LexisNexis, which generates consumer risk profiles for the insurers, knew about every trip G.M. drivers had taken in their cars, including when they sped, braked too hard or accelerated rapidly.

Kenn Dahl says he has always been a careful driver. The owner of a software company near Seattle, he drives a leased Chevrolet Bolt. He’s never been responsible for an accident.

So Mr. Dahl, 65, was surprised in 2022 when the cost of his car insurance jumped by 21 percent. Quotes from other insurance companies were also high. One insurance agent told him his LexisNexis report was a factor.

LexisNexis is a New York-based global data broker with a “Risk Solutions” division that caters to the auto insurance industry and has traditionally kept tabs on car accidents and tickets. Upon Mr. Dahl’s request, LexisNexis sent him a 258-page “consumer disclosure report,” which it must provide per the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

What it contained stunned him: more than 130 pages detailing each time he or his wife had driven the Bolt over the previous six months. It included the dates of 640 trips, their start and end times, the distance driven and an accounting of any speeding, hard braking or sharp accelerations. The only thing it didn’t have is where they had driven the car.

On a Thursday morning in June for example, the car had been driven 7.33 miles in 18 minutes; there had been two rapid accelerations and two incidents of hard braking.

  • JIMMERZ@lemm.eeEnglish
    49·
    10 months ago

    My auto insurance rose 27% this year. My cars sit in a locked garage 20ft away from me practically all week long as I work from home. I was shocked to find my rates rose so high as I barely even drive at all anymore. Their solution was for me to get their data collection puck. What a fucking racket!

    • towerful@programming.dev
      151·
      10 months ago

      Apparently a part of that is that EVs are more expensive to insurance companies, so they are spreading that cost around.
      My insurance jumped by about 20% as well, after discounts from shopping around.
      It cant just be EVs, but when i was searching this was the main reported factor.

      Or, all the insurance companies just decided to massively bump rates

      • beek@beehaw.org
        7·
        10 months ago

        My completely uninformed guess is:

        1. we all forgot how to drive like normal people during/after lockdowns and,
        2. cars continue to get bigger and heavier, so accidents are more likely to result in total loss
        • JIMMERZ@lemm.eeEnglish
          41·
          10 months ago

          The reasoning they gave me is exactly that. People driving like crazy post pandemic, and the fact that cars have become exponentially expensive.

        • Mycatiskai@lemmy.ca
          21·
          10 months ago

          Parts are plastic and cheaply made so more shit breaks when you get in an accident.

      • CancerMancer@sh.itjust.works
        6·
        10 months ago

        I bet you all the insurance companies are using a service that provides pricing via algorithms. In their opinion it’s not collusion, just math.

        • SanicHegehog@lemm.ee
          3·
          10 months ago

          pricing via algorithms

          This is essentially what all insurance is. Actuary tables, risk analysis, so forth. All math with the single purpose to ensure that over the whole risk pool, the House wins.

      • PriorityMotif@lemmy.world
        3·
        10 months ago

        Used Vehicles became more valuable over the past few years as new vehicle production was issued halted in early 2020 and supply chain issues plagued manufacturers for a few years after that. Used car prices are just now starting to come down. I hardly ever saw cars for sale by owner that didn’t have over 200k miles on them and weren’t models plagued with major issues. People were still asking $5k for absolute junk. My advice over the past few years has been to buy a new car as it’s a much better value over any used car at the moment.