Very soon after State Farm broke the ice with the first filing for Verified-Mileage auto insurance in California, an insurance affiliate of AAA of Southern California has become second to file.  Insurance Exchange Of The Automobile Club is requesting a December initial launch, only three months after State Farm’s.  Their policies will be offered exclusively through AAA of Southern California.

So far, these filings are following the same order as the market-share rankings in California.  In 2009, State Farm was #1 with about 13% market share, and Insurance Exchange Of The Automobile Club was #2 with 8%.  It will be interesting to see which firms file next, and how quickly.  (Allstate had #3 market share with 7% and the insurance affiliate of AAA – Northern California, Nevada and Utah had the #4 position with just under 7%.)

Here are highlights of AAA of Southern California’s plan versus State Farm’s:

  • Both keep their earlier “estimated mileage” alternative available
  • Both offer two verified-mileage alternatives
  • Higher discounts go to consumers using “technological devices” to verify their mileage
    • State Farm will initially offer this for vehicles with OnStar
    • AAA’s “Telematics Verified Program” will offer this for any vehicle and compatible AAA-approved “technological device” (which can cover over 90% of current consumer-owned vehicles plus all new models)
  • Lower discounts go to consumers not using “technological devices”
    • State Farm will allow consumers to self-report odometer readings, but be required to verify those readings if requested
    • AAA will allow any approach for reading and reporting odometer data that is allowed by California regulations
  • Either way, significant discounts are available to consumers for vehicles driven less than average mileage each policy term
    • State Farm offers up to 45% discount for self-reporting, and up to 49% for OnStar vehicles
    • AAA also offers up to 45% discount for self-reporting or through other non-device methods, and up to 50% for use of any approved “technological device”

The real comparison, of course, is between the actual dollar amount of your insurance premium after all discounts are counted,  including these for verifying mileage.  The focus in this post is California, but the same lesson is true in any state where  “green” car insurance of any type is available.  We will address in future posts the easiest ways to fully compare “green” car insurance with traditional alternatives to find your lowest-cost policy.

Advertisement