Travelers IntelliDrive Review

Travelers IntelliDrive is a telematics program that gives people who demonstrate safe driving habits up to 30% off their car insurance premiums.

We give Travelers IntelliDrive an overall rating of 7.9 out of 10.0 points because of the program’s large potential discount, wide availability and highly rated mobile app.

Pros and Cons of Travelers IntelliDrive

Travelers IntelliDrive receives high ratings from customers in the App Store and Google Play, but negative reviews trend toward complaining about the app’s functionality.

Travelers IntelliDrive: App Store

Customers in the App Store rate the Travelers IntelliDrive app 4.6 out of 5.0 stars on average. Users mostly praise it for creating awareness and motivating them to pay more attention on the road. Some reviews say the app penalizes drivers for doing normal driving functions like braking and accelerating, regardless of the circumstances.

Travelers IntelliDrive: Google Play

Google Play customers give the IntelliDrive app an average of 4.1 out of 5.0 stars. Lower ratings tend to cite complaints about some of the same things:

• Confusing or nonexistent feedback
• Incorrect scoring
• Hit-or-miss tracking 
• Scoring for the time of day metric

Our review team reached out to Travelers for a comment on its negative reviews but didn’t receive a response.

Travelers IntelliDrive is a smartphone app that monitors your driving during a 90-day period, giving you the chance to earn car insurance discounts. After 90 days, it uses the information it collected to adjust your car insurance rate. Any discount you get for safe driving is reflected when your policy renews.

But you also risk getting a higher premium if you demonstrate bad driving habits. These include making or taking calls while holding your phone, as well as typing or tapping on it. If you’re not interacting with the applications running on your phone, you won’t be penalized. IntelliDrive doesn’t penalize people in Montana, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C., for bad driving.

Travelers IntelliDrive Availability

IntelliDrive is available in 42 states and Washington, D.C. The excluded states are:

• Alaska
• California
• Hawaii
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• New York
• Rhode Island
• West Virginia

How Does Travelers IntelliDrive Work?

As mentioned above, the smartphone app monitors your driving performance for 90 days and then adjusts your rates accordingly. For IntelliDrive to accurately record your driving habits, your mobile phone needs to be on and have Wi-Fi and location services enabled.

In Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas, IntelliDrive can be used with connected cars instead of phones. If you live in one of these states, contact a Travelers insurance agent for information about this version of the program and to find out which vehicles are eligible.

IntelliDrive Metrics

Below are the metrics the IntelliDrive app monitors to determine your auto insurance rate, along with how you can get the best scores:

• Time of day: Don’t drive late at night.
• Speed: Stay within the speed limit so you’ll have more time to react to potential issues on the road.
• Acceleration: Smooth acceleration is better for your IntelliDrive score.
• Braking: Avoid hard braking or following other cars too closely.
• Phone distraction: Stay focused by not touching your smartphone while driving.

To improve your habits, you can review a map of your route and check on your driving performance up to that point.

IntelliDrive App Features

In the IntelliDrive app, you can find your trip details, your driving performance and how many trips you’ve made without being on your phone. You can also see driving tips and articles on safe driving.

Though IntelliDrive tries to correctly determine whether you’re the driver or a passenger, it can be wrong. You have 10 days to correct it in the app.

The app can also detect collisions and send help if necessary.

How To Enroll in the Travelers IntelliDrive Program

Travelers customers can download the IntelliDrive app from the App Store, Google Play or a link the insurer sends by text message. Phones must have iOS 14 or newer or Android 10 or newer to run the app.

Make sure every driver on the insurance policy installs the app. If a driver doesn’t have it, Travelers may remove them from IntelliDrive, which affects your enrollment discount.

How To Opt Out of IntelliDrive

To opt out of IntelliDrive, call your insurance agent. You have 45 days to opt out of the program without it impacting your rate, though you’ll lose your enrollment discount. After 45 days, your insurance premium could be affected at your next renewal. Rules vary in some states.

IntelliDrivePlus

IntelliDrivePlus™ is a telematics program similar to IntelliDrive — both use a smartphone app to capture data such as the time of day you drive, as well as your speed, acceleration and braking. Here are a few key differences between the two programs:

New customers could save up to 10% for enrolling in Travelers IntelliDrive. If you’re a safe driver enrolled in this 90-day program, you could save up to 30% on your insurance premium at renewal. Savings may vary by state — see the table below for more details.

Source: Automoblog

Travelers IntelliDrive collects information about your driving to determine your discount (or whether you get one). That includes information about your:

• Location
• Time of day
• Speed
• Braking activity
• Acceleration
• Phone use

Travelers also collects data about your use of the IntelliDrive mobile app, including:

• Frequency of use
• Viewed screens
• Performance data

On its website, Travelers outlines how it may use your information.

If you’re a safe driver who doesn’t travel late at night or during rush hour, the Travelers IntelliDrive program could be worth it for you. It could also be a good fit if you want to develop safe driving habits. Coverage is available in 42 states and Washington, D.C.

Alternatives to Travelers IntelliDrive

Travelers IntelliDrive has several competitors on the market. After examining some of these programs, we recommend the usage-based insurance programs from Geico and Progressive.

To consider all potential savings, compare car insurance quotes from various companies before buying a policy.

Geico DriveEasy

Geico’s DriveEasy program uses the company’s mobile app to track factors such as phone handling, hard braking, cornering, acceleration and the time of day. Though Geico doesn’t disclose how much customers could save by using DriveEasy, the insurance provider is known for its affordable rates.

Keep reading: Geico DriveEasy

Progressive Snapshot

Progressive’s Snapshot^® gives drivers a chance to improve their rates by driving less and practicing safer habits. According to Progressive, policyholders who use the Snapshot app or plug-in device save an average of $156 when they renew their policies.

Keep reading: Progressive Snapshot

Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best car insurance companies. We collected data on dozens of auto insurance providers to grade the companies on a wide range of ranking factors. The end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the insurers that scored the most points topping the list.

Here are the factors our ratings take into account:

• Cost: Auto insurance rate estimates generated by Quadrant Information Services and discount opportunities were both taken into consideration.
• Coverage: Companies that offer a variety of choices for insurance coverage are more likely to meet consumer needs.
• Reputation and experience: Our research team considered market share, ratings from industry experts and years in business when giving this score.
• Availability: Auto insurance companies with greater state availability and few eligibility requirements scored highest in this category.
• Customer experience: This score is based on volume of complaints reported by the NAIC and customer satisfaction ratings reported by J.D. Power. We also considered the responsiveness, friendliness and helpfulness of each insurance company’s customer service team based on our own shopper analysis.

Our credentials:

• 800 hours researched
• 45 companies reviewed
• 8,500+ consumers surveyed

*Data accurate at time of publication.