# State Farm wants to know how many miles we drive. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 19, 2014, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-farm-wants-to-know-how-many-miles-we-drive/701842 "2014-10-19T20:16:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-farm-wants-to-know-how-many-miles-we-drive/701842/61 "2017-01-11T04:04:29Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Or was this just posted to the wrong thread? Yup. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2017, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-farm-wants-to-know-how-many-miles-we-drive/701842/62 "2017-01-11T06:06:37Z")
I can’t remember any insurer that didn’t aski me to estimate the number of miles driven annually. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-farm-wants-to-know-how-many-miles-we-drive/701842/63 "2017-01-19T21:34:47Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Don’t you write down your mileage when to fill up? Most people don’t fill up based on mileage, they fill up when the little needle gets to the E on the fuel gauge (or half way there if you’re paranoid like my dad). ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-farm-wants-to-know-how-many-miles-we-drive/701842/64 "2017-01-19T22:23:20Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > OP: I’ve had the same insurance company for 30 years now. USAA. They ask every year for mileage for each vehicle. And have for 30 years. > > Nothing exciting here. I imagine your carrier asked once when you first signed up and are now getting around to updating the info in case it’s changed. And yes, your rates may slightly change if your estimated mileage is way big or way small versus the norm. Just like living in a good or bad zip code or good or bad state. Same - and there seems to be more of a focus on high mileage. I have a car that does less the 5k a year - they don’t care if if is lower I think. The other two are 15k per year cars. ---
**Author:** ![jfreakofkorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jfreakofkorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jfreakofkorn)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-farm-wants-to-know-how-many-miles-we-drive/701842/65 "2017-01-20T01:17:50Z")
i drive less than 7k a year, which is return is a discount on my automotive insurance policy ---
**Author:** ![Toledo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/34f0e0/32.png) [@Toledo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toledo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-farm-wants-to-know-how-many-miles-we-drive/701842/66 "2017-01-21T04:57:01Z")
Interesting, I was with Farmer’s for almost 20 years. While I was working, my commute was 2 miles each way. After a dozen years or so they changed this to 6 miles. I didn’t move, and the office was still in the same place. (I checked the next morning.) I called the agent, he gave me a song-and-dance about the company cracking down on this scam. I read him the riot act and said “change it back or I leave”. He changed it back. Apparently that was a pain (for him, T.S.) What I think happened was that some little computer nerd wrote a program that compared my address (which they know) and the listed address of my employer. The error is that that employer has over the years had as many as 15 different locations around town, and the geek of course had no way to know which one I was at, assuming he even knew how many there were. He used the corporate headquarters, which is about 6 miles away. Wrongo. I’m not with Farmer’s anymore, my current company has a spot on the annual premium bill for me to put in the mileage (on each car, I have two). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/state-farm-wants-to-know-how-many-miles-we-drive/701842.md?page=3)