Drive Less, Pay Less
An OEC staffer gives pays-as-you-drive insurance a spin, and expects to save hundreds of dollars in costs over the next year.
Real pay-as-you-drive (aka pay-per-mile) auto insurance is finally available in Portland. Oregon Environmental Council helped craft state policy to help encourage pay-as-you-drive insurance as an option for Oregonians back in 2003.
I own a car, but make most of my trips to work, groceries and socializing by bike. Since I only drive once in a while, changing my insurance is going to save me money. Probably over $300 per year! On top of that, I ended up with better coverage. It was easy to set up and I get a ton of cool data about my trips (see the graphic about where I went, when, and how far).
The company is called MetroMile. I pay a small base rate every month (about half of what I was spending a month with my old insurance) and then about 4 cents for every mile I drive. They record my trips and bill me based on data delivered to them from my car’s computer. I simply plugged the little data logger into my computer port and I was ready to go. It’s effortless and they mailed me everything I needed.
