As in mandatory.
Allstate in talks with regulators to track driving to set car insurance rates - WSJ
Allstate in talks with regulators to track driving to set car insurance rates - WSJ
- Property and casualty insurer Allstate (NYSE:ALL) seeks to track consumers' driving behaviors using telematics to determine car insurance rates, the company told the Wall Street Journal.
- "There is an opportunity to encourage innovation in the insurance industry, and we want to start that dialogue with regulators and others," Allstate Chief Legal Officer Rhonda Ferguson told The WSJ in an interview.
- This may not be a popular change among the insured given privacy concerns, but it could mean lower rates for safe drivers or those that don't drive much.
- Just over 2M of Allstate's roughly 22M total auto policyholders are currently enrolled in its telematics program, which accounts for less than 4% of the nation's more than 210M personal-auto policyholders, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies estimates.
- Telematics has become more popular since Progressive (NYSE:PGR) introduced the technology about 20 years ago, though less than half of new auto-insurance applicants enroll when given the chance; Ferguson says telematics provides an opportunity to "improve the accuracy of insurance pricing," the WSJ notes.