With the ability to monitor mileage, braking, speed, and time of day when a customer is driving, insurance giant Allstate (ALL -0.63%) added six more states to its telematics technology program that rewards drivers it deems safe with insurance discounts. There will now be 16 states in the program.
Joining the list in today's announcement are Missouri, Indiana, Minnesota, Maryland, Utah, and Washington. They join Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
Through the insurer's Drivewise program, motorists plug the telematics device into a vehicle's on-board diagnostic port and it tracks driving behavior. Allstate today also introduced a smartphone app to let drivers access their data in nearly real time.
Drivewise was launch in December 2010 and more than 400 million miles have been logged by customers using the device, according to Allstate. There is a 10% discount issued upon enrollment and after six months that is replaced with a discount based on driving habits. The average savings is about 14%, according to Allstate.
Allstate is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer, serving approximately 16 million households. The Drivewise program is expected to be available to the majority of its insured by the end of 2013.
