Unlocking Savings on Your Allstate Auto Insurance: A Deep Dive into Drivewise
Have you ever wished your car insurance premiums reflected how safely you drive, rather than just generic statistics? What if there was a way to get rewarded for your good habits behind the wheel? Well, with Allstate's Drivewise program, that's exactly what you can do!
Drivewise is a telematics program offered by Allstate that uses cutting-edge mobile technology to observe your driving behaviors and potentially reward you with lower insurance premiums. It's designed to promote safer driving, which not only benefits you financially but also contributes to safer roads for everyone.
This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about Allstate Drivewise, from how to get started to maximizing your savings, and answer all your burning questions along the way.
Step 1: Discovering the World of Drivewise – Is it For You?
Before we dive into the nitty-gritty, let's figure out if Drivewise is a good fit for your driving style and insurance needs.
What Exactly Is Drivewise?
At its core, Drivewise is a voluntary program that leverages your smartphone to gather data about your driving habits. This data is then used to calculate a personalized driving score, which in turn can influence your Allstate auto insurance premium. The safer you drive, the more you stand to save!
Benefits of Enrolling in Drivewise:
- Potential for Significant Savings: Many drivers report saving a notable percentage on their premiums. While Allstate advertises potential savings of up to 40%, realistic savings often range from 20% to 25%.
- Initial Enrollment Discount: Just for signing up, you often receive an immediate discount on your policy, giving you a head start on savings.
- Personalized Feedback: The app provides insights into your driving, highlighting areas where you excel and where you could improve, helping you become an even safer driver.
- Crash Detection Feature: A valuable safety feature, the app can detect major collisions and, if detected, send a notification to offer help, including options to call 911 or get roadside assistance.
- No Rate Increase for "Bad" Driving (in most states): Unlike some other telematics programs, Allstate generally states that your rate will not increase due to Drivewise data. Your premium can only stay the same or go down.
- Convenience: It's all managed through the Allstate mobile app, meaning no additional devices to plug in (as the plug-in device program has been phased out in most areas).
Who Should Consider Drivewise?
Drivewise is particularly beneficial for:
- Safe Drivers: If you consistently adhere to speed limits, avoid sudden braking, and generally drive during lower-risk hours, you're an ideal candidate for maximum savings.
- Drivers Looking to Save Money: Even if you're not a perfect driver, the program offers a clear path to reducing your insurance costs.
- Parents of Teen Drivers: The app can provide valuable insights into a teen's driving behavior, helping them develop safer habits.
Step 2: Getting Started – Your Journey to Savings Begins!
Ready to embark on your Drivewise journey? Here's a step-by-step guide to enrollment and activation.
Step 2.1: Download the Allstate Mobile App
The entire Drivewise experience is centered around the Allstate mobile app.
- For iOS users: Head to the Apple App Store.
- For Android users: Visit the Google Play Store.
Search for "Allstate Mobile App" and download it to your smartphone.
Step 2.2: Log In or Create an Account
- Existing Allstate Customers: Simply log in using your My Account ID and password.
- New to Allstate? You'll need to create an Allstate account first. This usually involves providing some basic personal and policy information.
Step 2.3: Activate Drivewise within the App
Once logged in:
- Navigate to the Drivewise Section: You'll typically find a prominent "Drivewise" option or tile on your app dashboard. Tap on it.
- Accept Terms of Service and Permissions: This is a crucial step. The app will prompt you to read and accept the Drivewise Customer Agreement Endorsement. It will also request various permissions, most importantly location services set to "Always" with "Precise Location" enabled (for both iOS and Android). This is essential for the app to accurately track your trips.
- Important Note on Permissions: The app needs to access your phone's sensors and location data to function correctly. Without these permissions, it cannot collect trip information, and you won't be able to earn discounts. Ensure your phone has at least 5% battery power for the app to function consistently during trips.
Step 2.4: Enroll All Drivers on Your Policy
To maximize your potential rewards, it's highly recommended to enroll all drivers on your Allstate policy who will be using Drivewise. Each additional enrolled driver must:
- Have an Allstate account.
- Download the Allstate mobile app onto their smartphone and log in.
- Tap on Drivewise to activate and accept all requested permissions.
Step 3: Understanding How Drivewise Tracks Your Driving
Once activated, Drivewise silently works in the background, collecting data to assess your driving habits. Don't worry, you don't need to open the app before every trip! As long as location services are enabled and your phone has sufficient battery, it will automatically detect when a trip begins and ends.
Key Driving Behaviors Monitored:
Allstate Drivewise primarily focuses on these aspects of your driving:
- Speed: This isn't just about adhering to the speed limit. The app specifically notes instances of high-speed events (e.g., exceeding 80 mph) and generally assesses your speed relative to typical road conditions.
- Braking and Acceleration Events: The program identifies instances of sudden or "hard" braking and rapid acceleration. Smooth, gradual stops and starts are preferred.
- Hard Braking: Defined as slowing down between 8-10 mph within one second.
- Extreme Braking: Defined as slowing down 10 mph or more within one second.
- Time of Day: Driving during certain hours is considered riskier. Generally, nighttime hours, especially between 11:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. on weekdays, and 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. on weekends, are categorized as higher risk.
- Phone Activity: The app can detect if you're using your phone while driving, which is a major distraction and can negatively impact your score.
How Data is Collected and Used:
- GPS Trail: The app analyzes your GPS data every second and records your position, speed, and accuracy every 30 meters.
- Trip Detection: The app automatically detects a trip when your phone is on, location services are enabled, and you travel at least 15 mph for at least 1 minute.
- Driver vs. Passenger Identification: Drivewise attempts to distinguish between when you are the driver and when you are a passenger. Only driver trips count toward your score. If the app misidentifies you as a driver when you were a passenger, you can typically edit the trip within the app to correct it. It's important to do this, as another person's poor driving habits could otherwise affect your potential discount.
- Data Analysis: All the collected data is analyzed to create your personalized driving score and assess your overall driving performance.
Step 4: Monitoring Your Progress and Understanding Your Score
The beauty of Drivewise is the transparency it offers. You don't have to wait until your renewal to see how you're doing.
Step 4.1: Accessing Your Drivewise Dashboard
- Open the Allstate Mobile App.
- Tap on the Drivewise section (often labeled "Dashboard").
Here, you'll find a summary of your driving performance, including:
- Overall Driving Score/Performance Rating: This is your key indicator of how safely you're driving.
- Trip Summaries: View details of individual trips, including maps of your routes, speed, braking events, and time of day.
- Personalized Insights: Allstate provides tips and feedback based on your driving habits to help you improve.
- Challenges: Sometimes, Drivewise offers challenges to encourage safer driving behaviors.
Step 4.2: Understanding Your Performance Rating
Your performance rating is evaluated by looking back at your total number of trips over a specific period (often the last six months).
- Maximum Savings: If all enrolled drivers on your policy complete a minimum number of trips (e.g., at least 50 trips over six months), your policy will be eligible for maximum savings.
- Reduced Savings: If only some drivers meet the trip threshold, your savings might be reduced.
- No Savings: If no one on your policy meets the minimum trip requirement, you may not receive a performance discount.
Step 5: Earning and Maximizing Your Drivewise Savings
Now for the best part – how to get those sweet discounts!
Step 5.1: The Enrollment Discount
As mentioned, simply enrolling in Drivewise often grants you an immediate discount on your policy. This is your initial reward for participating.
Step 5.2: The Performance Discount
After an initial monitoring period (typically six months), your enrollment discount will be replaced by a performance-based discount. This discount is calculated based on your accumulated safe driving score. The safer your driving habits during the monitoring period, the higher your earned discount will be at your policy renewal.
Step 5.3: Tips to Maximize Your Savings
- Drive at Safer Speeds: Adhere to speed limits and avoid excessive speeding, especially over 80 mph.
- Practice Smooth Braking and Acceleration: Anticipate stops and traffic, allowing for gradual braking and smooth acceleration. Avoid sudden, hard stops.
- Limit Nighttime Driving: If possible, try to reduce driving during the higher-risk hours (11:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. on weekdays and 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. on weekends).
- Avoid Phone Distraction: Do not use your phone while driving. Even hands-free calling can sometimes be tracked as phone activity.
- Ensure All Drivers on Your Policy Enroll and Participate: The program collectively considers all qualified drivers' trip information for the policy's overall performance rating. The more safe drivers participating, the better your chances of maximizing savings.
- Maintain App Functionality: Make sure your location services are always on, your phone battery is sufficiently charged, and the app isn't being put to "sleep" by battery-saving settings.
- Correct Passenger Trips: Regularly review your trip history in the app and correct any instances where you were misidentified as a driver when you were a passenger.
Step 6: What Happens at Renewal?
At each policy renewal, Allstate will assess your driving performance over the previous monitoring period (typically the last six months to a year, depending on state regulations and policy terms). Your Drivewise discount will then be applied to your renewed policy based on that performance.
- Consistent Savings: If you maintain safe driving habits, you can continue to enjoy significant savings year after year.
- Potential for Change: Your discount may fluctuate based on changes in your driving habits during the monitoring period. This means consistently driving safely is key to maintaining or increasing your savings.
FAQs about Allstate Drivewise
Here are 10 related FAQ questions with quick answers to help clarify any remaining doubts:
How to enroll in Allstate Drivewise? Download the Allstate mobile app, log in or create an account, tap on the Drivewise section, and accept the terms and permissions (especially location services).
How to activate Drivewise on a new smartphone? Download the Allstate mobile app on your new phone, log in with your existing My Account ID, and the Drivewise feature should activate automatically if it was previously set up.
How to ensure Drivewise accurately tracks my trips? Always keep location services enabled on your smartphone, ensure your phone has at least 5% battery, and avoid putting the Allstate app into power-saving or "sleep" mode.
How to change a trip from "driver" to "passenger" in Drivewise? Open the Allstate mobile app, go to the Drivewise Dashboard, select "View All Trips" under "My Trips," choose the specific trip, and then edit the trip method to "passenger" or "not driving."
How to unenroll from Allstate Drivewise? You can usually unenroll through the Allstate mobile app settings, or by contacting Allstate customer support directly. Simply deleting the app will not unenroll you.
How to check my Drivewise score or performance? Access your Drivewise Dashboard within the Allstate mobile app, where you'll find your overall score, trip summaries, and personalized feedback.
How to understand what behaviors impact my Drivewise discount? Drivewise primarily assesses speed (especially high speed), hard braking, rapid acceleration, and the time of day you drive. Phone usage while driving can also impact your score.
How to get the maximum discount with Drivewise? Consistently drive safely by avoiding speeding, sudden braking, and phone distraction, and try to limit driving during high-risk late-night hours. Ensure all enrolled drivers on your policy actively participate.
How to find out if Drivewise is available in my state? Drivewise availability can vary by state. The best way to confirm is to check the Allstate website, the Allstate mobile app, or contact an Allstate agent.
How to contact Allstate Drivewise support? You can typically find support options within the Allstate mobile app, or by calling Allstate customer service directly (e.g., 877-431-7670).