There are a lot of “new-fangled” ideas that are taking root in society as a way to help our beleaguered budgets stretch farther than they’ve ever had to stretch before. Believe it or not, the key to slashing the cost of our car insurance rates actually isn’t as new-fangled as some people think-car insurance companies have just been so unhappy with the concept that it hasn’t gained the popularity that it should. Are you driving in a pay-per-mile state?
Pay-per-mile car insurance is the next step in prepaid services. If you think about it, you can prepay for just about everything these days. You can prepay your gas. You can prepay your gift cards. If you’re clever you can prepay your credit cards. You can even prepay your cellular minutes and your legal expenses. It’s about time the car insurance industry finally caught up!
As it stands right now, when you purchase your car insurance policy you’re committing to pay the same amount of money to keep your car licensed and commuting to and from work every day as you would to keep it licensed and sitting on blocks in your yard. How much time did your car spend sitting around last year? Sitting around waiting to be repaired. Sitting around while you were enjoying a quiet evening at home. Sitting around while you took the bus in an attempt to be a responsible citizen. When you tally the numbers you’re probably going to find that your car spends more time off the road than it does on it!
So why are you paying to insure your car when there’s only a slim chance that you’re going to need that car insurance coverage?
You’re doing it because most car insurance companies don’t want to have to deal with a pay-per-mile system. They have hundreds of excuses for not switching over. It’s too hard to enforce. They’d have to rethink their entire system. Thousands of customers would have to start over. When it comes right down to it, however, they simply don’t want to lose the money they’re going to lose by charging you to drive your car rather than park it!
Of course, that’s not true for every state-which is the point of this article in the first place. Some states, recognizing the need for change in the car insurance industry and the environmental and financial benefits that change represents, are thoroughly supporting the pay-per-mile system. If you live in Arizona, Indiana, Illinois or Pennsylvania you’ve already got the opportunity to take part in a pay-per-mile car insurance plan at your fingertips. There are certain other nationwide car insurance companies that provide pay-per-mile coverage as well, although that option is certainly not guaranteed in any of the other 47 states.
Take a few minutes today to call your car insurance provider and ask if you’re driving in a pay per mile state. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you’ll find out.
Anthony M. Peck is the Senior Developer, Software Project Manager, and Director of Business Development for QuoteScout.com, specializing in matching consumers with the best rate on their car insurance. For more information, please visit them on the web at http://www.QuoteScout.com.