Skip to main content

Fourth patent related to usage-based insurance

US company Progressive Insurance has received a fourth patent for system technologies used with its optional pay-as-you-drive insurance programme, a usage-based form of car insurance. U.S. Patent No. 8,090,598 relates, in part, to producing a driver safety score based on monitored driving data. Progressive’s usage-based insurance (UBI) scheme, Snapshot, is available in 39 US states and the District of Columbia. It creates a personalised car insurance discount based on customers’ driving habits.
March 23, 2012 Read time: 1 min
US company Progressive Insurance has received a fourth patent for system technologies used with its optional pay-as-you-drive insurance programme, a usage-based form of car insurance. U.S. Patent No. 8,090,598 relates, in part, to producing a driver safety score based on monitored driving data.

Progressive’s usage-based insurance (UBI) scheme, Snapshot, is available in 39 US states and the District of Columbia. It creates a personalised car insurance discount based on customers’ driving habits. Drivers who sign up for Snapshot receive a small device that plugs into the on-board diagnostic port of cars. The device records data from the vehicle and sends it to Progressive, which uses that data to calculate potential discounts.

“For more than 15 years we have invested a great deal into the research, development, testing and piloting of usage-based insurance programmes and will continue to do so,” said Glenn Renwick, Progressive’s president and CEO.

Related Content

  • Growth of smart parking initiatives
    April 25, 2013
    New initiatives in smart parking have been announced in the US and Europe in recent months. Is the age of smarter parking finally with us? Jon Masters investigates. Smart parking comes to Manchester, reads the headline to a story posted on the UK city’s website towards the end of March this year. Sensors will be fixed to parking spaces to give drivers and authorities information on parking availability via mobile phone apps and other software, the story goes on to explain. Lower down the page, Manchester Ci
  • Wireless traffic data in real time
    January 31, 2012
    The effect of moving objects on the electromagnetic landscape set up by cellular telephony networks can be detected and interpreted to give real-time traffic data across large geographical areas at low cost. Here, we revisit the Celldar concept. Global economic downturn has pushed public-sector agencies, transport administrations among them, to push even harder for cost efficiencies. Unfortunately, when it comes to transport safety and efficiency the public sector often has to work up to a cost rather than
  • CES 2019 says hello to the future
    February 20, 2019
    The launch of the latest gadgets has made the Consumer Electronics Show into tech heaven for geeks worldwide – but there is a serious ITS component, too. Ben Spencer braves the bright lights of Las Vegas to find out more The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been the showcase for some of the world’s most iconic gadgets – from VCRs to the Commodore 64, and from the camcorder to the launch of HDTV. This has made CES a mecca for tech heads all over the world since it began in the 1960s, but these days it
  • Columbia brings the noise to VRUs
    May 7, 2020
    ‘Twalking’ – the practice of staring at a smartphone screen while walking – may be a matter for wry amusement for the non-addicted, but is potentially hazardous to the phone users. A US research project may have found a solution, finds Alan Dron