I guess I can see a general “get yer damned nosiness off my lawn” attitude, and if this was a gummint demand or marketing survey unconnected to the service, I’d probably agree. But it’s a reasonable question, asked in a reasonable way for a reasonable purpose directly connected to the service being contracted between the OP and his insurance company. You can’t get seven-figure life insurance without a physical, either.
The part of that survey that took the longest was getting the damn thing folded right so the address showed through the window on the return envelope. Why they would use a window envelope for a return envelope is beyond me.
The survey didn’t bug me at all. I thought it a bit odd and intrusive. But, I didn’t lose a moments sleep. Like everybody else we filled it out and stuck it in the mailbox. State Farm can do with it what ever they want.
My only concern is what happens if we get around to the the cross country trip we’ve been dreaming of for years. We could easily rack up three thousand miles. How are we supposed to explain that to the good folks at State Farm? <shrug> If the opportunity presents itself we’ll take the trip. It’s a once in a lifetime thing. Taking all the back roads, stopping at small country cafes, meeting local people, and seeing this big country.
You don’t have to, unless it’s a trip you make with regularity. It’s assumed that most drivers will take a long(ish) trip now and then, over and above their average number of miles.
Really, they are just trying to assess whether you are a low-, normal- or high-mile per year driver, to very generally assess your risk category. It doesn’t break down by 2k mile increments.
Ok. I won’t give it another thought then. Who knows, maybe we’ll get a rate reduction since my commute is short. 
Only had one ticket in over 30 years of driving. My parents got State Farm (home and auto) in the 70’s and I use the same agent.
My Erie insurance agent asked me how many miles I drive a year, my answer was about 24 miles a day. Normally I am a very private person but I figured that was a standard question. My agent suggested I could save money by listing my old truck as my daily driver, and my car as a “pleasure vehicle”, 2000 miles or less per year or something like that.
What? It’s exactly their damn business. That’s what being an actuary is all about. The probability of being in an accident is almost certainly related to the number of miles per year you put on your car (along with a host of other factors).
USAA asked for a ballpark figure as well, and assures us they don’t expect exact tracking, just a reasonable approximation. Dunno about State Farm, but USAA doesn’t ask for mileage reports or anything.
No they don’t ask for mileage reports and this survey is a very rare occurrence and all they want is a ballpark figure.
After reading this thread I realized I hadn’t answered these types of questions from my company (GEICO) in a long while, and my driving habits have totally changed over the last year since I had kids. So, found my maintenance records with my oil change mileage from a year ago, called GEICO with almost my exact mileage and new driving habits, and my rate went down about $40 a month (two cars, including my wife who went from working to stay at home mom, and I started working 12 miles from my house).
Yea, that money on a charter membership here is still worth it
Though this is old, I’m starting to get information requests from State Farm. I get a phone call every year from USAA and frankly, I find them annoying and intrusive. They NEVER use to do that but I now question them on it and when I do, they don’t give me a strait answer. The big question they don’t want to answer is, whats the high and low number for higher rates or lower rates based on the levels of miles. :dubious:
This is the first time I’ve ever seen a newbie acknowledge he was cracking open a zombie. Nice work!
mmm
I’ve had State Farm all my life, my dad was one of their top agents in the 1950s. I’m friends with the succession of agents who have replaced my father at his agency. I remember asking about this when I retired.
State Farm had found that people who drive over X miles to work each day had a higher accident rate. This was strictly for work commuting miles and it was quite low, something like 5 miles each way. I assume under that figure earns you the lowest rate. Your total mileage is another factor.
Check your policy. Mine states right on it under “How Is Car Used”: “To work, school or pleasure, over 7500 miles per year”. So that is another point where the rates change, I guess.
Dennis
I got an ‘email’ this morning; the subject line was “hi Spidey”. The first part of the sender’s address was my neighbor but what was after the @ sign made it appear to be from some school district in Wisconsin. The body text said, “Salutations, Spidey” with a link below it.
I forwarded to the address that I have for her; congratulating her on her new position & asked if she was going to commute or if they’re moving. :rolleyes:
Do people really fall for these just because of a name that they know in the header?
My insurance company has never asked for average yearly mileage. All they wanted to know is how far from our home is my workplace.
While you were at it, did you tell them your car’s current odometer reading and an estimate of next years’ expected total mileage?
Or was this just posted to the wrong thread? Because nothing you’ve said seems to have anything to do with the topic (insurance companies asking about insured cars’ annual mileage).
My insurance company always asks, but at least they’re polite enough not to question my 3,000 miles/yr figure. It’s accurate, but I’m sure they roll their eyes.
I kept a notebook in every new (and “new”) car and recorded fillup mileage and basic services, usually for a year or two until I had a handle on long-term mileage and so forth. I don’t think it’s all that uncommon. Maybe in cars with mileage trackers and so forth it might be.
I’ve never had car insurance where I wasn’t asked for estimated driving mileage. It’s a reasonable question; it’s directly tied to your overall risk.
I allowed my insurance company to put a tracker on my car for six months. They tracked km driven (it was under a 1000 because it was during the winter), hard stops (1), hard starts (0), and distance driven between midnight and 6 AM. The result was a 14% rebate and presumably a continued discount. And of course it is their business. It is literally the business they are in, managing risk.
I’m moving and looking into insurance where we’re heading, and they have this as a question online, and I’m like…how the bleeding hells am I supposed to know? I don’t even know exactly where I’m gonna be living since I need to look at places and such still, I won’t have the slightest idea of what my average driving miles is until I’ve lived there for a while.
Not real sure what I’m going to tell them once I do have an address and go through the formal process of changing the insurance to my new place (or getting a new insurer, since I’m definitely shopping around to make sure I’m getting a good deal).