Ajusto- A Usage Based Car Insurance Program

 

 

****I was not compensated in anyways from any of the enterprises mentioned below to write this post. Opinions are all my own*****

 

Have you heard of Ajusto?         

 

 This is a revolutionary technology that is slowly transforming the traditional ways of usually how a Car Insurance works. This campaign was launched in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec in the Month of May this year and already piquing the interests of Insurance Watch Dogs.

 

 Ajusto, a usage based insurance program is actually a device which you plug in to your car, that is provided from your Insurance Company free of cost. Currently, there is only one Insurance Company that offer this device in Ontario and that is Desjardins Insurance.

 

 This is how it works- When you sign up for Car insurance with Desjardins, you could also sign up for this device. In a few days of signing up, the instrument is delivered to you in the mail. Once the package arrives, open it, read the instructions and install the device- you are on your way to start saving! Simple, right?

 

Take a look at this video 

 

 The idea and purpose behind it also sounds simple enough to me- Once you plug in the device and start driving your car as normal, the distance you are driving will be recorded in the personal dashboard (display) in your car. The Insurance Company uses this data to calculate the distance you drive and adjust your premium accordingly. If you do not drive too much, your premium is tailored as such and you end up paying less. And it is important to keep in mind that this device will only be used to calculate savings. It won’t result in any sort of penalty, Desjardins assures its clients through their website. They go on further saying that savings with Ajusto is in addition to any other savings or discounts client will receive under normal circumstances.

 

 Desjardins also offers a similar program called Intelauto for the Personal Insurance Company clients, another leading Insurance Provider in Canada. Ajusto and Intelauto are currently the only usage-based Insurance programs that are approved by Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) after passing their rigorous review and analysis process.

 

 Even though, this technology is still new at the moment, I am sure it will be only a matter of time before other Insurance Companies borrow the idea and put it to good use. The founders of Ajusto have high hopes for this device. They say that customizing premium to one’s driving habits in addition to traditional factors such as age, gender, vehicle type and geographical location, gives the customer more power over their savings. They believe that Ajusto takes the good drivers one step closer to affordable car insurance rates in the province of Ontario.

 

 Usage based insurance programs are quite common in US, UK and Europe but that is not the case with Canada. Ajusto and Intelauto are the very first ones of its kind in our country and hence a novelty to the Insurance Industry (including me, that is). We also take pride in the fact that these two technologies are entirely Canadian made and runs well with high speed mobile networks of Bell Company.

 

 With all said and done, I fervently hope that Ajusto keeps its promise and recognize the good drivers from the lot and reward them with great rates that they deserve. It’s too early to analyze the results as its  been only a few months since this program launched and people are still learning of its existence and what it can do. If this is new information to my Canadian readers and you guys want to know more about it, please swing by Desjardins  website– that would be probably a good place to start.