Progressive Insurance has announced that it has received a patent for usage based system technologies for the fourth time for its Pay As You Drive program, which is available to drivers in the United States.
The program involves using a driver’s safety score to change his or her premiums based on monitored driving data and is now patented under U.S. Patent No. 8,090,598.
The usage based insurance (UBI) program at Progressive is called Snapshot, and it is now available to drivers in the District of Columbia and 39 other states. It functions by creating a discount for a driver based on his or her own driving habits. Those who use the Snapshot program have a small device installed into the car’s onboard diagnostics port.
This way the usage data from that vehicle can be sent to the insurer, which then uses it to calculate a score that will help in the application of certain possible discounts to the insurance premiums if the driver qualifies.
The UBI program has been improved and refined over the last few years with the participation of almost 500,000 American drivers.
According to the president and CEO of Progressive Insurance, Glenn Renwick, the insurer has been placing research, development, and testing into UBI for more than 15 years, and they will continue with this effort as well as their pilot programs. He added that “It’s gratifying to know that the U.S. Patent Office recognizes the uniqueness of our system technologies.”
Beyond these most recent UBI patents, Progressive also holds a patent for the technique it uses to process claims for vehicle damage, and two more for computer technology for providing service to its online policies.
