Willing To Forfeit Your Privacy For (Potentially) Lower Insurance Rates?

I came across a piece on the Insurance Journal website that I thought was worthy of sharing with those interested in Florida car accidents and Florida car insurance.  The thrust of the article was a tug-of-war going on in California between the state Department of Insurance and some of the larger automobile insurance companies over the issue of so-called usage-based insurance pricing.

Usage-based pricing is still being tested around the country.  In California, insurance customers who have elected to try usage-based rating have agreed to allow insurance companies to install little black boxes on their vehicles.  These boxes record a plethora of data such as distance traveled, locations visited, what time of day travel occurs, starting and stopping speeds, and average speed.

California insurance regulators are comfortable keeping usage-based pricing as a test program.  Government officials, as well as privacy advocates, fear that insurance companies will begin using the data obtained from the black boxes to actually raise insurance rates on certain customers – for example, those who are forced to drive at night or park their cars in certain locations.  In addition, there is concern that automobile insurers may share or sell their data to other insurance companies, who might, for instance, be interested to know how often a potential customer visits McDonald’s before rating that customer for health insurance.

I personally have significant reservations about insurance companies prying into my private life.  I think automobile insurance companies have a right to know who I am, where I live, and how many miles I drive for work or recreation.  I personally believe this is more than enough information to accurately predict how likely it is that I will be involved in a Florida car accident.

What do you think we should do here in Florida?

If you have questions about a Florida automobile accident or Florida car insurance, call Winter Park personal injury attorneys Kim Cullen and Robert Hemphill at 407-565-7386.