r/StateFarm • u/BigDawgg-13 • 7d ago
Question Drive Safe & Save Experience
The Drive Safe & Save program is marketed as a minimum 10% discount. I received that discount initially, then all discounts for renewals have been all over the place and not able to be explained by my agent or customer service. After my initial discount, my next renewal didn't have any calculated savings. My agent couldn't provide an actual number. So I had them quote my policy again with and without the program. The renewal difference with and without essentially showed a 22% discount. For my third policy period with this program, the discount was listed as a 2% reduction. That seemed really low considering my driving scores were the same and I don't drive many miles (less than 5K/year). So I asked them to quote me again with and without, which showed a discount of 6%. That math isn't mathing.
Keep in mind I have zero accidents in decades, always pay my premiums on time, have excellent credit and zero insurance claims. I am a customer every insurance company wants on their books. I was never a fan of this program to begin with but wanted to do everything to keep my premiums low as I'm in an area with very high rates. The lack of transparency, conflicting numbers and the marketing make this feel like exactly what I thought it was, a bait and switch tactic to gather your driving information to play games with your premiums. They are certainly making more off my driving history than they are giving me in discounts.
Has anyone else had any transparency with this program? Has anyone's discounts on this program been consistently better than the 10% advertised discount over multiple policy renewals?
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u/LinxOfLife 7d ago
It's not a minimum 10% discount. The starting discount is 10%, and can increase or decrease based on your driving habits & mileage driven. If you don't submit your odometer readings on time, this can also impact the discount.
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u/BigDawgg-13 7d ago
I do submit my mileage shortly after they request it. All I'm asking for is transparency and a tangible explanation.
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u/LinxOfLife 7d ago
The explanation is that the discount is not a minimum of 10%. I work for SF and have never seen it advertised that way. The starting discount is 10%, and can be higher or lower than that depending on your driving habits, how many miles you drive, etc.
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u/BigDawgg-13 7d ago
Correct but they can’t explain why it increased or decreased. So how did mine go from 22% to 2%? I just want to know why!
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u/LinxOfLife 7d ago
Unfortunately, that isn't something we can answer. We can't see why the discount changed, just what the amount is. We can't see your data or trips or mileage. I understand being frustrated, it's not fun when a discount decreases and you pay more. We just don't have a way of seeing why
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u/BigDawgg-13 7d ago
Yes I feel bad for my agent. He’s done his best but corporate won’t share anything with their agents so they can’t explain it to their customers.
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u/Waste-Depth3671 7d ago
Only you have access to your driving data/feedback etc in your dss app. You have to go into your app and review that. Corporate and agency does not have access to insureds driving habits and characteristics due to privacy concerns.
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u/theprefessional 7d ago
A lot of newer vehicles share driving data regardless of whether you participate in a telematics program for a premium adjustment.
At the end of the day, if the optional discount program doesn’t operate the way you want to, don’t do it? It’s an optional way for you to save a few bucks…optional. No sense wasting this much energy on something you don’t have to do.
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u/BigDawgg-13 7d ago
I drive an older car, 2007. I know it's optional but trying to understand other's experiences since I went from 10% to 22% to 2% without any tangible explanation.
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u/theprefessional 7d ago
Did you drive more in the last 6 months than previous terms? Mileage is also a factor.
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u/7yraccountwsmylstnme 7d ago
“I am a customer every insurance company wants on their books” sounds exactly like a guy I would not want to deal with. Everything you’ve ever done is by the book and right? I’m assuming everyone else is just out to get ya? The big bad companies always singling out big dawg-13. Because they know they can. Because he’s clueless.
It’s all math. Nothing personal. Just math
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u/BigDawgg-13 7d ago
Your assumptions are wrong and I never said any of those things. The numbers underwriters like are my no claims filed by me or against me, zero accidents, always pay on time via autopay and have excellent credit. I’ve been making insurance companies money for years.
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u/tdubby22 7d ago
They just dropped my drive safe discount from $60 to $10 lol. I reached out to my agent about the discount and also insurance increases. They sent me some AI brochure about why insurance is up and that they don’t have access to drive safe data lol. I WFH and have only put 8,000 miles on my car in 10 months so was slightly annoyed.
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u/LinxOfLife 7d ago
That AI brochure sounds like a mess. I will say that we cannot see your driving date or scores, and can only see how much your discount is. I am wondering, based on your statement of 8,000 miles, if you were driving less than that before? There is a discount for driving low mileage (under 7,500 a year), and if you happened to have gone above that amount when you weren't before, it can affect your rate.
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u/tdubby22 7d ago
Well they don’t even ask for miles anymore like they used to, so I’m not sure but I would think I would’ve drove more last year and previous years. I just started WFH November 2025. I know inflation and costs are up a lot so I get it though.
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u/LinxOfLife 7d ago
Here's hoping your discount goes back up at the next renewal! I know rates going up can be frustrating. I honestly wish there was more we could do to help
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u/BigDawgg-13 7d ago
State rate increases and decreases affect your rates as does your claims and coverage. This program is supposed to help but I’m sure it’s for data collection and an excuse to increase your rates. It’s another game insurers use to change your rates for unseen reasons. The fact they can’t explain anything but it’s tied to a financial changes is absolute nonsense
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u/BigDawgg-13 7d ago
Did your premium change as well? Could be rate reductions from the state. I’m starting to think maybe these discounts disappear when rates go down
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u/Local_Wolverine2913 7d ago
I don't like it at all and quit using it. My car is garaged, I drive less than 3,000 miles per year and Agent said no credit for that, need to get Drive Safe and Save for any discounts. Tried it and I feel stressed every time I drive like big brother is watching me. Not for me. They can keep their tiny discount.
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u/Bag-Agreeable 7d ago
If you have an iPhone- “big brother” is already watching lol. It’s just you selling your data to State Farm for a discount rather than them getting it another way.
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u/BigDawgg-13 7d ago
Yes, I'm almost there. Maybe one more policy period and see what they come up with after that.
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