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If you own a car, you must also have car insurance with excellent accidental coverage. It’s always a better option to prepare for the worst and have the best coverage from a reliable auto insurance company so that, in case you ever have an accident, you don’t have to worry about the damage restoration expenses.
When you explore auto insurance options, you’ll see that many insurance companies are willing to offer lucrative discounts if you agree to install an insurance tracking device. Getting excellent auto insurance at a discounted rate is something that’s hard to pass, right?
But wait! What seems like such an attractive offer right now may turn against you in the future. Insurance companies can use the data collected through insurance tracking devices against you in case you have an accident.
If you’ve ever heard that insurance tracking devices can be used to devalue your claim and you found it bogus, know that it’s actually true!
Read this blog post to know how insurance tracking devices be used to devalue your insurance claims.
What is an Insurance Tracking Device?
Insurance tracking devices are also called telematics or car monitoring devices that insurance companies install in your vehicle to monitor your driving habits. There are different types of insurance tracking devices, but the purpose of each is more or less quite similar.
These devices are of the following types:
- Electronic devices that connect your vehicle to a mobile app
- Devices that are plugged into the on-board diagnostics (OBD) port of your vehicle
- Devices that are connected to pre-installed devices (in the case of new car models)
To help you understand these devices, they’re very similar to the black box recorder found on airplanes. In short, whatever you do while you’re in your car will be recorded. Some of the most commonly collected data are:
- Braking habits
- Acceleration
- Speed
- Time of the day when you drive
- The distance you drive
- How fast do you take sharp turns
- Whether you use a cellphone with hands-free or not while you drive
- Wi-Fi usage during driving
- GPS location
- Crash avoidance alerts
This data will be used to evaluate how safe and responsible you are as a driver, and this can influence your claims in case you get into an accident.
How Can Insurance Tracking Devices Devalue Your Claim?
You should be aware of the fact that when you agree to get an insurance tracking device on your vehicle in return for a discount on your insurance premium, you’re actually permitting the company to use the data they collect against you (in their favor). Let’s have a look at how these devices can have a negative influence on your claims in case you meet an accident:
Your Driving Habits are Recorded
Let’s say you got into an accident while on a call. You file a claim and skip telling them that you were using your phone at the time of the accident. Now, there’s no way the insurer could know, right?
That’s definitely not the case when you’ve got an insurance tracking device installed. This device will record all your driving habits, including how often you use your phone while driving and whether you use hands-free when on call during driving. The device will also record how often you overspeed and hit the brakes aggressively. Now, when you do meet an accident and file a claim, the insurance company will use the data the device collected to see if you were at fault. In case the data reflects any bad driving habits, the insurance company can refuse to pay all the amount of money you claim or refuse to entertain your claim at all! The insurance company will use the data to devalue your claim because luring you into getting these tracking devices is the whole point!
The Opposing Insurance Company Can Use Data Collected
There are no regulations on how insurance companies use the data collected through insurance tracking devices. There are also no regulations about who can access the data. The chances that the insurance company uses a third party for the evaluation of data are pretty high!
Having said all that, it’s possible for the opposing insurance company (the one representing the other party in the accident) may get access to your data. The opposing company can use the data to find your fault during an accident and put the blame for the accident on you. This will devalue your claim significantly. The insurance company wouldn’t be too willing to cover all the damages when they know you were at fault, and had you been careful, the accident could have been avoided!
Data Collected Can Be Used to Make You Look Guilty
The insurance company will use the recorded data to make you look guilty, even if you aren’t so that they don’t have to pay you as much as you claim. For example, if you drive at night frequently for work or for whatever reason, the company wouldn’t care. All they’ll know is that you drive at night when the risks of accidents are high. This is just one of the many ways the data can be used to make you appear guilty!
Insurance Tracking Devices Don’t Record External Factors
Many times, you do things on roads that you can’t avoid. For example, if an animal comes in the way, you’ve got no choice but to hit the brakes aggressively. You’ve got to take sharp turns in case another car is coming at high speed from the front. The insurance tracking device will record all the times you hit the brakes aggressively and took sharp turns. But it wouldn’t know why you did what you did. If you get into an accident and file a claim, this raw data can be used against you as the data will show you as a careless driver when you aren’t. Worse, there’s no way you can prove it otherwise! This would result in the devaluation of your claim.
Closing Word
If an insurance company is offering you a very attractive discount with excellent coverage with the installation of an insurance tracking device, know that the company isn’t doing you any favors! The company is only making an effort to maximize its profits. The data collected through the insurance tracking device will be used against you to devalue your claim because that’s exactly what an insurance company wants!
Educating yourself about auto accident law is wise if you own a car. Because you can never tell when the tables turn against you! Spirit One legal block can help you better understand auto accident law better!
