Honda Will Sell You Insurance, but Says It Won't Track Your Driving

• Honda now offers insurance but says it will not track your driving.

• Many carmakers offer their own insurance or offer it through a partner.

• Many such policies include data gathered while you drive to gauge whether you’re a safe driver. Some offer discounts for ADAS safety systems.

Honda has joined Tesla, Ford, GM and other carmakers in offering its own insurance at the time it sells you a car.

It used to be that after you picked the car you wanted, you’d be sent to the dealer’s F&I department where they’d sell you financing and insurance, often through third parties. Now you can do the insurance directly with Honda, and other carmakers.

Policies will be offered by Honda Insurance Solutions, which Honda says is a licensed insurance agency that provides “competitive pricing and coverage options for autos, motorcycles, homes, and more.”

Honda’s new insurance agency will work with omnichannel insurance brokerage VIU by HUB “to offer fast and easy quoting and advice, all found at hondainsurancesolutions.com.”

While many carmakers use data on your driving to set insurance rates, Honda says it will not do that, saying, simply, “We are not providing data to insurers to offer safe driver discounts.”

Honda is not the first carmaker to offer its own insurance, of course.

Premium Based on How You Drive

Tesla created an insurance program tailored to take into account its autopilot and full self-driving (FSD) features. The Tesla program is priced based on how much a car owner is behind the wheel and on how safely they drive.

“We base your premium on how you drive,” Tesla says on its website. “We use existing technology in our vehicles to track your real-time driving behavior, no additional hardware required.”

This would drive King of the Hill character, the paranoid Dale Gribble, crazy.

In 2018 a company called Swiss Re, the world’s largest reinsurer, partnered with BMW to build the Swiss Re ADAS risk score, a vehicle-specific insurance rating that influences how primary insurance companies rate insurance premiums based on vehicle features and risks associated with each vehicle type.

Discount for Safe Driving

In 2020, Ford partnered with Nationwide to create Nationwide’s SmartRide usage-based insurance program, according to Nationwide News, an in-house department of the insurer.

With the program, drivers share their vehicle connectivity information with Nationwide and their connected vehicle will track and share distance driven, hard braking and accelerating, idle time, and night driving to establish a policy rate.

The data are shared with Nationwide through the vehicle’s embedded modem, eliminating the need for a special app or vehicle plug-in device. Customers are eligible for up to a 40% discount, Nationwide says, which will be applied when the policy is renewed.

Rivian partnered with Nationwide and Cincinnati Insurance to offer their own user-based program.

The program uses Rivian’s Driver+ suite of ADAS features like adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist and automatic emergency braking, as well as its hands-free driving on selected highways to track drivers’ performance.

The more a Rivian driver uses Driver+, the more they are discounted on their monthly premium, smartfinancial.com said.

OnStar Doesn’t Need an App

General Motors OnStar Insurance is available in Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles that are model year 2016 or newer, uses OnStar to track driving behavior, and bases your insurance rates on how safely you drive.

“Instead of plugging in a gadget or downloading an app to assess your driving, we can use the technology already working in your connected vehicle,” GM says. “Now more than ever, you can influence your auto insurance premium by driving safely.”

OnStar tracks things like seat belt usage, aggressive braking, hard cornering, high speed driving and, again, night driving to determine your insurance rates.

Volvo, which markets its safety features heavily, partnered with Liberty Mutual in 2017 to create the insurer’s new TechSafety program.

The program builds on the success of the Volvo City Safety technology which includes pedestrian, cyclist, and large animal detection with automatic emergency braking, Liberty Mutual said.

“We believe vehicles equipped with these types of advanced safety features will not only reduce crashes but help our customers worry less on the road while providing them new ways to save on their auto insurance,” said Hamid Mirza, senior vice president of product strategy and solutions at Liberty Mutual Insurance.

The company cited a report from The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) that showed cars outfitted with Volvo City Safety reduced rear end crashes by 41% and injuries by 47%.

Mercedes-Benz also partnered with Liberty Mutual to offer their car owners customized insurance policies through Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, which are tailored to save Mercedes drivers money if they drive safely.

Like the other automakers, they offer telematics-based insurance solutions such as Pay-How-You-Drive, which allows safe drivers to earn a discount for low mileage and safe driving behavior.

So these programs are good if you’re a safe driver, maybe even a boring driver, but bad if you drive like an idiot. Like lap times, they reward smoothness.

Have you been able to save money on insurance by changing your driving habits? Please comment below.