Metromile Insurance: What You Need to Know

Metromile Insurance factors demographics, age, and location into their car insurance quotes, while also offering especially low rates to low-mileage drivers.
Written by Jacoba Bood
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
If you drive less than 10,000 miles per year, switching to Metromile might help you save on your insurance rates.
Metromile is a relatively new insurance provider that provides monthly rates based on the number of miles you drive. The
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and
car insurance
broker
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has put together all the information that you need to decide if Metromile insurance is right for you.
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What is Metromile?

Metromile is a car insurance company that calculates your insurance rates based largely on how much you drive.
Most insurance providers base their rates on various personal factors like age, demographics, location, type of car you drive, your driving record, and maybe even your credit history. While Metromile also takes these factors into account, their formula emphasizes
how many miles you drive
.
Metromile uses a tracking device to track the number of miles that you drive and bills drivers monthly.

Pros and cons of using Metromile

Pros
Cons
- An affordable option for people who drive less than 10,000 miles a year
- Only available in a handful of states
- Animal owners get pet injury protection with most full coverage plans
- A higher than average number of customer complaints
- Convenient month-by-month payment plan
- Rates may be unpredictable

How much does Metromile cost?

According to Metromile’s website, they base their insurance rates on a two-part formula that includes a base rate and a per-mile rate.
These rates are calculated based on factors like your age, driving history, the type of vehicle that you drive, and credit history. These formulas are similar to the ones used by other standard insurance providers.
Metromile differs from standard providers in the importance that they assign to the number of miles you drive.
Once Metromile calculates your monthly base rate and per-mile rate, they will multiply the number of miles you drive in a month by the per-mile rate. Metromile will then add this number to your base rate to get your total monthly insurance premium price.
Metromile will calculate your rate based on the number of days in the month, so you might pay slightly more or less based on the number of days in a month.
Metromile’s tracking device will log the number of miles you drive, but will also keep track of your driving behavior.
If you live in
Arizona
,
Illinois
,
Oregon
, or
Virginia
, you'll also have your driving habits taken into consideration—including the times when you drive and your average driving speed. Virginia residents also have the time spent on the average trip taken into account.
The Metromile app also logs factors like cornering and braking, although this information is not necessarily considered when determining your monthly premiums.

What discounts are offered?

Depending on your state, you may be eligible to benefit from the following Metromile insurance discounts.
  • Anti-theft, vehicle recovery, and safety device discounts
  • Discounts for no at-fault accidents or maintaining a
    clean driving record
  • Mature drivers discounts
  • Continuous coverage
    and multi-car discounts
Oregon residents might also qualify for a safe driving behavior discount of up to 40% off their initial quote when they sign up for a two-week Ride Along trial.
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Will Metromile save me money?

The answer to this question depends mainly on how often you drive—but it is also a bit more complicated than that.
Generally speaking, if you drive less than 10,000 miles a year, there is a good chance that you could save by taking out an insurance policy with Metromile. Your saving potential will also depend on both your base and per-mile rate.
Keep in mind that Metromile still takes the standard factors that are used to calculate insurance rates into account when they come up with these numbers.
For instance, if you have a less-than-perfect driving record, you will still probably pay more for a Metromile insurance policy than you would if your driving record was immaculate.
That said, you can count on the number of miles that you drive to factor more heavily into the equation than it would with other standard providers.

Estimating your Metromile premiums

Once you get a quote from Metromile, you can use your base rate, per-mile rate, and average miles you drive in a month to estimate your monthly premium costs.
For example, let’s say you drive about 400 miles a month. Now let’s say your base rate is $45 and your per-mile rate is five cents.
Step 1: Multiply your per-mile rate ($0.05) by the average miles your drive per month (400) to come up with an average mile-based rate. In this example, your total would be $20.
Step 2: Add the total you calculated above ($20) to your base rate ($45) to come up with your average monthly insurance cost. In this example, your monthly average premium would be about $65.
If you have the potential to save with Metromile, you can sign up for the Ride Along app to get a better idea of how much you will pay per month.
The app will track your driving habits, count your miles for 17 days, and then send you a monthly estimate of how much you will pay.

Will you pay more for long drives?

Metromile has a mileage cap for longer daily trips. This means that you can head out on the occasional road trip and not have to worry about your rates skyrocketing through the roof.
If you live in
New Jersey
, the mileage cap for per-mile charges is 150 miles per day. The cap is 250 miles per day in the following states:

Coverage options

Metromile offers up all of the standard insurance options that may be legally required by your state, including
liability insurance
,
medical payments (MedPay)
, and
uninsured/underinsured motorist
coverage options.
They also provide full coverage
comprehensive insurance
and
collision coverage
packages.
Some of the additional insurance add-ons you can benefit from include the following:
Rental reimbursement
Rental reimbursement coverage
will help you cover the cost of a rental car up to your policy limit should your vehicle require repairs after filing a claim.
Metromile only makes this optional coverage available to those already subscribed to collision insurance or a comprehensive insurance plan.
Roadside assistance
Metromile’s
roadside assistance
add-on will help cover the costs of emergency roadside services like tire changes, towing, battery jumpstarts, and locksmith fees.

Metromile reviews

Metromile is a relatively new provider and they have yet to be ranked by J.D. Power and Associates; however, their online review indicates that the potential to save on insurance might come at the cost of less than satisfactory service.
Generally speaking, Metromile reviews tend to point to a rocky claims process, so Metromile might not be the best choice if you have a higher risk of being involved in an accident.
According to the
National Association of Insurance Commissioners
, Metromile generated more complaints than other insurance providers of the same size.

In which states is Metromile available?

Metromile is currently only available in the following eight states:
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Illinois
  • New Jersey
  • Pennsylvania
  • Oregon
  • Virginia
  • Washington
If you live in the other 42 states, you won’t be able to switch to Metromile for the time being. Since they are a new company, they might continue to expand their offering in the future.

Metromile’s unique features

Metromile Pulse tracking device
The Metromile tracking device plugs into the diagnostic port of your car to track your mileage and driving habits. You will receive this device free of charge when you switch to Metromile insurance.
Metromile provides a 7 to 10-day grace period of zero per-mile coverage while your Pulse device is shipped to you.
Metromile Mobile App
The Metromile Mobile App offers up standard features like policy documents and insurance ID card access.
It also includes access to the following unique features.
  • Find your parked car and get alerts to avoid a ticket
  • View your Pulse mileage logs and trip charges
  • Access trip data like driving speed, distance, and gas rates
  • Helpful information related to your car’s health

Is Metromile car insurance right for you?

If you drive relatively infrequently and live in one of the eight states where Metromile insurance is available, it could be a good option for you.
Generally speaking, Metromile Insurance is most appropriate for people who drive less than 10,000 miles per year, but your saving potential will depend on your base and per-mile rate.
If you want to find out if you can save on
car insurance
, the insurance app
Jerry
will make your job easier. A licensed broker, Jerry does all the hard work of finding cheap quotes from the top name-brand insurance companies and buying new car insurance. Jerry will even help you cancel your old policy.
And to ensure you always have the lowest rate, Jerry will send you new quotes every time your policy comes up for renewal, so you’re always getting the coverage you want at the best price.
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