It's great you're looking into Allstate Drivewise! It's a fantastic way to potentially save money on your car insurance while also becoming a safer driver. Think of it as a personalized coach for your driving habits, with rewards for doing well. So, let's dive into how Allstate Drivewise credit works, step-by-step!
Understanding Allstate Drivewise: Your Path to Smarter Savings
Allstate Drivewise is a usage-based insurance (UBI) program offered by Allstate that rewards you for safe driving habits. Instead of relying solely on traditional factors like your age, credit score, or car type, Drivewise uses telematics technology – primarily through your smartphone – to observe your real-world driving behavior. The goal? To give you a more personalized insurance rate and potentially lower your premiums.
The "credit" you receive from Drivewise isn't a direct cash payout but rather translates into discounts on your auto insurance premium and points redeemable for various rewards. The safer you drive, the more you stand to save.
Step 1: Are You Ready to Embark on Your Safe Driving Journey?
Before we even get into the mechanics, ask yourself: are you ready to embrace a program that monitors your driving? Drivewise is designed to benefit safe drivers, but it does involve sharing your driving data. If you're comfortable with this, then you're already on the right track!
Consider this: Do you typically drive safely, avoiding sudden braking, excessive speeding, and late-night excursions? If so, Drivewise could be a perfect fit for you!
Step 2: Enrollment and Activation – Getting Started with Drivewise
Enrolling in Allstate Drivewise is a straightforward process, primarily done through the Allstate mobile app.
Sub-heading: Downloading the Allstate Mobile App
- Action: Your first move is to download the Allstate® mobile app onto your smartphone. It's available for both Apple iOS (15.0 or higher) and Android (10.0 or higher) devices.
- Importance: This app is the central hub for the Drivewise program. Without it, you can't participate or earn credits.
Sub-heading: Logging In and Accepting Terms
- Action: Once downloaded, log in or create an Allstate My Account.
- Crucial Step: You'll then need to tap on Drivewise to activate it and accept all requested permissions. This includes allowing location services to be "Always On" for the app. This permission is vital for Drivewise to automatically detect and collect information on your trips.
- Why it Matters: If location services aren't enabled, trips won't be collected, and you could miss out on potential savings.
Sub-heading: Enrolling All Drivers on Your Policy
- Recommendation: To maximize your rewards and discounts, Allstate recommends enrolling all drivers on your policy.
- Individual Activation: Each additional enrolled driver must also download the Allstate mobile app, log in, tap on Drivewise to activate it, and accept all necessary permissions on their own smartphone.
Step 3: How Drivewise Collects Your Driving Data
Once activated, Drivewise silently works in the background of your smartphone, detecting when you start and end a trip. It leverages your phone's sensors to gather crucial driving data.
Sub-heading: Key Driving Behaviors Monitored
Allstate Drivewise primarily focuses on these factors to assess your driving habits:
- Speed: Consistently driving within safe speed limits contributes positively to your score. Excessive speeding is a red flag.
- Braking: Smooth, gradual braking is favored. Frequent or hard braking (sudden decelerations) can negatively impact your score.
- Time of Day: Driving during lower-risk hours (typically daytime) can lead to better scores. Late-night driving (e.g., 12:01 AM to 5:00 AM) is generally considered higher risk.
- Mileage: While not a direct "credit" factor, lower overall mileage generally indicates less exposure to risk, which can indirectly contribute to better rates.
- Phone Activity: The app also provides insights into how often you use your phone while driving. Currently, phone activity insights are primarily for awareness and encourage safer habits, but they are not directly used to calculate performance rewards in most states.
Sub-heading: The Role of Arity
It's important to know that the collection and use of driving data for Drivewise are powered by Arity LLC, an Allstate affiliate. By enabling Drivewise, you agree to allow Arity to collect, use, and share your geolocation data and other driving behavior data with Allstate. While trip route maps are only visible to you, the information used to evaluate driving performance can be viewed by you, your Allstate agent, and customer service representatives who assist with your policy.
Step 4: Earning Drivewise Credits (Discounts and Rewards)
This is where the magic happens! Your safe driving translates into tangible benefits.
Sub-heading: The Participation Discount
- Immediate Benefit: Just for setting up Drivewise and recording trips, you'll typically receive an initial participation discount on your auto insurance premium. This is often around 10% in many states.
- Continuity is Key: To maintain this participation discount at each renewal, at least one driver on your policy needs to complete a minimum number of trips (often 50 trips) within the six months prior to renewal.
Sub-heading: The Performance Discount
- The Main Savings Driver: After an initial monitoring period (often around six months, and then on a rolling 12-month basis), Allstate will calculate a performance rating based on your aggregated driving data.
- Direct Impact: This performance rating directly influences the amount of your earned discount at your policy renewal. The better your driving score (reflecting safer habits), the higher your potential discount can be, with some sources indicating savings of up to 30% or even 40% in certain states.
- No Rate Increase for "Poor" Driving (in most states): A significant advantage of Drivewise is that, in most states, your premium will not increase due to "high-risk" driving detected by the app. While your potential discount might be reduced or eliminated for poor driving, your base rate typically won't go up. However, it's crucial to check the specific terms and conditions for your state, as some states may have different rules.
Sub-heading: Allstate Rewards Points
- Beyond Premiums: In addition to potential policy discounts, Drivewise participants can also earn Allstate Rewards points.
- Redemption Options: These points can be redeemed through the Allstate Rewards program for a variety of benefits, including discounts on merchandise, daily deals, sweepstakes entries, and gift cards.
- Never Expire: A nice perk is that Allstate Rewards points generally do not expire.
Step 5: Monitoring Your Progress and Making Adjustments
The Drivewise program isn't just about collecting data; it's also about providing you with insights to help you improve.
Sub-heading: The Drivewise Dashboard and Driving Insights
- Real-Time Feedback: Within the Allstate mobile app, you'll have access to a Drivewise Dashboard. This dashboard provides near real-time updates and personalized feedback after each trip.
- Detailed Trip Summaries: You can review your trip history, see your safe driving feedback, and even map your routes. This granular data allows you to identify areas where you can improve your driving habits, such as identifying frequent hard braking zones or times when you tend to speed.
- Challenges: The app may also present "My Challenges" to encourage safer driving behaviors and help you earn more rewards.
Step 6: Renewal and Continued Savings
The Drivewise credit cycle continues with each policy renewal.
Sub-heading: Renewal Discount Calculation
- Look-Back Period: At the time of your policy renewal, Allstate will assess your driving data over a specific look-back period (e.g., the last six months or rolling 12 months) to determine your performance rating and the corresponding discount for the upcoming policy term.
- Maintaining Participation: Remember, consistent participation (meeting the minimum trip requirements) is necessary to continue receiving the participation discount and being eligible for the performance discount.
Important Considerations and Nuances
- State Availability: Drivewise savings are not available in all states, for example, California and Alaska. Always confirm availability in your specific location.
- Privacy Concerns: While Allstate states data is confidential and primarily used for rating purposes, it's worth noting that telematics programs involve the collection of significant personal driving data. Be aware of the privacy policy of Allstate and Arity. Recent lawsuits have raised questions about data collection practices, so it's wise to stay informed.
- Battery and Data Usage: Since the Drivewise app runs in the background and uses location services, it can impact your phone's battery life and data usage. Ensure your phone is adequately charged (at least 5% battery) for trips to be recorded.
- Passenger vs. Driver: The app is designed to differentiate between when you are the driver or a passenger. Only driver trips count towards your participation and scoring. You can manually adjust trips in the app if it misidentifies you as a driver when you were a passenger.
- Opting Out: You can opt out of Drivewise at any time by turning off permissions within the app or deleting the app. While your current discount might be removed if you haven't recorded trips for a long time, you can typically rejoin later.
10 Related FAQ Questions
How to activate Allstate Drivewise on my smartphone?
To activate Drivewise, download the Allstate® mobile app, log in or create an account, tap on Drivewise, and accept all requested permissions, including setting location services to "Always On."
How to ensure my trips are recorded by Drivewise?
Ensure the Allstate app is running in the background, location services are enabled and set to "Always On," and your phone has at least 5% battery power.
How to check my Drivewise discount status?
You can view your estimated discount status and a summary of your driving within the Drivewise dashboard in the Allstate mobile app.
How to improve my Drivewise score?
Focus on avoiding hard braking, minimizing excessive speeding, and driving during safer, non-late-night hours. The app's personalized feedback after each trip can help you identify areas for improvement.
How to earn Allstate Rewards points with Drivewise?
By consistently driving safely and participating in the Drivewise program, you'll earn points that can be redeemed for various rewards through the Allstate Rewards program.
How to redeem Allstate Rewards points?
You can redeem your Allstate Rewards points on the Allstate Rewards website or through the Allstate mobile app for merchandise, gift cards, daily deals, and more.
How to unenroll from Allstate Drivewise?
You can stop participating in Drivewise by turning off the permissions for the app within your phone's settings or by deleting the Allstate mobile app.
How to know if Drivewise will increase my insurance rates?
In most states, Drivewise is designed to provide discounts for safe driving and typically will not increase your rates for "poor" driving. However, your discount might be reduced or eliminated. Always check the specific terms for your state.
How to handle trips where I was a passenger, not the driver?
The Drivewise app attempts to detect if you are the driver or passenger. If it misidentifies a trip, you can manually go into your trip history within the app and mark yourself as a passenger for that specific trip.
How to get the maximum Drivewise savings?
To maximize your savings, consistently practice safe driving habits (avoiding hard braking and speeding), drive during lower-risk hours, and ensure all eligible drivers on your policy are enrolled and actively participating by completing the required number of trips.
