% time of day is C-, which i dont think will ever change. they’ve taken off several brake events, no change in %, it went down when i got them though. C to C+ should have changed something..

          2. Tina,
            They said it cant happen, everyone starts at 30%. you would need to call them n give them your ID.
            its past 20 april n i dont know more about it, because they dont know…

            ok, they now tell me braking will come off so no more brake events, only time of day, distance n speed. i told her bull@@it, its still there, i have to call back this afternoon.
            i told her about them taking brake events off coz of weather, she said ‘well good’. then i told her my % didnt go back up, it stayed at 11%.

            Mr. flat car tire wheel, ”’Would you post a list of all of all your social community pages like
            your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?”’ NO! Not sure i would even if you were female. I get very annoyed about guys who would want to follow me…..

          3. F’ing drivewise,,,,, no one knows what it is.
            agent says no more braking.
            drivewise says we no nothing about taking braking off.
            agent says if i cancel i lose the 36 dollar discount.
            drivewise says if i cancel i keep the discount.
            drivewise said she’ll find out why they wouldnt take all my weather related extreme braking off.
            drivewise will find out why they took all but 1 per day extreme brake events but DID NOT give my %’s back.
            now i still have the thing n need to wait 5 days to find out what drivewise finds out,,,,,, i’ll get emailed..
            i suppose i’ll keep the gadget till then. i think it would be rude to remove it n still have drivewise finding out all this crap…
            i cant believe i have a thing hanging in my truck that no one knows what it is or how it works………
            i suppose no one reads this anymore either..
            i suppose all i can laugh at right now is the guy that can calculate if your car tire wheel is flat or not..
            lol, i think i can calculate if i have a flat car tire wheel on my truck on my own.

        2. Hi Ken,
          Tom from Minnesota here. I read your post about your 11% discount and just got my renewal with that same 11% figure after being in the program for 6 months. My overall grades were A+ on mileage, A for time of day (was also an A+ until it dropped for no apparent reason when I approached renewal time), A+ for speed and a C on braking. I posted earlier this year about having 3 braking incidents in about 5 mintues (2 in the same minute) in December when I got stuck in the snow. I contacted Drivewise about this and they just pretty much gave me the brush-off. Since Jan 1st I’ve only had 3 hard braking incidents (11 mph to 2 mph, 16 mph to 8 mph and 18.5 mph to 9.9 mph) all because of snow and ice as none of them were high speed as you can see. I live 3 miles from work and have put less than 1,200 miles on my car since signing up for drivewise so thought I was a “shoe-in” for a discount of near 30%. Not sure if it is even possible to get above the 11% which pretty much just offsets the normal rate increases I’ve been getting annually. Something doesn’t seem right about this whole program. Am I thankful for the 11%? Sure. Am I seeing any saving with the Drivewise program? Not so sure. Time to shop around!

          1. Hi Tom, I seen your other post, i commented on it saying i got more brake events than you did. they took only two off because of weather related. they didnt give my % back though, it was 17 before the events. (still 11%) i’m pretty sure it was 5 extreme braking, all in my driveway 1 minute before turning the key off. on ice it spins a bit getting to where i need to be. i ended up not driving when it was icy even though i needed to sometimes.
            i wonder if theres any parents out there or even a friend of someone that told their kid or friend if they get in trouble at night or for whatever reason need a ride home to call, at … lol, 2 or 3 am. how do you tell that kid, or whoever, that ”’well i’m sorry but i cant come pick you up, my insurance company will think i’m a really bad driver if i drive after 11 pm”’. ”you’ll need to walk home from where ever you are”. or, if the person is drunk n needs a ride for that reason just tell them its safer for you to drive..
            thats where my ‘time of day, C- comes from, i have someone that drinks to much at times. i havnt had the nerve to tell her no.
            anyway, my new policy starts at midnight, i’ll talk to allstate tomorrow again, i’m going to cancel drivewise before it drives me insane….. lol
            its only a 32 dollar discount anyway.. i’ll still have the 10% epolicy.

            ok i shouldnt have said ”only 32 dollars”, but it drives me crazy.

            Happy Easter

          2. I shopped around and found that Progressive is way more expensive than Allstate (not like all their commercials lead you to believe). Sorry Flo! Hartford is about $100 less a year than Allstate for the exact same policy (even with my 11% Drivewise “discount” figured in). I’m shipping my Drivewise device back pronto!

          3. I cant find anyone that can match my allstate rate. maybe i’ll try Hartford.
            i’m still waiting for what drivewise comes up with. i was told to wait 5 days, which i did. now they want another 5 days, which i’ll give them. i’m still using the drivewise untill i get an answer.
            i’m wondering if the person i talk to at drivewise can’t get an answer either.

    2. Yea- don’t hard break or you lose your discount- just hit the other guy! Lol

      What a joke drivewise truly is!

  50. how to fix a flat car tire wheel calculator says:

    I do not drop a ton of remarks, however I browsed some comments on this page Allstate Drivewise:
    An Honest Review | Club Thrifty. I actually do have 2 questions
    for you if you tend not to mind. Is it only me or does it appear like a few of the
    comments appear like they are coming from brain dead visitors?
    😛 And, if you are posting at other sites, I would like to follow you.
    Would you post a list of all of all your social community pages like
    your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?

  51. George Otis says:

    This Drivewise program is such a scam. It started me off at a 15% discount and now I am down to 5% because of “hard Braking” events. I live on a steep hill and have to go through 3 stop signs. Even at 25 mph I get hit for a “Hard Braking” Events and there is NOBODY ON THE ROAD!
    To get my score up you had to drive like an old lady, make sure you are braking WAY before a traffic light, even if it is green. This pisses the drivers behind you and increases the possibility of getting hit from behind.
    This policy is defective, especially if you live in areas where you have roads with 50 mph and traffic lights on them.

    1. George, i’m told braking is supposed to come off. thats one of the things i’m waiting for drivewise to figure out.
      i understand your green light n pissed off drivers behind you, i live just off of a 4 lane highway n most of my driving is on it.
      my steep hill is my driveway n is where i got my brake events this past winter.
      when i get an answer from drivewise i’ll post it…
      HAPPY MAYDAY

      1. well i waited 5 days now 7 more. heres what they sent……
        Thank you for contacting Allstate’s Customer Technical Support. Your concerns are important to us and we appreciate the opportunity to address them.

        Please allow me to sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced. We are still working on getting your Drive Wise information corrected. Your ticket is being looked at by the Drivewise second level team. I will email you again once I have more information.

        So i still dont know if braking is coming off, or what happens if i cancel drivewise..

        1. 17 May today. no word from allstate so still waiting.
          has anyone else found anything out? about drivewise. i know some of you out there know other things.. lol

          1. 25 May, still waiting. i got an email saying they need more time. i called again n got another person, she said braking will not come off. couldnt find any record of my previous calls. % went to 14 from 11 so something happened.
            i got a survey for my last call. i hope they read it.. after your six months you do keep your % for the next 6 months if you remove the gadget..
            it seems no one reads these anymore so i wont be back unless i find something important out..

          2. Well 19 june now n got another email from drivewise. they need more time but second level is still working on it.
            I emailed back n told her i think drivewise forgot about me n asked if this is an automated email. no answer back yet..
            Last night at 2am i went n got gas, went to walmart, went to the grocery store, went to another gas station to get a coffee n b/s a few minutes then home. in all that i didnt see one single car on the road, so what is so unsafe about that? actually all are within a few miles of my house but so what, its safer than driving in daytime traffic plus i dont have to wait in the stores for all the daytime idiots……… plus i like driving at night. my % is up to 15 now..

  52. O.K. I follow the rules of this unit. Or try to. I live in Fl. Close to a area they call the Villages. That’s where most of the retires from the north come to live, and drive. I have not had a ticket for anything in over 20 years. And no accidents until the last 4 years when I was rear ended 3 times, and someone ran into the side of my car, when I was stopped for a traffic light. Three had no insurance, so my insurance had to pick up the damage to my car. Like I said no moving violations on my part for over 20 years.
    My insurance cost went from $436.00 to $969.52 with the company I had before all state. I asked why the increase? The agent told me because of my 4 accidents. That were not my fault? I cancelled them out.
    The agent for all state talked me into the drive wise program, so I installed it for the past 3 months. I believe it started with a 10% discount. I was down to ( 0 ) when it just went up to 5 % I don’t know why. Everything is still the same on my driving record. B, B, A- and A I’m also a retired person, and lived outside Chicago for 35 years. Drove 37 miles to work every day for 33 years, and was comfortable in my driving habits with my eyes on the road, and my foot off the brake.
    This unit under my dash has me thinking about it all the time. I drive like a 15 year old person with a beginners permit. and I’m tired of it. My driving skills are going to hell. I feel I am a safe driver and was before this unit was put in my car. To have 5% to 10% off my insurance is not worth it. The unit is coming off today at 10:00 so I can start driving like a person who again has control of his automobile. How can you as a driver, concentrate on avoiding an accident, when you know to prevent it, you will be penalizing by the program that you are in trying to save money on your 5% discount? That make no sense to me. If I have to use my brakes to prevent an accident I will. I will not run a light to save a few dollars, for using my brakes, and if I want to go out for dinner at any given time I can relax and tell my wife I’m ready… NOT ( Well lets wait a little while so we don’t get penalized for being on the road at the wrong time of day, and maybe get hit by one of those uninsured drivers, that are many in Fl. When all state comes up with a better system on there big brother under the dash, I may get back into the program.

    1. Today I was cleaning out files and noticed some premium estimates from Allstate from 2012. I was surprised to see I could have saved $137 on a 6-month policy that gave me added coverage (glass and higher property damage). Why hadn’t I changed companies and been saving?! But then I saw that Drivewise was required. My initial reaction back when I was given the quotes was “no way.”

      I was starting to be tempted. But after reading everyone’s experience with the program/device here, I am confirmed in my staying at my current provider. The savings were coupled with me switching home insurance, which was much more costly for less coverage with Allstate. I think the added concentration on “my results,” time checking them on the computer, frustration over not being a high achiever, and getting annoyed at not saving more despite a good personal driving record all tip the scales to it not being viable for me – without having to consider my aversion to the idea of freely submitting to my behavior being monitored by a publicly-traded, for-profit company.

      FYI = I note that they said you could get only 10% off the first 6 months, then up to 20% the second, and a maximum of 30% ever; I also noted that the average was expected to be 11%.

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    visit the site, that’s what this site is providing.

  54. Mohamed D. says:

    I’m 23 years old and signed up for all state insurance for my first time. They did ask me for the drivewise and my premium was so amazing and affordable. I decided to take it after asking many questions about it as well record it.

    I absolutely love the drive wise technology. It is helping me to watch my mileage and drive safely. Haven’t had any issues with it and I think it’s helpful. The app needs to be more updated as I’m having so much issues with it through my iPhone 5s. I log online on my desktop every day and print my feeds back from drivewise for prove purposes. As premium goes up I asked my agent told me that it will not affect my rates at what so ever.

    Overall I am satisfied with Allstate, very affordable. The older I get the more benefits and save money I’ll have. Amazing.

  55. What’s funny about these is I had a progressive rep tell me that I can put their device in my car that I never drive and still use it to save money the transmission was out on that car and he knew that told me after the 6 months park the other car after I fix my other car and put the device in the parked car again

  56. John Benedict says:

    I am canceling my Allstate insurance because of their Drivewise program and going back to State Farm. This Drivewise program is bogus. The “hard braking” criteria is ridiculously low. I am certain that Allstate set it that way so you don’t get the max discount. I am an exceptionally good driver and that comes from my racing background. To be a good racer you have to anticipate what is going to happen so you can win and not crash. That translates into being a good driver on the road by avoiding crashes and by always being prepared to take action and to brake early. This Drivewise program shows me to have braked “hard” a number of times when I know I did not. Either they are deliberately lowering the criteria or their program is seriously flawed. Doesn’t matter as this tells me Allstate is an unscrupulous company and I’m leaving.

    1. Drivewise states that hard braking is considered to be a deceleration at the rate of 8 miles per hour per second. 10 miles per hour per second is extreme braking. I don’t give a care what anyone says; I can and have avoided ANY recorded braking events when I bother to anticipate what is going to happen, such as a traffic light in the near distance that has remained green for a long time. I cannot avoid those drivers who cut in front of me, but you know what? When I refuse to follow traffic too closely, absolutely no one abruptly cuts in front of my car, or has an urgent need to. I myself have amassed 9 hard braking events in nearly a year of Drivewise. My wife and I have a device in each of our vehicles and so far, we have identical results, at 21% discount each. I can hardly sputter and boil over at an average of one hard braking event each month.
      Earlier posters have complained that light vehicles stop more abruptly than heavy vehicles. That is sheer lunacy, as I drive a smart fortwo. Learning demands humility…

      1. Update–it’s now been just about a year since my wife and I signed up for Drivewise. We each have achieved an identical overall grade of A+; good for 21% discount each. I still have 9 hard braking events and my wife has 14–she said that a few were bogus, as her car was not driven upon a couple days when events were recorded. She refused to call Allstate to have the wrong ones removed. Despite the quantity of events, each of us received grades of A- for braking.
        I think our combined discount comes to around $160/6 months. Since we began Drivewise, at my insistence we’ve also paid the premium as a lump sum, avoiding an added $10 / month partial payment fee, though it sure seems like a lot of money for two cars driven a combined total of 3500 miles in a year.
        My wife has maintained that Drivewise would not affect how or when she drives and has proven it. I’m always aware that Drivewise is actively monitoring, but had long ago given up quick actions in favor of pursuing better fuel economy. For me, learning to coast more often and while approaching red traffic signals was incredibly difficult. These days, as an occasional passenger in my wife’s car, I am staggered by how quickly she accelerates and can’t believe how long she’ll stay on the gas when approaching stopped traffic at a light. Sometimes annoying to me is how very many other drivers are caught up in a “hurry up and wait” mode of driving. My wife’s habits pale in comparison to people sitting high in a large SUV who must be pressing either throttle or brake–coasting is a concept alien to many of them.

  57. This program is a scam! It is more for them to get obtain statistical driving information and survey the results to justify how much they can raise the rates. I have not qualms whatsoever of the service that I have received from Allstate, however, I have continuously watched my rates go up in the last year every 6 months. Not only have I been insured by Allstate for the last 12+ years (so longevity means absolutely nothing), but I am an experienced driver (32 years), I haven’t had any accidents since I first got my license at 16, except 1 break-in and at park n ride (beyond my control) and 2 rear-enders who rear ended me about 10+ years ago (knock on wood), I haven’t had any moving violations, yet my insurance rates continue to rise ($8 – $12 per half).

    And to add, the only way that you can receive a 30% discount with the Drivewise program is if you park your car in the driveway/garage and DON’T drive.
    And as for the hard braking, if it wasn’t for me hard braking, I would have run over a child on my street, and T-Boned a couple of vehicles on the highway that think they own the road by cutting people off at high speeds during peak traffic hours. For me at least, hard braking is as a result of following too close. There are many circumstances that would cause one to do so!

    So, enough is enough and I called around for comparable coverage and so far I’ve been quoted 40-50% less! Amazing!

    1. Drivewise is a program where you can earn up to a 29% reward check. It does not reduce your premium it gives the reward check back. While the company might obtain statistical driving information they cannot use that to increase your rates. The only way an ins co can increase rates is to go through the state Insurance Commissioner and show them losses and why they need to take rates.

      1. I agree with you Marina. My insurance has done nothing but go up since drivewise over the last year. Also my drivewise discount shows up on my premium I have never received a check for my discount. The last 2 renewals of my policy it was right there listed in the discounts with my percentage.

        I also have been shopping around and was able to change and save over 50%. Allstate was the highest of anyone.

        Also Bryan no one is questioning the “upto 30%” the question or shall I say statement is false advertising by allstate. NO ONE gets that percentage or anything remotely close to it if you drive your vehicle.

        I mean who wouldn’t want the lousy 3% discount from allstate all because you work for a police department and work afternoons. You know meaning driving after 11pm when so fewer cars on the road but such a higher risk. According to allstate. Or would you rather leave allstate and take over a 50% discount as the rates are so much cheaper……that’s easy buh bye allstate and Drivewise!!!!!!

  58. I was curious if you ever considered changing the layout of your site?
    Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
    But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.
    Youve got an awful lot of text for only having
    1 or 2 images. Maybe you could space it out better?

  59. J Simpson says:

    After reading these posts I will be looking for vehicles with the Drivewise monitor on the dash before using the crosswalk!

  60. Well I just got my completed performance rating and lets just say it’s a joke. The overall grade is a B and the discount is 3%. So if you supposedly start at 30% which mine never did it started at 7% what kind of grading scale are they using for and overall B grade to get 3%? Also like others have stated my husband has ran lights now to avoid slowing down too fast. Also we have hard braking incidents on the vehicle when we were out of town and it was parked. It’s nothing but a scam looking to switch companies!!

    1. This is no scam. This is not to “lower your premium” or save you money. This is a reward program. Your premium would be the same weather you enroll in drivewise or not.

      So you have hard brakes or drive at a later hour. Who really cares….would you rather receive your auto renewal bill in the mail and never see a reward check. Weather the amount is enough to buy a couple ice cream cones or a steak dinner its not affecting your auto premium. The fact of getting 10% for signing up is grateful…. considering it does not harm your bill why is everyone so quick to complain. Im sorry but if your naïve enough to think your going to get 30% back every renewal your living in dream land. It doesn’t matter if its an insurance company or a grocery store its common knowledge that when something states “SAVE UP TO…XXX AMOUNT” chances of being at the higher end of that are slim.

      Your rates are not affected by your driving performance this is a bonus…not a scam. People are very easily greedy, whatever happened to being gracious for a reward? If you don’t like the percentage you are getting then remove it and you’ll get 0%, simple as that. Id rather have 5% than nothing.

      1. Actually you are wrong. Do you even have Drivewise? It is a scam and yes the percentage comes off your premium it is not a bonus check or anything they send you. When they add things to it when the vehicle isn’t even being driven yes it is a scam. And I did remove and removed allstate all together. I switched companies and saved over $1000 every 6 months!!!

        Sorry never received a reward check from allstate that is another insurance that they offer that they advertise on TV and yes you pay very high premiums for that as all they are doing is refunding your won money back to you.

        Maybe you should even know what you are talking about before you reply and rip into someone when you have no clue what you are even talking about. Reward checks and drivewise are 2 completely different things as the reward checks are for the premium gold policies and drivewise can be added to any policy and the drivewise discount comes off your premium. Also yes it is supposed to start at 30% but they normally don’t. No I never thought I was going to get 30% off my premium as I am not an idiot!!!

        Read up before you comment to know what you are talking about.

        1. Apparently, there is a lot of confusion. I have Drivewise and here is how it works (unless it differs from state to state): every 6 months your Drivewise device is graded, and you get a reward depending on your grade. No, the amount is not deducted from your policy; it is a check you receive in the mail, and the amount of the check is based on the 6-month cost of your policy. Penelope is correct: your premium is the same whether you enroll in Drivewise or not. It IS a reward program – read the description.
          The braking measurement is extremely faulty, and I agree: I have run lights, too, to avoid hard braking, and I still get a B-! As my agent said, the program is new and there are still lots of bugs to be worked out.

          1. I have never received a check for Drivewise. The discount shows up on the premium. It was on my last renewal 6 months ago and now the new renewal just came showing the 3% discount that drivewise stated we got. Last premium it was 7% and it was taken right from the premium never in a check. Now the 3% discount this time was a joke considering the amount they raised the rates. We have had no claims on auto or home and they raised the auto $800. I think not. My agent stated that all rates were raised and that’s that. So basically I told him well I don’t need it then as I stated previously I changed companies and it dropped it by just over $1000. they were still great for homeowners price wise but the auto is just a joke. I have my renewal policy right here in front of me and it shows right on it drivewise discount included in your premium. In the year and a half we have had it there has never been a bonus check for the drivewise discount it is just on the policy premium.

            they use the excuse that it’s new all the time when in fact it isn’t new it’s been out read the reviews on other sites same thing adding things to it when the vehicle isn’t even driven. They are some sneaky bastards but not putting up with it anymore. Just like their drive time penalties. They must assume that no one works after 11pm. Well then if that’s the case I guess police, fire, and hospitals must close by 11pm so their employees aren’t penalized for driving home. That is our case. Sorry law enforcement is not a 9-5 job. My husband alternates between afternoons and midnights and is penalized for driving to work or home from work as there is much less traffic on the road but yet it isn’t in their drive time window. The whole program is a crock of shit. Even my agent agrees!!!!

            Also if you live in an area where there is ice and snow don’t ever get stuck even if in your own driveway as you will get numerous hard braking incidents for that too.

          2. Then it is different in various states (I’m in Montana). Interestingly, I have not gotten a check, either, and my agent has been trying very hard to get me one for over a month, but Drivewise seems to have a very incompetent office staff. I was told that with an A+ rating I would get a check equal to a 15% discount each 6-month period, but I have yet to see that, and I was told it would not be deducted from my premium, but would come as a check in the mail. (In this case the check is NOT in the mail!) Do the Drivewise people read these comments? I would like to think they do, but…

          3. I love the fact though that they tell you even with an A+ rating which is the best you can get you still would only get a 15% discount. Well that seems to be false advertising then when they state the max is 30%. Of course knowing that they will never give anyone a 30% discount. Allstate is such a joke.

          4. TY for all the info! I am THINKING of joining because I bought a house a BLOCK away from work, and my 2012 Kia Soul sits in the garage 5 days a week. ANY discount would be welcomed (I HATE paying insurance, never use it) A concern would be NY weather( antilocks kick in all the time) If rates wont go up nothing to lose for me, right? TY! tom.

          5. Rewards program or Scam – Look at the bigger picture –
            It looks like a start of bigger data collection program. This data collected will be used to rate your insurability. Your renewal rates will depend on it. Your ‘Driver Score’ will be sold and made important as your ‘Credit Score’. Just like ‘Fitness Score’ being touted by health insurance companies. All rest of insurance companies will follow some variation of this program. They all love data. After all the insurance industry is based on that.

            Eventually they will have GPS that will record your location and tie up to weather etc. They will have record of your trips. Just like Mobile phone carrier can estimate your location.. All this data will be used against (or sometimes for) you in legal cases..

            I hope sooner self driving car becomes affordable reality. I wonder how that will affect auto insurance. Or wait…. are they supplying this driving data to ‘self driving’ car or current car manufacturers or researchers ?

          6. Yes people from Drivewise do read these emails and yes it does vary by state. In our State it is a REWARD check based on your driving performance, I have received my bonus check and as it is a new program there are glitches. Most likely someone like Sandy who is a few who suffered the glitch will get the reward check closer to her third renewal in which she will receive 2 checks rather than one. The “Gold Crap” is a completely different program, reward as well. In our State your renewal is your renewal and your performance based on the devise is a reward check. Check the state standards before you point fingers. Rather than griping on whatever site this is do something productive and switch companies but once again your rates WILL GO UP its just a matter of which company takes the leap first. I would shop based on how an agent takes care of you rather than strictly price. Price is important but if its a matter of a couple hundred dollars a year id rather have an agent who will stand up for me and be by my side. Living in a state full of fires and several homes burning and people being evacuated, price does not affect the way our Allstate Agent handled the situation. I’m not coming at anyone but all insurance companies raise rates based on claims…weather they are yours or not, credit, experience and so on. I still stand by drivewise and at the end of my renewal receiving the check even to put gas in the car is nice.

          7. I’m sorry but that’s what this site is for. It’s for our opinions on the drivewise crap. Yes insurance will go up depending on claims and such. But when you haven’t had a claim in over 12 years and allstate jumps up your premium over $100 a month that is bullshit. So yes I did switch insurance companies and every other quote I received was for far less than the renewal from allstate. My agent tried and did his best to be competitive with the other companies but it just wasn’t possible.

            Also maybe you should read over what you type. Considering you are going off telling people to read up on their state stating that yes you get a check when in fact you don’t in my state and many others. Now of course you stated the “It may vary by state” thing after you jumped down my throat and others for telling us “No you get a check” .

            So needless to say I am quite happy threw the drivewise crap in the trash and lowered my premium by a ton and also received more coverage!!!

          8. Fake Name says:

            I read through most of the comments above and I’d like to point out a few things. Why any of you should care, I’ve been an Allstate agent pushing 20 years now.

            Your agent should have pre-qualified you for Drivewise with these questions:
            The customer will benefit from Drive Wise® if:
            o They drive 12,000 miles or less annually with this vehicle
            o Are safe drivers
            o Stay below 80 mph
            o Avoid driving late at night and during pre-dawn hours

            If you dont’ match these take it out and send it back.

            Now for my soap box:
            1.) I get 25% off my 5 series BMW every renewal. The only thing I ever get dinged for is hard brakes and not driving at the A+ time.
            Here’s some hints that might help.
            If I got out and know I’m going to get home late….I unplug it.
            If its Icy or snowy out (I don’t drive the rear wheel drive car)… unplug it.
            Don’t unplug it while your are driving because an instant stop at any speed is going to register as a nasty hard brake.

            2.) Now I will agree with most of you that the system isn’t perfect and it is pretty touchy on whats considered a hard brake and trying to drive during the A+ time of day isn’t feasible for most.. Honestly I’ll take 25% over nothing though.

            There are a ton of conflicting ideas out there about the particulars of Drivewise that said,
            Every state is different and we as agents should be experts in our states were licensed in and shouldn’t profess to the world that what’s in our state is universal. Rates in 1 state can be 25% off the rates of the other for no good reason other than it’s a different state. Drivewise is slightly different in 1 of the 3 states I’m licensed in and I’m sure it could be drastically different elsewhere. Talk to your local agent most of us don’t bite.

            I don’t typically call someone out but I feel it’s needed:
            Tina,
            Taking your story at face value that you did nothing wrong and your rates went up.
            There is an almost zero chance your rate went up $100 a month without something being your fault and/or a major violation showing up on your record that was a paper work error from the state, but even a new agent would have told you what happened and why. Before anyone thinks I’m mindlessly attacking someone there’s reason I say zero chance. A state re-rate of that size would cause all of the Allstate customers in that state to switch to another company. Not to mention the insurance commissioner allowing something like that is ludicrous.

            ps; Fake Name is for keeping the heat off me for telling the world how to cheat Drivewise.

          9. Well in response to you no there was not a single thing added or changed on my part for the rates to go up. My agent stated it was all of Michigan that went up and yes that allstate could not compete. Nothing in the driving records changed at all. My agent tried everything under the sun to keep us with them. However we changed companies as the 6 month rate was over $1000 lower. So for you to state zero chance unless we had a claim or something. There was nothing. However since we had major flooding in the summer and the amount of claims filed by so many our agent explained all rates went up because of that even if we didn’t have a claim we all suffer which is such crap. I can say now with new company I couldn’t be happier.

          10. MICHIGAN’S RATES ARE AMONG, IF NOT THE HIGHEST IN THE NATION. WE HAVE NO- FAULT (THE ONLY STATE IN THE NATION, AND THAT DRIVES THE RATES TO BE VERY HIGH) AND AN UNLIMITED PERSONAL INJURY PROTECTION (pip) COVERAGE WITH NO CAP – NOT EVEN A $10 MILLION DOLLAR CAP. TOO MANY DAMN LAWSUITS, LAWYERS SUING FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING – WHICH IS COVERED UNDER YOUR BODILY INJURY LIMITS. THE RATES FLUCTUATE DUE TO CLAIMS THAT OTHERS MAKE, AND THE PEOPLE DRIVING WITH NO INSURANCE. So many factors go into determining rates – it’s a complex puzzle though most people want to think it only based on no accidents and what car they drive.

          11. Tina – what state are you in?

          12. Kelly I am in Michigan and yes our rate for Michigan are higher than anywhere else. The amount of fraud in this state is ridiculous. It just sucks for those of us that are honest.

          13. AGREED!!!!!!

          14. Tina, you have it exactly right, no one gets a check from drivewise. its deducted from the premium. the gold crap gives a check,, as advertised on tv..
            anyway, my year is up this month. i have 19% now. which is where i was just before last winter. which i worked at all summer, they ended up removing some of my braking things but not all.
            so, i thought i was good to go with A+ and 19% plus a 10% discount for ebill. well, my premium went up almost 100 dollars,,,,, what a kick in the butt…..
            oh, i still havnt got an email back from them letting me know what they were doing about braking n crap. i’m going back to the regular paper policy and removing drivewise gadget n sending it back. i’m not spending another winter worrying about getting stuck or spinning on a hill.
            just as a note for people,,,, hard braking n extreme braking is not connected to your brake pedal. it goes by your speedometer,, miles per hour up or down. go in wet grass or ashes n spin n see what happens.

          15. Correction – the GOLD CRAP does NOT give a check, only the PLATINUM. Gold has deductible rewards and accident forgiveness 1 at fault, every 3 years.

          16. James Sweeney says:

            I have never had an accident or a claim…ever!!! Putting on your brakes harder than usual is to avoid an accident but they use that to lower your discount…Now that’s just moronic! You can go out in the morning but if you try to come back home after lunch, they use that to lower your discount! That’s where they get you and it’s not fair so, for this reason, I’ll be looking for another insurance carrier!

        2. Wow Tina,
          Chill out, damn girl.
          Let me tell you this:
          I am a Drivewise user.
          And guess what… I receive CHECKS!!!
          Yup, it never comes off my premium.
          Stop attacking people, as you ARE the idiot.
          – goodnight.

          1. Yippie you get checks so does that make you feel special?????? Since I’m guessing “Your mama says you are” According to my agent I had NO WE DO NOT get checks the discount came right off the premium as it stated right at the top of the renewal. It’s not rocket science. So yes lets all give you a pat on the back since you feel special to get a check. So now I will defend myself against you who feels the need to personally attack me for no reason. Did you read through all the comments? I will guess no according to your response. I’m sorry that YOU are an @$$. Good luck with that drivewise since you think it’s so great you must not have an off hour job and work for a police, fire, ems, or hospital as us workers don’t have the luxury of driving 9 to 5. Instead we drive later at night or early mornings too when less traffic is on the road but get penalized for it. The whole system needs re-working but until then I am happy with my current carrier and will revisit allstate again next year to see if they can compete.

          2. I was an Allstate customer and tried the Drivewise program. Sorry to disagree with you, but I agree with Tina. The drivewise program looked good at first until I kept getting hit for stops I didn’t make, got hit 2 times for every stop and got hit many times for rocking my car in the snow. I told the Drivewise rep that my car didn’t move and I got hit with 6 hard braking events. The rep just laughed at me and told me to pull the module out. Now I am laughing at them. I switched to Geico and am paying 1/2 the price for the same insurance with no scams and no stupid drivewise module. Check out the customer satisfaction rate. Geico scores higher than Allstate. I could have purchased a couple of Mercedes with the money I paid to Allstate and their overpriced insurance.

        3. I guarantee you it is different in every state.

      2. Wrong… This is a scam. The program is corrupt and dosen’t work with all vehicles. You pay more for Allstate to give you that bonus. how would you like to pay 1/2 the amount without the hassle of drivewise or the other false advertising that Allstate does? I never got a check after 6 months. That is a differtent program that costs more money. What would I get back? My money without interest and a fee for Allstat to handle it? I got Geico for 1/2 the price of Allstate. No stupid module to worry about.

    2. TINA-There are only 3 Grades, A-C. The DriveWise Enrollment discount is a straight 10% off of each vehicle’s premium for the policy period. The Drive Wise PERFORMANCE RATING DISCOUNT is offered at renewal only, and CAN be 0%-30%. Hard braking is considered when you decelerate 7-10 MPH in ONE SECOND. EXTREME HARD BRAKING is 10-12 MPH in one second.
      Running lights to avoid braking…that sounds VERY risky.
      SCAM?? nope. All of the program information was given in the enrollment email – and it is VERY clearly outlined.

  61. Drivewise is a scam! After reading comments such as these and others that claim the device damaged including the customer agreement. I decided not to use the device. I was given the so called 10% discount initially, however after opting out of the program I was sent a bill that essentially removed the so called 10% discount. Many users of the device are only looking at percentages. What they should be concerned with is this savings in dollars. The 10% discount in my case amounted to around $44 for two vehicles for

    1. scam? The user agreement spells it out very clearly. Agree/install/keep in vehicle during policy period/drive. If you remove/opt out – the 10% of your vehicle premium will be added back into your premium. If you are paying $440/6 months – that is what you will have added back into your premium.

  62. Sandra Gay says:

    When I didn’t get my Drivewise reward at the end of May (I have an A+ rating), I contacted my agent who said there was a problem with Montana which would be resolved in July. When I didn’t hear anything by Aug. 19, I asked again, and was told there was a delay getting my check. Drivewise was contacted and I was told I would have the check in 2 weeks. Again, no check, so my agent tried again, and I was again told 2 weeks. It is now Sept. 17 and I have no check. The incompetence of Drivewise is staggering; they need new people at the top as they are completely dysfunctional.
    Also – the braking element of the program is a mess. I brake slowly and do not follow closely, but I continue to get a low rating. One has to brake to shift gears, so even when I’m not even driving, I get demerits! Fix the program and honor your commitments NOW.

  63. Cyndee Regan says:

    I recently started using Drivewise. You are lucky to have 17%. I have 10% now. While our one car is rated A+ in three categories, we are rated a C- overall because of the number of miles driven. I guess it would be better to skip work? I’m changing my car insurance ASAP. I’ve never paid such high car insurance before. Just thought it would be nice to have my house and car insurance with the same provider.

  64. Has anyone ever asked if the monitoring device is secure and is there a potential for a virus or hacker to be able to mess with electronics of your car? They told me the device is USB connected, therefore it sounds like it is a flash drive. Some auto manufacturers have had problems with their own devices being hacked, what does Allstate do to ensure theirs won’t be hacked?

  65. tim welch says:

    A lot of people who posted are not aware that Allstate can use the time and date if the event to help determine fault if you have an accident. Also Your drive wise record can be subpoenaed in a serious accident by the police. Not to mention the other driver’s attorney in a civil action. Same goes for cell phone records if you were talking or texting at the time of the accident.

  66. I think the concept that is lost in this is that this is a “voluntary” program. Don’t want to be tracked? Don’t sign up. If you were “promised” a 30 percent discount, thats poor service, but your terms and conditions that came with the device should have explained the discounting process to you and that your driving habits could save “up to 30 percent”. Another thing to remember is that this takes a holistic view of all events.. sure you may have one day where you “had a braking event” but what about the other 30 days where you didnt? As long as there isn’t a trend, its not going to have a negative impact. I think the point on this is lost on some, the provider isn’t telling you “go run over dogs” its telling you, “keep driving like you normally would, you might save some money if you drive safer than the average insured” The great part about it? It is a VOLUNTARY program that can be OPTED OUT OF AT ANY TIME. Don’t agree with the tracking? Send it back. Don’t like the discount you’re on target to get? Send it back. Personally, I’m of the school of thought that 5% off of something is better than 0% off of something. Just wait until Allstate’s next model of Usage Based Insurance launches in 2015, where you could be PENALIZED for unsafe driving practices. I can’t even IMAGINE what that thread would look like.

  67. and incidentally, if you threw your Drivewise device in the trash, get ready for that 50 dollar charge for not returning it.

      1. no charge – we do not charge – at all.

  68. When I initially left a comment I seem to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a comment is added I get 4 emails with
    the exact same comment. There has to be an easy method you can remove me from
    that service? Cheers!

  69. "Low Milage drivers" says:

    When I signed up it allows me to save 15% the first few months but the projected shows 0% savings not because I’m driving badly but because of the amount I drive. For the time being I’m driving an hour and a half to work and another hour and a half back home each day, that alone pushes me so far into the high risk category nothing else matters. I have a few braking incidents because of animals and then there’s the idiots around me who force hard braking by cutting in front of me. Sure I give them room after but what can you do when someone jumps in from another lane and stops short? The best answer by Drivewise logic is to never stop for red lights, animals, other bad drivers, etc. Just drive around like your brakes are out to get the best discount (it can’t measure turning force). Speed is sort of factored in too but its a hard line, anything under 80mph is perfectly acceptable regardless of if its a school zone or the Autobahn.

  70. I am returning my Drivewise today. I have had it for one year and whilst I have an A- for braking I do drive at busy time, and when I am on I 95 have to drive at 70 plus to keep up with everyone. I got zero discount yesterday when they sent an email, and I find their grading strange. I don’t need them judging my driving by a stupid gadget. I haven’t had an accident in 40 yrs and 1 ticket. Just look at the driving in South Florida it’s horrendous, they have no clue, and drivewise certainly doesn’t tell them when someone comes across 4 lanes and cuts you off. I don’t need them telling me how I drive, I know. Sorry I drive at busy time, some of us can’t help that.

  71. You all are idiots. If you don’t like it take it out and you won’t get a discount!! Otherwise be happy you are getting a discount.

  72. In reading all of these posts – I will clarify a few things, both as an Allstate Agent and customer…
    Allstate, will raise rates during a policy period due to the following reasons – changing of vehicles, coverage, drivers, discounts ‘falling off’ or misapplied.
    Allstate WILL NOT and DOES NOT raise rates before renewal, and dangle the ‘Drive Wise’ carrot as a solution. In the state I am located, the rates have jumped STATE WIDE/ALL COMPANIES due to the Personal Injury Protection/PIP increases mandated by the State – our state has NO LIMIT, and is a No-Fault State, the ONLY ONE. There is a marginal increase due to BI rates, and sometimes due to comp/coll changes.
    The Drive Wise Enrollment Discount is 10% per vehicle per policy period.
    As long as the email is accepted, and the device is plugged in and reporting, you will keep that discount.
    At the end of the policy period, the data is evaluated in it’s entirety, and a discount MAY be offered as the Drive Wise Performance Rating discount 0%-30%.
    The highest discount at renewal I have seen in 3 years is 27%.
    My 2 young drivers have received an 11% and a 9% discount , mine was 13%.
    The Drive Wise device monitors 4 things only, and it does NOT track where you drive-no ‘location device’. Safe driving times, safe speeds (looking for consistent spikes of speed over 80 MPH) mileage under 18,000 annually, and safe braking; my youngest driver has gotten ‘dinged’ on that a few times.
    Auto Insurance rates are not ONLY based on the age of your car, or claims made. The underwriters look at ALL aspects of RISK and experience when rates are assessed. Most consumers think that the age of the vehicle, and no accidents should be the only determining factors for rates – it IS much deeper than that.
    Not sure where all of you may live – but our state has some of the highest rates nationally. MANY of our drivers do NOT have insurance, and that is a HUGE part of what drives our rates so high…that with all of the law suits….

    1. I’m over 60, am retired and live in Michigan. My wife and I have experienced reduced premiums since we began with Drive Wise over a year ago. My wife tends to ignore that it’s in her car and I’ve learned to watch distant traffic lights while driving my car, ‘guesstimating’ if they’ll change before my approach. Neither one of us is in a hurry, nor do we tailgate or exceed posted speed limits.
      Drive Wise seems ideal for us, because without daily work commuting, I no longer work an off shift or put many miles on my vehicle. While I understand many complaints, I believe too, that Drive Wise won’t suit every driver. I can’t wait to fast forward into the future, when vehicles will incorporate more accident avoidance systems. Because of many people like me (baby boomer), the near future may bring about more medical event related traffic accidents.

  73. Has anyone else noticed that the time that your trip began as recorded by Drivewise is pretty much always wrong? I always leave for work at 4:25 a.m. give or take 5 minutes, yet the Drivewise data shows that I usually leave for work about 20 to 30 minutes earlier than that, and I have seen the time vary as much as an hour earlier than the actual, putting me in the highest risk classification of driving hours. Leaving work in the afternoon is the same way, with times showing that I left work way earlier than I would ever even consider. I notified Allstate of this and I got an email in return saying they would look into it, but that’s been over a month ago so I’m starting to think they just blew me off. I’ve read most of the posts on this site and couldn’t find any other people who have noticed the time of day discrepancy, but I simply can’t believe that I’m the only one with this problem.

  74. Ryan Mercer says:

    You were never *promised* the full 30%. Did the preceding term “up to” escape your attention? None-the-less, you’re saving 17%. Hardly worth complaining about. And as to your hard braking in the Walmart parking lot, your argument and conjecture is irrelevant. The hard breaking requires slowing at least 10 mpg in one second. Pretty sure the posted speed limit is 5, so…. Also, a single hard breaking incident isn’t going to make a big difference. The program is looking for over all driving trends. You say your hard breaking might be avoiding an accident or a fatality. Well those sort of incidents should be extremely rare for a good driver. If you frequently come close to running people down, then no, you are not a safe driver just because you hit the breaks in time.

  75. SAVE YOUR TIME AND MONEY. JUST SWITCH TO GEICO.
    I tried it in several vehicles. It didn’t work properly in 3 out of 6 vehicles. False reported or double reported incidents, I couldn’t use my alarm or my remote to lock the door on one vehicle. If you get stuck in snow, you get events for starting and stopping quickly.
    When my Allstate Drivewise discount hit 0% on one of my vehicles, I decided it was time to change insurance companies.
    I shopped around and Geico has a high customer satisfaction and costs less than 2/3 the price of Allstate. NO STUPID MODULE OR PROGRAM to worry about. I’m saving more money with Geico than I would have with Allstate Drivewise @ 30% discount.

  76. Richard Byrne says:

    Is it true I keep Drivewise only 6 months? I will get 29% on our second car which sits in the garage 95% of the time and zero on the primary car. You must drive safely and hard braking avoidance is easy…just watch any old dude driving an old Buick Sedan (blue in color) and give me the one finger salute.

  77. My daughter moved to Allstate as an agent recently and in moving my insurance from American Family offered me the Drivewise discount. I am concerned about using the device so I was googling information about it. My ultimate concern is that I drive about 18-20 miles to and from work (8-5pm type job) on an interstate where the speed limit is 65. The average speed on this interstate is more like 75-80 and I am right there with the rest of the speeders. I don’t do a lot of braking. I actually try to stay far enough back that it isn’t necessary to hit my breaks every time the guy in front of me on his cell phone hits the breaks (that irritates me especially if they are talking on their cell!). I am concerned about the speed I typically drive and also that the penalty could be far worse than losing the discount – how do we know they won’t use our driving information to justify higher rates in addition to not qualifying for the Drivewise discount? Maybe I don’t want to volunteer information that COULD be used against me. I have been told the only repercussion is losing the discount but I am not sure I believe that.

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  79. I have Drivewise, and currently we have two cars, one is at 3% (wtf) and the other is at 2% (wtff!). Either way, my projected savings is a total of 5%. Well they are only giving me a check for 2%. I called them out on their customer agreement that clearly states both cars percentage is based off of the TOTAL premium. They are telling me I’m calculating it incorrectly. Maybe you all can help me out….

    3% and 2% is a total of 5%…I think.
    5% of 1657 is a total of $33.14 right? NO

    My premium is 1657, my projected rewards is 5% and my rebate is only 2% for a total of $33.14 which is simply found by multiplying 1657*.02 or you can multiply $33.14 by 50 to get 1657. They’ re stealing $55 from me and I want what I earned.

    1. Hey Daniel,
      How would you like to pay 1/2 of what you are paying now and not have to put up with all the B.S?
      Allstate promises a lot, but you pay for all of that. They are in the business to make money. They advertise that you get a check after 6 months. Did you ever get one? I didn’t. I asked about that and that is a different plan that costs more. What are you getting back? Your money without interest? not a wise investment. Drivewise? Your getting 3%. Is it worth the crap you have to put up with? When one of my vehicles hit 0% I bailed from that stupid Drivewise program. Have you ever gotten stuck in the snow? Your car may have not moved but your discount went down. every time you tried to rock the car and hit the brake, your discount went down. That’s money out of your pocket! I told this to the person at Drivewise and they laughed at me and said that I should have pulled out the module! So who’s laughing now? I’m paying 1/2 the price that I paid with Allstate without their scams and false advertising. I’m spreading the word to everyone I can. How much money did you pay for Allstate insurance over the years? How many new cars could you have purchsed with the additional money you paid to Allstate that you would have saved if you paid 1/2 the amount for insurance? I could have purchased a few nice Mercedes vehicles with that money in 30 years as a loyal Allstate customer.

      1. Hell no. I got screwed royally by Drivewise. They said I cancelled the device April 19th which was 11 days before my Allstate Insurance was renewed. Therefore I was NOT eligible for a check. That was not true. I had been on this program for a year and a half. Had received two checks before. So why would I cancel it just before renewal ? Just another scam. I’m totally pissed. Lost confidence in Allstate. Why would they participate in a program like this ?

  80. I tried Drivewise for a year, and then just signed up for Truelane (Hartford). The two are similar. However, Truelane is even worse. Truelane even tracks where you drive in detail. The only way you can not dinged for doing something bad is to drive like you have a raw egg on you accelerator and break peddle. The events below reduce any discounts that you might get on your auto insurance.
    Hear are some examples for 1 week on TrueLane: Acceleration 1.0 seconds for 1-10 Mph
    Acceleration 1.0 seconds for 1-9 Mph
    Breaking 1.0 seconds for 12-4 Mph

    It is very stress full trying not to get a bad score, while having other drivers arround me getting mad, because I have to accelerate very very slowey, and when comming a stop sign, I have to start slowing long before I get to the stop sign (I do mean long, like almost costing to a stop). If you can feel when the car come to a stop, you breaked too hard and get a bad score. Oh and do not break for dogs or cats as they will get you a very bad score.

    The bottom line: The mental stress is not worth any discount that you might get.

  81. I’ve read through all of the above posts and believe with all the 17% & 18% discounts you’re all very lucky!! Yes, we got the initial 10% and then it was all downhill from there. My husband who drives slower than molasses & got a C for his speed!! We were on FL Turnpike and had to speed up to 75 to get past a truck ONCE and they were determined to hold that against us! All of our other driving is on local streets at 45mph. He’s got an A on his breaking, B on mileage (always lots of miles to drive anywhere in FL) but time of day….give me a break….we’re retired! We get up later and do things in the afternoon. They wanted to penalize us for one evening coming home at 11:30pm that we came home from a show. I had a manager on the phone literally scanning through the records to find out why our Speeding was a C and why our Time of Day was a C. I said you have to scan this hard then this was absurd and the only way to get an A on anything is to keep the car in the garage. At that point I said I’m taking this thing off my car, it’s not worth it and she said she’d look further into it and adjust my grading.
    She has adjusted my rating Mileage B Braking A Time of Day C Speed B now 8% discount? is it really worth?????

    1. PS….this discount from my Drivewise is deducted from my policy upon renewal time. I do not receive checks from them.

      1. The check back after 6 months is a different program that costs more. What fool would pay more to MAYBE get something back?

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  84. Your agent did not explain the savings well. You can save up to 30% its based on how well you drive and the longer you use the device the more you can save.

  85. Hoosier Dad says:

    Lot’s of misconceptions in the original article and comments. Lot’s of people obsessing over being dinked for hard braking.

    By far the #1 thing that will lower your score is how many miles you drive. My son only drives back and forth to school and work so his mileage is super low and he’s always had a 29% discount. The occasional high risk time of day or hard braking event doesn’t phase his score. Allstate’s rates for me are already very competitive. Add 29% discount on top of that for a teen driver and I’m laughing all the way to the bank while the rest of you complain about hard braking events.

    Unless you have an excessive amount of hard braking events, it’s not hurting your score. It’s the mileage that’s killing your discount.

    1. Nope! You are absolutely wrong. I only drive 1-2 times per week (a total of 10-20 miles) and still only have a 10% discount.

  86. This is coming up on our third check to receive with the 1st being the initial sign up bonus check. I just checked my results and once again, my car, the newer, most expensive car on the policy gets 0%. Why? My only real issues are time of driving because I work 3rd shift. My scores are better than my husband’s who also works 3rd, but, they give him an overall score of a B and me a C. I have an A in braking, an A+ in speed, a B in mileage and a C in time of day. My husband didn’t have a single A in any category but has an overall higher score than me with an 8% bonus at the moment. I think this program is completely rigged to screw over the cars that have the potential to get the highest return. 8% on his car is way less than 8% would be on my car. His is a 2001 Mustang, mine is 2014. I think I’ll be taking this things out and sending them back.

  87. I couldn’t help but laugh at this article. Not only is the information provided not accurate it’s very misleading to prospective consumers. DriveWise, much like Progressive’s Snap Shot, and State Farm’s Idrive is a telematic device you plug in your car to reward drivers that score high in certain performance categories. Yes you can save “up to 30%” every 6 mo. with DriveWise based on driving performance. As with anything consumer’s hear what they want to hear, in your case you heard 30% savings and tuned out the details of program. If you were given a 30% discount for simply plugging in device then everyone would do it and it wouldn’t matter how you drive. It would be a losing business proposition for the insurance carrier as there would be no driver accountability. As you can see that makes little to no sense. This program allows you to save up to 30% every 6 mo. (a discount you wouldn’t have received otherwise). You stated you saved 17% that’s a nice savings, 17 % you wouldn’t have received otherwise. Can’t think of anyone who would complain about that, well you did! Plus your rates do not go up based on poor performance. Rates increase based on general rate increases, accident surcharges etc. You could perform horribly in each performance criteria and your rate would not increase due to DriveWise participation. It means instead of receiving up to a 30% discount you may simply receive 0% for that 6 mo. term. I would suggest before slandering a company or discount program get your facts straight

    1. Leaving a bad review isn’t slander (nor libel, which is what I assume you mean), nor is this piece misleading. It is based on our personal experience with the program. Take it or leave it.

  88. This program is a dirty trick. I am disappointed from this program. I am on disability and do not drive a lot according to my health condition. So I was so surprised when after first estimate they gave me only 17,5% and in the end of term they gave me 23 BRAKE EVENTS and only 8% of discount. I am in SHOCK. Insurance companies doing some research and use us for their dirty tricks us usual. Never use this program.

  89. You get 10% for signing up and then UP TO 20% every 6 months for good driving. You must have received 27% in total. I think the rep did a poor job in explaining this to you. I use Drivewise. Love it!

  90. I have used Drivewise for 7 months. How much do I drive? My mileage for that period is 1398.5 of that this is the breakdown lowest risk 199.4 miles, low risk 960 miles, moderate risk 244.1 miles, no high risk miles. I have no braking events and no miles at or above 80 MPH. I have a “discount” of 19%. I have a 2004 car which I bought new with less than 20,000 miles on it. So, I have a 12 year history of low miles with this car.

  91. I’m laughing at all you who are bragging about switching to another insurance company and saving hundreds or even thousands of dollars. What in the world does that have to do with Drivewise? Why in the hell were you with Allstate in the first place?

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  93. As you know there are four factors that Drivewise evaluate. There are speed, time of day, mileage, and breaking events.
    On every car’s dashboard there is mandatory gauges such as speedometer, clock, odometer and few others. But there is NO GAUGE to measure DECELERATION. Anybody can look at speedometer and control speed of the vehicle under 125 km/h. Anybody knows the distance of the trip. Anybody know the time of the day. But NOBODY can distinguish deceleration less than 13 km/h in a second from deceleration of 14 km/h in a second. There is no gauge for this and people do not have sense for feeling this factor.

    Braking event factor in the absence of gauge for this on a driver’s side gives a lot of power for abuse to Drivewise management. It a powerful mechanism of manipulation for Drivewise program. The Drivewise may prescribe any number of braking events and drivers cannot dispute this because there is no indicators on their side that can be monitoring by them.

    From this angle Drivewise Program looks questionable. There is a lot of room for the insurance company to fraudulent practices using the parameter that nobody can measure or feel except the insurance itself. It gives to the insurance a powerful mechanism to reduce all claims for good driving on basis of non-measurable parameter. It gives to the insurance more profits and robs customers.

    Allstate insurance has to remove braking event factor from its Drivewise program or provide all participants a gauge for monitoring this parameter in real time. Meanwhile all participant of Allstate Drivewise program and all participants of similar programs of other insurances have to be granted full discount for the program that in case of Allstate is 30% of premium.

  94. CapeScott says:

    I just got off the phone with Allstate/Drivewise. I called them because I had traded my vehicle over the weekend, followed all of the instructions that I could find and removed the device from my old vehicle and installed it in the new one. I called Allstate and told them I had changed vehicles, got the new rate quote, which by the way went down. Not once did the CSR advise me that the new vehicle had not been “approved” for the Drivewise program. I allowed a couple of days for the typical updating of information and noticed that the app still showed my old vehicle, not the new one. I called the number provided and spoke with an extremely contentious CSR who told me that the device would not work in my new car. I calmly tried to explain that although her documentation might tell her that, it was indeed recording my driving. She basically called me a liar and told me I needed to remove the device and return it to them. This is a 2016 Mazda MX-5, not a vehicle that has only been around for a short time. She told me I was rude and kept talking over me when I tried to explain that all I was saying was that the device was indeed working and recording data on their website AND updating my app as well. All I wanted them to do was update the description of the vehicle and show the correct VIN. WASN’T HAPPENING! I’m sending the device back as soon as they supply the return packaging and pre-paid postage, otherwise I will toss it in the trash.

  95. We have been hit with the hard brake as well. They fail to recognize that people do everything except drive. They cut in front of you so you must brake. They start to pull into your side so you must brake. Just like the over 79 MPH, haven’t they been on the interstate in Florida where you step on it to avoid being slammed? We are good drivers & have received discounts for that until we changed to drivewise & Allstate. We received a message showing our discount that was 29% on 1 & 10% on the other. Wowever our bill went up & did not reflect any discount.

    The biggie is that I rarely drive my truck, it sits in the garage but we get messages that we cannot get a discount because we do not drive it enough.

    Looking for better insurance but not one run by progressives

  96. With technology what it is today (but not perfect) it makes sense for insurance companies to offer device (free) so additional discounts can be given for good driving. The DriveWise program is only to give you credit. Technology is not 100% perfect. Example, hard braking may register if you drive a manual auto. The device may record shifting as hard braking. As technology improves and the device is updated they may be able to get a better reading on the hard braking. Bottom line the program is designed to give you additional credit for good driving habits and even though it is not 100% any credit is welcomed. As for not being explained how the program actually worked speak to your agent and make them aware you were not explained the program correctly.

  97. I was looking for auto insurance with them and the sales agent told me about a coverage program they had called Milewise for drivers who didn`t drive a lot. He said I would be sent a device in 2 to 3 business days to be installed in my car and that I would only be charged for miles I drove per day and that my limit was 40 miles per day at $.18 cents and if I exceeded that limit, I would be charged $5.86 for the day and on days that I didn`t drive my car, I would not be charged at all. He said I only needed to make a deposit of $322 into my Milewise account, track it online and when I drove down to $54, my account would be replenished. I thought this was great plan for me because on weekdays I only go to work and the gym and on occasion to a few places very close to me and this would add up to 25 miles per day and on weekends it might be roughly close to 30 miles for the day. I asked him to send me a quote which he did of $900, then 30 mins later he called telling me he made a mistake and sent me a wrong quote and that my rate for 6 months was supposed to be $1067. I thought maybe it was just a mistake cos ppl make mistakes so I went ahead with the plan. I signed up on the 12/2/2016 and did not get their device till the 12/22/2016. I kept calling and was told there was a problem with their system and it had sent the device to the wrong address all the while not knowing that I was being charged a daily fee for a device I did not have in my car. At the end of December, I got charged $198 with only $16 of me actually driving my car and the rest for the fee from the time I signed up till the time I got their device which meant I had over a $100 left in my account. Fast forward to 1/1/2017, I get an alert on from my bank telling me I’ve been charged another $323 which makes that over $600 in less than one month of me actually having their device in my car. I emailed the guy at Allstate who signed me up and he did not reply. I called my so-called agent and was told she was in a meeting. This goes on for more than a week and when I do eventually get my agent to talk to me, she says she does not understand the program because it is new and I that had to call customer care to talk to a specialist. I called them and they too didn`t know exactly how the program worked or why I was being charged twice in a short amount of time. After doing the whole calling and waiting and them telling me someone would call me back but never did, I tell them to cancel my account because it was obvious they wanted to be charging me $323 per month when I could get a regular full coverage elsewhere for way less. They kept giving excuses and playing dumb to all my questions. Do not sign up with them except you have money to waste. When it comes to your money they will keep transferring you to different departments so they can waste your time and frustrate you into hanging up. This was my first time getting insured by them and I did not even last more than a month. WORST INSURANCE COMPANY EVER!!!

  98. If you have a single hard braking incident over a six month period, you won’t be impacted. If you have daily, or almost daily hard braking incidents then that is indicative of aggressive driving behaviors such as speeding, following too close, and the like. For the gentlemen who claims he had a hard braking incident in his driveway, well that leaves a LOT to be desired. That means you were going 10 miles an hour or faster in your driveway, and had to brake to zero! Can anybody say STOOO PID!

    Furthermore, if you are driving 80 mph or faster you take a hit as well. This means you are SPEEDING, creating a high risk situation. If you are doing it on a regular basis, you are a high risk driver!

    The discount is calculated on safety factors. A single incident does NOT impact your discount. Multiple incidents indicate a pattern of risk associated driving. If you regularly review your Drive Wise performance, it can help you to become a safer driver.

  99. I bought a brand new Mazda. I have Geico insurance. I contacted Allstate to see if I can save some money. Quoted price included 10% drivewise that I figured out myself. The agent doesn’t tell you on the phone. I told him that I will do my research before changing my insurance from Geico. So I have read these posts.
    It is the worst thing that I can do myself using drivewise. My two cent advise, stop using drivewise, enjoy driving. You live once live freely.
    I disagree with the comment on savings. I would prefer to drive at peace of mind then save few $$$. Saving is not important than your state of mind which is love. Drivewise is not going to give you love but few $$$. The choice is yours.

  100. allstate said road side assistance but i have to pay the tow plus the drivewise is just a game ..geico is way way worse though maybe I’ll get progressive..i have full coverage on one car then liability on my truck

  101. Mark Czapla says:

    My wife and I just received the Drivewise modules in the mail after recently switching to Allstate. But that’s not why I am writing. I’m an Electrical Engineer and familiar with the the automotive ODB port. Some people here have complained that they have no idea what this module is, or what it does. I can reveal some details. First, when you plug it in, it is instantly connected directly to the battery. Some people have said this device has killed their batteries. The datasheet for this device says it draws a maximum of 0.10 amps when the vehicle is running, but only around 0.004 amps with the ignition off. A small car battery is typically rated around 45 amp/hours. If you park a vehicle with a battery this small and leave the module plugged in, it would take over a year for it to deplete the battery, if nothing else is going on.

    Kelly from above says it monitors only 4 things. Safe driving times, safe speeds, mileage, and safe braking. In reality, this is full datalogger that communicates directly with your vehicle computer over a CANbus network. The unit I received is a DMC970 series. It can communicate with Allstate via a Cellular signal to cloud-based or backend servers. It is capable of connecting to WiFi and Bluetooth. It contains both a 3-axis accelerometer and gyrometer. And surprisingly, it has full GPS support. With GPS, it see where you are, and how fast you are going. If you dodge a skateboarder, hit a dog, or a deer, or another vehicle, it can record it. With GPS, it should be able to detect if you are hard-braking on your driveway instead of on the street. It can also re-flash and update its firmware over-the-air, so it can change its capability at any time.

    I don’t know if Allstate receives just the four pieces of information Kelly mentions, or if they get everything and only consider at those four items. But it certainly can do much more than what people are being told.

  102. We first got DW 4+ years ago before the app. Used it for 6 months, got a great rebate and my driving record matched my behavior. All was fine so for the next year+ I forgot about it until I get an email that said for the past year my refund was 0%!!!!! So looked at the record and had hundreds and hundreds (600+) hard braking events. It appeared that Allstate updated the device to be more sensitive and provide many more false braking events. So I got rid of DW for a while. First I know for a fact hard braking events that happen are NOT events at all – there is no way I get 600 events and not know it. Second I had hard braking events in my yard in my farm truck driving on my own property – NOT! So a year ago I installed the app and same thing happens and I monitor the accuracy of the app weekly and see all the odd times it says I braked hard. I believe they sensitize the app so that they do not have to payout what they promise. Also I will say that type of car might also make a difference. We have a prius which tends to have hard grabbing brakes since the braking energy is used to charge the car and that seems to make the app worse in false braking events too. I have also had hard extreme braking times that did NOT show up on the app. HUH??? So if you use DW be aware the pain and price you pay in the design flaws of the system and do NOT think the data is very accurate.

  103. Rick Chester says:

    I feel your frustration. I had drivewise when it first started about 5 years ago and it was fine and the first year got a discount, then they changed the programming and suddenly me and my wife were getting 200 to 300 hard braking evens a year and zero discount ON THE SAME VEHICLES! Even got hard braking events on a farm truck that did not leave the property! So their threshold is set up against the driver so they do not have to pay the discount. I called support and they told me to just delete all the ‘bad’ trips. Furthermore the Allstate app constantly hangs and crashes and it times you out after 5 minutes of use even though you are using it so you are constantly signing in. Drivewise is a con and I suspect the only reason they have it is to track your driving and change your premiums accordingly. Beware of Drivewise. It may be more of a pain than a benifit.

  104. It’s much worse than you even realize. I got a 28% discount!!!!! Yes 28%, when the highest is 30%. On my bill it said the discount was $149.00, I was thrilled, yet my bill only went down $28.
    How could that be? I called and the rep went over every item on my policy. By getting the 28% discount it lowered every other discount. A real scam!!! And yes you do get penalized for not going through red lights, not hitting animals and people, or other cars. If a car comes too close to you and you get a “Extreme Braking” you’re really screwed. I had to be happy with the $28.

  105. I’m not sure when this article was originally was written. I have Drivewise. They now use the app on your phone to tell what time of day that you drive, when you hard brake, and when you go over 80 mph. I talked to my agent who told me that you can turn off your app as long as you use it at least once a week. When I first got it, you could go to the app or website and delete some of the negative scores. Now, they have a new dashboard that doesn’t seem to give you that option anymore. I am saving 15%. I guess I could save more if my wife used Drivewise, but she knows that she does a lot of hard braking and worries that she would cause our rates to go up. I’m not back to work due to Covid, but when I do go back I’ll be driving mostly during the high-risk time frame. I just have to remember to turn the app off at night.

    1. After checking, I discovered that you can still remove trips with the Allstate app. You used to be to do this online but now only through the app unless I’m missing something.

  106. Jeff McKee says:

    Here in NY , the device was used until a month or so ago when the app was also approved. Not having a smartphone , I still have the device. For the past 2 years , I was getting a Projected Discount of between 23% and 27%. However , in mid-late December 2021 , when the app was allowed to be used , they changed the algorithm. My percentage went from 23% to 3% overnight part way through the current cycle. No notice or explanation was received by users or agents. All were blindsided. Many complaints from NY users as I hear. A month later and still no change in the percentage. No driving in the high risk slot , no braking incidents , and no speeds over 80.

    NOT good!!

    1. Just spoke with a rep at Drivewise. It seems the new approach no longer factors in miles driven , but rather bases it on braking , speeding , and time of day. The latter seems to be a major factor and now requires a balance between safest , low risk , and moderate risk time zones , with an emphasis on the safest zone (5:00am – 11:00pm weekends). Most driving I do is during the week with little on weekends. Just wish they would let users know and have consistent responses when queried about changes.

    2. Beginning to wonder if they are now inserting braking incidents. Had a trip that went from point A to point B with no traffic and no braking or stops. Trip took 7 minutes. In the Drivewise dashboard , it showed a “hard braking” at 3 minutes into the trip. Have had similar incidents as well in the last 6 months or so. Are they trying to make the good percentage earned by good drivers go down to save them money??

  107. I’ve used drivewise before. I live in the mountains and have a very steep driveway. I use low gear when I go down the driveway and still get an “excessive braking” ding every time I go to the mailbox. That just sux!! I’ll never use it again. It’s an excuse to raise your rates even if you are a good driver. I have never had an accident in 50 years of driving!!

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