First Pay-As-You-Drive Insurer Celebrates First Anniversary
MileMeter, the first pay-as-you-go auto insurer is celebrating its first anniversary this fall, events being Waco and Dallas Texas, but is also planning to expand its business in response to demands from consumers in other states.
On November 10, MileMeter founder and CEO Chris Gay was featured in an interview with anchor Brian Sullivan on Fox Business News. In the interview, Gay shared the concept behind pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) insurance, explaining it in simple terms: "The less you drive, the less you pay."
Gay also explains that MileMeter customers are encouraged to do less driving, in order to earn rewards like, "…improvements in air quality, water quality and public safety benefits due to less congestion and fewer accidents." The company is also getting significant support from the blogosphere. Major blogs like TreeHugger, Greenopolis and Mother Nature Network have all posted in support of the insurer's efforts.
At this time, MileMeter policies are only available in Texas, but the concept of PAYD has already spread to other states. California, for example, has recently altered its insurance regulations to allow "pay-drive" and "per-mile" insurance, and an article in the Sacramento Bee specifically mentioned MileMeter as an example of such a policy that works.
Despite initial success, MileMeter 2.0 was launched in September, 2009, in order to increase the insurer's customer base. Based on feedback and requests from consumers, the company tailored its program to allow higher liability coverage limits, rollover for unused mileage between coverage periods, and to offer for-purchase additional miles when a driver must travel more than originally anticipated.
MileMeter is looking forward to expanding its business beyond Texas in the coming years.
