Can You Get a Car Insurance Discount for Having a Dash Cam?
Last Updated on June 23, 2020
Dashboard cameras, or dashcams, are becoming increasingly popular across the United States. Dashcams can help you avoid becoming a victim of insurance fraud – especially in a litigation-prone country like the United States.
But can you expect to receive an insurance discount for having a dashcam? Does having a dash cam lower insurance? Will your insurance company lower your premiums when you add a dashcam to your vehicle? Today, we’re explaining everything you need to know about the dashcam discount provided by insurance companies.
No Major Auto Insurance Companies in the United States Provide a Discount for Dashcams
Dashcams first started becoming popular in the late 2000s and early 2010s. However, to this date, most major insurance companies in the United States like GEICO, Allstate, Progressive, and State Farm have never provided a dash cam insurance discount.
You might argue that a dashcam saves the insurance company money. It reduces the risk of insurance fraud. It helps prevent break-ins. Despite these benefits, no major insurance company in the United States provides a discount for using a dashcam.
Dashcams Can Still Help You Save on Car Insurance in the Long Run
A dashcam might not give you a discount from your insurance company. However, getting a dashcam can still be a good idea. In fact, you can save money on car insurance with a dashcam even without a discount.
Many car accidents come down to one person’s word against another’s. The other person might have made a mistake while driving and caused a terrible accident. However, there’s no proof that they made that mistake, so you’re left with an at-fault claim on your record.
That’s why getting a dashcam can help you save money on insurance in the long run. With a dashcam, you can reduce your chances of being blamed for a collision that genuinely wasn’t your fault.
A single at-fault collision can raise insurance premiums by 50% to 80%. A dashcam may be able to prove the collision was caused by another driver. Instead of your insurance prices rising by 50% to 80%, they stay the same and you maintain your good driving record.
That’s why a dashcam can save you thousands of dollars on car insurance even without a discount from your insurance company.
Other Benefits of a Dashcam
Dashcams can be purchased for as little as $60. A good dashcam is an investment. You might not get an immediate discount on your car insurance, but there are other benefits for using a dashcam:
Peace of Mind: Your dashcam is activated every time you turn on your engine. It records your entire driver to a memory card. If anything good or bad happens to you while driving, you have the peace of mind of knowing that incident was recorded.
Front and Rear View Cameras: Front-facing dashcams are the most popular models. However, some drivers give themselves additional security with a rear-view dashcam. This can make it easier to process a fender bender claim or similar incident.
Reduce Theft and Vandalism: Some dashcams are set to record whenever the engine is turned on. Other dashcams, however, are motion-activated, which means they can record thieves breaking into your car or vandalizing it.
Avoid Costly Tickets: Dashcams can help you avoid tickets. Thousands of drivers in America are issued tickets in error every year. Sometimes, the police officer’s recording equipment is incorrect, and they catch you going 5mph over the speed limit when you were really going 0mph over the limit. A dashcam records your speed, and you may be able to use dashcam data to prove the officer’s measurement system is incorrect.
Review Driving Habits: Some drivers use dashcams to assess their own driving habits. Others use it to track the driving habits of a loved one or a teenage driver. Worried about where your teenager is driving or how fast they’re driving? A dashcam can answer these questions.
Final Word – Does Having a Dash Cam Lower Insurance?
Ultimately, dashcams make it easier to resolve traffic accidents and insurance claims. They’re a relatively new technology, which is one reason why insurance companies do not currently provide a dash cam insurance discount. However, as demonstrated above, a dashcam can still help you save a lot of money on car insurance while providing other helpful benefits.
