Allstate introduces a usage-based insurance app for smartphone users. Available for free download through iTunes or Google Play, the new Drivewise app provides near real-time updates with each trip and provides easier access to customers on the go.

Drivewise is Allstate's user-based insurance (UBI) program, which is designed to improve driving behavior and reward customers for safe driving. Drivewise measures things such as mileage, braking, speed, and time of day when a customer is driving.

Using that data, Allstate calculates a discount for each customer using its telematics technology. Before using the new Drivewise app, customers must register the application by entering their user ID and password, which must initially be setup online.

“This provides our customers a method to quickly identify ways to improve their driving and, at the same time, be rewarded for safe driving habits,” says Allstate's senior product vice president Ed Biemer.

Biemer explains the mobile app serves a “report-card function” for drivers carrying smartphones.

“When you finish your trip, you can log-on to the app instead of sitting down at your computer and getting on the website,” he says. “This is for people who are on the go.”

Originally launched in Illinois in December 2010, Drivewise is now available in 16 states as Allstate continues an aggressive rollout this year. The carrier expects the majority of its marketplace to have the usage-based insurance tool by the end of 2013.

Biemer reports that the app was tested by some Allstate employees first before it was released.

“We felt it was time to provide more access to our customers with their driving information,” he says. “The app is user friendly and we believe it forges new ground for us.”

Allstate announces that Missouri, Indiana, Minnesota, Maryland, Utah, and Washington join 10 other states delivering constant feedback to drivers through a website designed to help identify and improve driving habits.

To date, more than 400 million miles have been driven by customers using the device and of those receiving a driving discount, Allstate claims the average savings is at 14 percent. The carrier adds that more than a third of all new customers enroll where it is available.

Upon signing up for and using the device, customers automatically receive a 10 percent enrollment discount and after the first six months of use, the enrollment discount is replaced with a performance discount based on the driving habits demonstrated.

“We know Drivewise can create a safer, more self-aware driver and, it remains our goal to offer usage-based insurance to as many of our customers as possible so we can encourage safer driving and pass along a significant discount for it,” says Biemer.

Employing advanced telematics technology, Drivewiseplugs into the on-board diagnostic port found under the dashboard/steering column on most cars manufactured after 1996 to track driving behavior. Participants can plug in the small, wireless telematics device, and then go online or use the new smartphone app to learn about their habits behind the wheel and identify what they can do to become safer drivers.

The web portal and app also display the potential performance discount a customer may be eligible for based on their driving habits, so drivers can constantly connect the way they drive with how much they can save. Rates will not go up based on driving scores, but savings of up to 30 percent can be earned by drivers with the safest driving scores and lowest mileage.

Special Reports /

Allstate Expands Drivewise to 16 States, Adds Smartphone App

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