Ajusto, Mobiliz and Automérite car insurance, how much will you save?

Ajusto, Mobiliz, Automérite… these insurance programs offer to record your driving data to offer discounts to good drivers. What does it mean to be “spied on” in your car?

Illustration: Luc Melanson

Ajusto, Mobiliz, Ma Conduite, Automérite… these insurance programs offer to record your driving data to offer discounts to good drivers. What does it mean to be “spied on” in your car?

While you are behind the wheel of your vehicle, a unit records the speed at which you are driving, takes note of your braking and acceleration, in addition to the number of kilometers you travel and the times you travel!

More and more Quebecers are allowing themselves to be “spied on” by their insurer as part of the Mobiliz programs at Industrielle Alliance, Ajusto at Desjardins, Ma Conduite at Intact and Automérite at Belairdirect. The better they drive, the more they save on their car insurance premium: up to 25% off.

Telematics insurance collects data on driver behavior using remote communication technologies and geolocation. A fundamental trend which could revolutionize the world of car insurance, but also the number of deaths on the roads.

Improving the road safety record

In Europe and the United States, insurers are already using telematics. In Great Britain, this practice would have made it possible to reduce the number of accidents by around 35%, according to Denis Côté, vice-president of marketing at Desjardins Assurances, where 40 to 50% of customers have already purchased the device. Ajusto, launched in May 2023

Quebec insurers hope for the same effect, particularly among drivers aged 16 to 24, who are often road victims. They also constitute the primary clientele targeted by Mobiliz – although people aged 25 and over can also join. “The ultimate goal is to save lives,” said Industrial Alliance when this program was launched in 2023. Less than a year later, 70% of subscribers had obtained a discount for their good behavior. Alexandre Royer, senior communications advisor at Intact, also believes that My Driving “will improve the road record”. But as all these programs are recent, it is early to say.

A reduction in the number of accidents means fewer claims to insurers, which benefits them! But what about for the consumer? Philippe Viel, communications manager at the Union des consommateurs, judges that these programs can be advantageous for young people, “a clientele considered to be more at risk and who pay high premiums”. With equal driving, people who live in the regions and who travel more than 15,000 km per year are however penalized compared to city dwellers who drive less, he emphasizes. Furthermore, there is also the issue of protecting personal information.

“We only have access to the data that interests us, i.e. mileage, driving hours, etc. », retorts Denis Côté, who recalls that a person can be “spied on” by a cell phone, capable of geolocating them.

The insurers specify that they do not know the journeys traveled. The data is sent to a provider, who then sends them a general compilation. Additionally, they say, the information cannot be used to cancel the policy or refuse its renewal. Insurers also do not share information with each other. Telematics in insurance, a file to follow, as more and more motorists are!

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