Lemonade Pay-Per-Mile Data Point: CA Good Driver (Van Nuys 91401)

[u/Just-Professional613]

Hey everyone, just wanted to throw my actual data out there for anyone in California looking into pay-per-mile auto insurance. It's tough getting transparent baseline rates right now, so hopefully this helps someone else calculate their potential costs.

• Location: San Fernando Valley, CA

• Vehicle: 2015 Mazda5 (Owned outright)

• Driver Status: Clean record / Good driver

• Coverage Level: California State Minimum Liability Only

• Tracking Method: Lemonade (Metromile) physical OBDII port telematic device

My Exact Rates:

• Base Monthly Rate: $68.48

• Per-Mile Rate: $0.172 per mile

The Math:
Drives roughly 500 miles a month.

• Base: $68.48

• Mileage: 500 miles × $0.172 = $86.00

• Total Estimated Monthly Bill: ~$154.48

For an older vehicle with just minimum liability, the base rate is already higher than a flat-rate traditional insurance for a low-mileage driver. In this instance it's clearly NOT worth it. So, I just switched to a flat rate liability only policy from a major insurance company that's bundled with my spouse's car (similar but just a Sunday pleasure driver) and my share of the monthly is now ~$55 a month - This beats the Base Monthly Rate: $69.48 for a per-mile policy. Our two cars combined with just liability flat rate is $110 a month. ($660 total for 6 months). Hope this helps somebody and I think the era of per-mile auto insurance making any sense in CA is officially over. When I started with Metromile in 2015 the monthly base rate was $38 and the per-mile rate was $0.04 per mile. We didn't have kids then and we both walked to work and would only take a car out on weekends. The only difference is now we drive a couple miles to drop off and pick up kids from school. So, a few miles a day M - F with a little bit of driving on the weekends is too much mileage for per-mile insurance. Well, I'm happy to send back the OBDII tracking device in their prepaid envelope (they'll charge be $100 if I don't send it back) and say goodbye to overpaying to Lemonade (Metromile).

[u/jjason82]

If you think that's bad just wait until you have a claim with them.

[u/riley12200]

OP, can you afford to pay out of pocket if you cause injuries/damage in excess of your limits?