Pay-Per-Mile Insurer Metromile Expands to East Coast

Metromile, an insurer that uses telematics to charge customers variable premiums based on how many miles they drive, is expanding to the East Coast.

The Oregon-based company, which until this year had operated only in the Pacific Northwest and California, announced its expansion to Virginia today. The company also recently began selling products in Illinois and opened a second office in Boston.

Metromile has also introduced Metromile Tag, a scaled-down version of the full telematics device designed to help drivers who don't feel ready for per-mile insurance become more informed about their vehicle and driving behavior. The device provides many of the same features that the insurer would use, including commute optimization, parking location, customizable trip logs, mileage tracking for expense reporting, driving trends and street cleaning notifications, without having to plug into the OBD-II port. 

"Virginia has always been known to have ample public transportation options and many of its cities are easily accessible on foot so locals can get by with little use of their car," said Dan Preston, CEO of Metromile. "Virginia's great transportation infrastructure, coupled with the idea that drivers are sick and tired of traffic congestion and thus opting to drive their cars less make a pay-per-mile insurance product such as Metromile a great fit- the less time you spend behind the wheel, the less money you spend on insurance."

Metromile earlier this year linked up with ride-sharing company Uber on a product to fill the so-called "insurance gap" between when a driver is using their car personally and professionally. Metromile customers can identify exactly which miles driven were for Uber (at which point Uber's insurance takes over) and which were personal, and deduct those from their premium.

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