Earlier today, the O’reilly Radar blog had an interesting post about an innovative new auto insurance company, of all things. They’re called MileMeter, and the thing that makes them different is that you buy your car insurance from them by the mile, not by the quarter, year, etc. This is obviously going to be a better deal for people who drive less, but it could also create some incentives to encourage high mileage drivers to scale back a bit.
Particularly interesting to me, is that it appears the founders of MileMeter are outsiders to the insurance industry. That’s how innovation seems to work – fresh brains who are unconstrained by tradition and how things are “supposed to work”. I wish them the best!
MileMeter was also a finalist in the Amazon Web Services Startup Challenge, which just wrapped up. You can see their contest video on Amazon’s website (I originally had it embedded below, but I didn’t think you’d appreciate the auto-play).
One reply on “MileMeter: Innovation in…Auto Insurance?”
Jason,
Thanks for the interest in MileMeter and the kind words!
I can confirm for you that MileMeter was founded by folks with no prior history in the insurance industry. We learned from, and partnered with, very experienced insurance veterans though. We also learned quite a bit from the “School of Hard Knocks”! Along the way we’ve accomplished things which the industry considered too difficult to attempt, and we hope to soon offer a product to consumers that gives them the power of choice, provides more transparency, saves them money, and has a number of other social and environmental benefits.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2% of annual household income is spent on car insurance. Most citizens live in states where auto insurance coverage is mandatory. If MileMeter is successful, we can hopefully allow some households to spend less on insurance and more on groceries.
We’ve started a MileMeter blog, and will continue posting small pieces on the policy impacts of distance-based insurance.
Again, thanks.
-Chris (the guy in the MileMeter video)
MileMeter