Progressive Snapshot Device: Is it worth it?

Background

I switched from my parent’s Progressive insurance plan to my own insurance after I purchased a new car, a 2020 Nissan Versa. My insurance came to about $257 per month and sadly, that’s the CHEAPEST I could get it to. I contacted every car insurance company I could think of: Geico, State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide, Farmers, etc – you name it, I got a quote and they wanted $500+ per month- outrageous! I even got so desperate I was looking at quotes from insurance companies I have never heard of and I still couldn’t get a lower quote. $500 a month is more than my car payment!

Insurance rates depend on your driving experience, the city you drive in, and a multitude of other factors. I have never been in a car accident/ any incident and I live in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Going with Progressive was a no brainer and I decided to opt for the Progressive Snapshot device in hopes it would lower my rate.

Researching The Snapshot Device: My Concerns

The snapshot device takes into consideration: fast accelerations, hard breaking, amount of time driven, when you drive (they don’t want you to drive between 12AM and 4AM on the weekends). I don’t drive very much and I definitely don’t drive at night so this wasn’t a problem for me.

According to Progressive, drivers save an average of $145 per year with Snapshot (with the exception of Alaska, Hawaii, and New York).

Progressive Snapshot offers two options – you can opt for the mobile device that detects your driving or the plug in device. Considering I always break my phone or my phone may fall down on the ground while I’m driving, I didn’t want to take the chance of getting “dinged” when my phone’s reaction was not in relation to my driving. I also didn’t want to be dinged if I answered a phone call (my car has Bluetooth so there wouldn’t be a safety risk) or if I was using my phone as a GPS. I thought I would save myself the hassle and go with the plug in device.

Pictured: Progressive Snapshot Device

There were a few things I was concerned about from doing my research:

That the plug in device would ruin the insides of my car by destroying the car’s batteries and by damaging the car’s electrical system. Click here for more information.

My rate would barely go down and not make a difference and all this driving-with-extra-caution would be for nothing. Not to mention the invasion of privacy and paranoia of getting a bad rating/a “ding”.

I would be graded a “bad driver” and my rate would go up.

My Experience and Outcome

I was VERY nervous about Progressive’s snapshot because I heard horror stories on Youtube and Reddit about this device. The majority of the reviews I read said not to bother with the device and it was a waste of time.

The only issue I had was the Snapshot “digging” me when I had a “hard break”.

The only “work around” with the hard breaks was I tried my best to break as early as possible before I approached an intersection and I tried my best to not slam my breaks down but instead – reduce my speed, take my foot off the break for a second and continue to press on the break. Sadly, there are times a hard break is inevitable and there is no saving you from the “ding”.

This is the sucky part about the Snapshot device – it doesn’t matter if you have a yellow light, it doesn’t matter if a child jumps in front of your car – if you do a hard break – you will get dinged.

I experienced no issues with my car from the Snapshot. Be it the battery, the headlights – everything has run smoothy.

After six months with the Snapshot device, I was rated a grade “A” driver with an average of one hard break a week. My rate went down to $203.88 a month, compared to my $257 rate I had before Snapshot. I saved over $50 a month with Snapshot!

Yes, the Snapshot device is a pain but considering it’s more of a pain to pay more in insurance costs, it was well worth it.