Coverage Questions

1. What is MileMeter insurance?

   MileMeter is an innovative insurance product designed to offer fair and affordable insurance in proportion to how much you drive. If you drive less, you pay less. It’s that simple.

   MileMeter offers a 6-month auto insurance policy. You can purchase anything from liability only, to full coverage plus some extras. Policies are purchased in increments of 1,000 to 6,000 miles. If you drive more miles than expected, you are still covered, as long as you pay us promptly for the miles driven. In that way, you the peace of mind of a traditional six-month policy, and all of the savings and benefits of distance-based insurance. Win-win! You can buy more miles for your policy at any time, and you never have to worry about out-driving your miles. You renew every six months, just like you’re used to, paying for any extra miles at that time. If you have unused miles at renewal, they will be credited to your account (subject to our minimum earned premium of 1,000 miles) when the policy is renewed on or before the expiration date.

   The entire purchase process is completed online. You pick, purchase, and print your policy all from the website! It takes about 5 minutes to get insurance with MileMeter – innovative AND efficient!

2. How is the policy contract defined?

   You are covered for six months from the time of purchase. If you drive more miles than expected, you’re still covered as long as you pay us promptly for the miles driven.

3. What if I run out of miles within my six-month policy, and then get into an accident?

   Let’s say you buy a 2,000 mile policy. A few months later, you take a surprise road trip to see your friends in Savannah, Georgia. By the time you get back, you notice – wow – you’ve driven 2,100 miles already. The next day you have an auto accident. With MileMeter 2.0, you’re still covered! The claim will still be handled as quickly and efficiently as possible, and in the meantime just log on so you can buy more miles! At the end of your policy period, you will receive a credit for any unused miles you have purchased, subject to our minimum earned premium, so long as you renew on or before your policy expiration date.

4. Does the policy cover other household drivers?

   Each policy is based on a vehicle/driver pairing. The policy covers the named primary driver and any named secondary household drivers for the vehicle specified in the policy application. For instance, if you purchased a MileMeter policy to cover yourself and your spouse for the vehicle with the license plate “MYCAR1”, then your policy fully covers you both only when driving “MYCAR1.” If you and your spouse want to drive another car other than “MYCAR1”, then you should purchase another policy for the additional vehicle.

   If your MileMeter policy has one named driver — you — you should not give someone else in your household (e.g. your 18-year old daughter) permission to drive that vehicle. If this is your primary vehicle but you want to let someone else that lives in your household (e.g. your 18-year old daughter) drive that vehicle, you should add that person as a secondary driver to your policy.

   If your tendency is to worry about coverage limits, the safe thing is to make sure all household drivers are named in your policy by listing them as drivers. If you have an 18-year old daughter, well, there’s only so much we can do to help! To minimize the cost of insuring an expensive driver like an 18-year old, we suggest insuring them on their own vehicle (your hand-me-down car) with just a few thousand miles per year. In this manner the cost can be contained by limiting driving, and the other vehicles and drivers in the household will not be paying for the 18-year old on the other policies. Again, if they are not listed on a household vehicle’s policy, they will not be covered when driving this vehicle.

5. Does the policy cover non-household drivers?

   Non-household drivers (e.g. your visiting mother-in-law) only receive 25/50/25 liability coverage if they are operating your vehicle with your permission. You cannot add a non-household driver as a listed driver on your MileMeter™ policy.

   If your policy has one named driver — you — and you give permission to someone else who does not live in your household (e.g. your visiting mother-in-law) to drive the vehicle, then the permissive user will only receive 25/50/25 liability coverage. If your policy has any coverages above and beyond 25/50/25 liability — such as higher liability limit coverage or Physical Damage coverage (Part D in your policy form) — then the permissive user will be operating your vehicle with restricted coverage of only 25/50/25 liability, which is the minimum coverage required under Texas law.
6. Are rental vehicles covered?

   Your MileMeter policy covers you while driving a rental vehicle up to the minimum limits of liability (25/50/25). If you have an accident in a vehicle you rented, and the accident is due to your negligence, the policy covers your negligence.

7. Does a MileMeter policy cover multiple family cars?

   No, each MileMeter policy applies to a single vehicle. You can purchase a policy for each vehicle in your household, thereby providing economical, equitable, and convenient insurance for all of your family’s vehicles.

   Each vehicle that you insure with MileMeter can have a different set of listed drivers from your household. For instance, for a three-car family, Dad, Mom, and 18-year old Daughter are drivers, consider the following scenario:

   • 2,000 mile 50/100/50 liability policy for 18-year old Daughter’s 1994 Volvo 850 sedan. Mom, Dad, and Daughter are all listed drivers on this policy. Since policies are rated using the highest-rated driver, adding Mom and Dad should not add any cost to Daughter’s vehicle policy. When Daughter needs more miles, Mom and Dad can purchase more on her behalf (giving Mom and Dad the “power of the purse” to ration her insurance, and by proxy, her vehicle usage).

   • 4,000 mile policy for Mom’s 2003 Lexus 300ES, with 100/300/100 liability and Physical Damage coverages. Mom and Dad are the listed drivers on this policy. By not being listed on the policy, Daughter is excluded from driving the vehicle, which also lowers the cost of the policy.

   • 3,000 mile policy with 25/50/25 liability for Dad’s 1997 Ford F150 truck. Dad is the only listed driver on this policy — probably because Dad has a habit of driving with his favorite dog in the cab. Mom and Daughter aren’t listed on the policy, and are thereby excluded from driving it. But they’re ok with that.

Purchase Questions

1. How do I pay?

   Payment is accepted during the purchase process on the MileMeter website. Payment is only accepted online, and will not be taken via phone or through the mail. We accept Visa, Mastercard, and Discover credit and debit cards, as well as payment through PayPal on Amazon.com (linked from our website).

2. Do you offer payment plans?

   We do not offer payment plans: payment in full via credit card or debit card is required at the time of purchase. You may choose to purchase smaller quantities of coverage at a time to lower the up-front cost of insurance. For instance, rather than spend $600 for 6,000 miles of coverage at one time, you could purchase 1,000 miles of coverage for $100 at a time. You can purchase additional miles as you need them during the policy period, in effect, creating your own payment plan by controlling the miles you purchase. If you are concerned about potentially overbuying, don’t worry, you will receive a premium credit for the miles you don’t use, subject to the minimum earned premium of 1,000 miles. Any unused miles over the first 1,000 will be applied as a credit to your account when you renew your policy on or before the policy’s expiration date.

3. Do you provide renewal reminders?

   We will send a reminder notice when your vehicle has less than 30, 14, 7, and 0 days of coverage remaining. You can also see how many days you have remaining on your policy by logging into your account.

4. Should high-mileage drivers purchase MileMeter policies?

   They are welcome to; however, they may find their traditional insurance policy to be a less expensive alternative. The best way to find out if MileMeter will save you money is to get a quote.

5. What if someone is a safe, high-mileage driver?

   Just like everyone else on the road, drivers with good driving records are exposed to other drivers and hazardous road conditions. The more miles they drive, the greater their chances of having an accident. Therefore, the risk of an accident is proportional to the quantity of driving. MileMeter insurance is priced by the mile for each risk class (by driver age and garaging location) to reflect this relationship and to provide equitable charges for everyone in the same risk class.

6. How do you determine the insurance price?

   Your personal insurance quote (e.g. $0.05/mile) is based on your vehicle, your location, and you. The principal actuarial criteria for determining the insurance quote are Age, Vehicle, and Location. We just give you a quote – you decide the final price by selecting coverage options.

   While some of our competitors offer “lower” prices if you are willing to give them your Social Security number, we do not use SSNs or credit scoring. We’re not offering you a loan, and we feel Social Security numbers should only be used by the IRS and the Social Security Administration.
7. How do I cancel my policy? Do you provide refunds?

   Should you choose to cancel your MileMeter policy, simply email us through the Contact Us section of the website and provide us with your policy number, odometer reading, and the reason why you are canceling you policy. One of our customer service representatives will promptly respond requesting a photo of your vehicle’s odometer with your driver license clearly visible in the photo. As soon as this is received, we will refund the pro-rated, unearned premium less the minimum earned premium of 1,000 miles per six months.

   We hope you’ll never want to cancel your policy, but if you do we’ll honor the request!

8. What if I do not have access to a digital camera?

   If you don’t have a digital camera there are four alternatives available to you.

   1. You can use the camera on your cell phone.
   2. You can use a regular camera or purchase a disposable camera and have the prints digitized (put onto a CD) at your local drug store or mass market retailer.
   3. You can purchase an inexpensive digital camera for less than $20 at most drug stores or mass market retailers.
   4. You can borrow a friend’s camera.
9. How do I cancel my current insurance policy and sign up with MileMeter?

   You can cancel your existing auto insurance policy at any time. State law requires all insurance carriers to provide a prompt refund of the unearned premium remaining on the policy, less the company’s minimum earned premium (check with your particular insurance company to find out what theirs is). We recommend that you purchase a policy with MileMeter before canceling your traditional auto insurance policy to ensure that there are no lapses in coverage.

10. What if I am a senior citizen and do not have a digital camera?

    We understand that technology has evolved rapidly over the past few decades, and for this reason we have a senior citizen exclusion for the odometer photo requirement. If you are 65 years of age or older then you are not required to submit an odometer photo. When you enter your date of birth during the purchase process and it is verified with our system, you will automatically bypass the photo step.

11. Do You Offer Refunds For Unused Miles?

    We offer refunds for unused miles beyond the minimum earned premium of 1,000 miles, as long as the policy is renewed on or before the expiration date. Should you request a cancellation of your policy, we will refund you any unused miles, again, subject to the 1,000 minimum earned premium. This means that if you only purchase 1,000 miles, there will be no credit if you cancel your policy at any time or if you have miles remaining when you renew your policy. But, if you purchase 2,000 miles, and only end up driving 1,200, you will receive a credit for the 800 miles you didn’t drive, as long as you renew on or before your policy’s expiration date.

Other Questions

1. How do you get odometer readings?

   We ask for a photograph of your car’s odometer (with your driver’s license visible in the photograph) at the initial purchase, and each 6-month renewal. This lets us confirm your odometer reportings as well as verify that it’s your car. The photos are uploaded from your computer directly to the site during the purchase process.

   MileMeter reserves the right to request additional odometer photos at any time during the policy period.

2. Do you use a black-box to record policyholder driving information?

   No, we do not monitor your driving habits or your vehicles with vehicle-installed tracking devices, because it raises the cost of insurance, and it violates consumer privacy. Instead, by sending us a photo of your odometer, we make use of the tools you probably already have; you car’s odometer, your driver’s license, and your digital camera.

3. Why is MileMeter insurance offered only inTexas?

   We’d love to expand to other states! Unfortunately, the insurance industry and the state authorities which regulate it don’t make it easy. It took us several years to offer MileMeter insurance in Texas. We hope to expand into other state markets quickly, but we expect some obstacles. If you want to help in the meantime, encourage your friends in Texas to purchase a policy from us.

4. Is this an environmentally and socially responsible product?

   Our insurance financially rewards you for driving less. The incentive to drive less will (hopefully) result in fewer tailpipe emissions, fewer traffic injuries, and fewer parking lots. The potential economic, policy, and environmental benefits of mileage-based insurance have led to broad interest: in the United States, it has been championed by the National Organization for Women, studied by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, and advocated by groups ranging from the National Motorists Association to environmental conservationists. Mileage-based insurance is unique as a product that is equitable, environmental, and responsible.

5. Do you have a privacy policy?

   Please read this policy carefully because when you visit this site you are agreeing to the terms of this policy.

   MileMeter™ takes privacy very seriously. That’s one reason why we worked so hard to create distance-based insurance without vehicle monitoring technology. We are committed to providing you, our customer, with a secure and convenient shopping experience. We do not collect Social Security numbers; we do not perform credit score checks. We believe Social Security numbers should only be used by the IRS and Social Security. Similarly, we believe credit scoring persons for an insurance purchase is unethical and invasive. By submitting your personal information to us on our website to receive an insurance price quote, you give us permission to determine the registered address associated with your driver’s license. We use this information to help create an insurance quote, since where your live/work/drive is an important part of risk evaluation. All information collected by MileMeter™ is used for internal purposes only. We respect your privacy and do not sell, publish, or transfer information to third parties. We do not share email addresses or any other information that we collect through your online shopping with anyone else.
6. I am stationed in Texas with the military. Will you accept my out-of-state driver license?

   If you are currently an active-duty member of the U.S. Armed Forces stationed in Texas, we will accept your out-of-state driver’s license with proof of military I.D. Just call us, and we will ask you to email or fax us a copy of your active military I.D. and driver license.

7. What if I live in Texas but still have an out-of-state driver license?

   Congratulations on moving to Texas! State law gives you 30 days from the date of your residency change to get a new driver license from the Texas Department of Transportation. You need to have a Texas driver license before purchasing a MileMeter policy.

8. What if I am a full-time student in Texas with an out-of-state driver license?

   If you are a full-time student at a university or college in Texas, then you may purchase MileMeter insurance. Just e-mail us with an attachment of your current student ID and we can grant you an underwriting exception which will enable you to buy a MileMeter policy. You must be a current student of a Texas university or college to qualify for this exception.