GEICO DriveEasy Review: How Driving Safely Can Lower Your Premium

GEICO's DriveEasy program offers a simple solution to encourage safer driving and potentially lower rates. By using a smartphone app to track driving habits, DriveEasy evaluates factors like phone usage, braking intensity and cornering speed to calculate a driving score. Getting a higher driving score can earn you higher savings on your GEICO auto policy.

Keep reading our GEICO DriveEasy review to learn how to enroll in the program, where it’s available as well as pros and cons of the program.

Key Takeaways GEICO DriveEasy assigns you a driving score based on data collected about your driving speed, braking smoothness, mileage and other driving behaviors. If the score is favorable, you can earn a rate reduction on your GEICO auto policy, which is applied 45 days after the start of your policy and updates at each policy renewal. Participation in DriveEasy requires a compatible iPhone or Android phone. The program is currently available in 37 U.S. states.

What Is the GEICO DriveEasy Program?

The GEICO DriveEasy program incentivizes safer driving by rewarding drivers with potential savings on their insurance premiums. The program uses the GEICO Mobile app to measure your driving habits and then assigns you a safe driving score based on the data collected.^[1] The higher your score, the more you can potentially save on your insurance rates.

For businesses, there is GEICO DriveEasy Pro, a similar telematics program designed for small business owners to monitor and improve their fleet's driving habits, thereby potentially reducing their insurance premiums.^[2]

How Does GEICO DriveEasy Work?

To participate in DriveEasy, you need to download the GEICO Mobile app and your phone must be an iPhone running iOS 10 or higher or an Android phone running Android 6.0 or higher.^[1] This app will use your phone’s sensors to track your driving behaviors such as how hard you brake, your speed around corners and how often you use your phone while driving.

The score you generate can take between 24 to 48 hours to update on your app once you've finished a trip.^[3] Once the pertinent data is gathered, this score is applied to your rate 45 days after the start of your policy and updates at each policy renewal based on your most recent driving score.^[3]

Keep in mind that the mobile app can distinguish whether you are the driver or a passenger and logs your trips accordingly.^[3] Trips where you are a passenger or in a mode of transportation other than driving (like being on a bus or train) are not included in your driving score.

GEICO DriveEasy claims to only collect driving-related data from your phone's GPS, Bluetooth and other sensors and this data is encrypted and stored in secure data centers in the United States.^[3] The company does not capture or report speeding violations, nor does it access, read or record any messages, phone calls or contacts.

How Does the GEICO DriveEasy App Calculate Scores?

The GEICO DriveEasy program monitors various aspects of your driving behavior using the technology in your smartphone. Key areas of monitoring include:^[3]

• Distracted driving: This involves tracking how often you actively use your phone while driving, such as making handheld calls or interacting with apps. The app recognizes distracted driving when you are traveling over 6 mph.
• Hard braking and acceleration: DriveEasy evaluates how hard you brake and how quickly you accelerate while driving.
• Cornering: The app assesses how fast you go around corners.
• Smoothness: This aspect looks at the consistency of your cruising speeds and how long you maintain those speeds.

Additionally, DriveEasy considers several other factors related to your trips:

• Time of day: It monitors how often you travel late at night when driving visibility is reduced.
• Distance driven: The app tracks how far and long you drive per trip.
• Route regularity: It assesses the consistency of your routes.
• Weather conditions: DriveEasy gathers data on weather and road conditions during your trips from its partners.

What Are These Pros and Cons of GEICO DriveEasy?

Pros	Cons
Potential savings	Monitoring aspects
Encourages safe driving	Not available in every state
Comes with Accident Assist

DriveEasy Pros

• Potential savings: Drivers can earn discounts on their insurance by driving safely.
• Encourages safe driving: The program promotes awareness and improvement of driving habits by offering tips in the DriveEasy app.
• Comes with Accident Assist: DriveEasy offers a feature that detects hard braking and immediately sends a notification to check if you're okay, offering assistance like contacting emergency services or providing claims support if needed.^[1]

DriveEasy Cons

• Monitoring aspects: It monitors aspects like phone usage while driving, hard braking and time spent driving, which some may find intrusive.
• Not available in every state: DriveEasy is unavailable in 13 states.^[1]

Where Is GEICO DriveEasy Available?

Currently, GEICO is available in the below 37 states plus Washington, D.C.:^[1]

Alabama	Arizona
Arkansas	Colorado
Connecticut	Georgia
Florida	Illinois
Idaho	Iowa
Indiana	Louisiana
Kentucky	Massachusetts
Maryland	Minnesota
Michigan	Missouri
Mississippi	Nevada
Nebraska	New Mexico
New Jersey	North Carolina
New York	Oklahoma
Ohio	Pennsylvania
Oregon	Tennessee
South Carolina	Utah
Texas	Washington
Virginia	Wisconsin
West Virginia

It's important to note that availability is subject to change and may not be offered in all situations within these states. It's always best to check directly with GEICO for the most current availability and eligibility information in your area.

Can GEICO DriveEasy Lower My Rates?

The GEICO DriveEasy program can potentially lower your insurance rates based on your safe driving habits. By using the app to monitor various driving behaviors like braking, speed and phone usage, it calculates a driving score. Good driving, reflected in a higher score, could lead to savings on your insurance premiums.

However, an exact amount isn’t available. See how DriveEasy stacks up to other telematics programs:

Program	Discount
GEICO’s DriveEasy/DriveEasy Pro	N/A
Nationwide's SmartRide	Up to 40% with a 10% participation discount at enrollment[4]
Liberty Mutual's RightTrack	Up to 30% with a 10% signup discount[5]
Root Insurance	Up to 30%[6]
State Farm's Drive Safe & Save	Up to 30%[7]
USAA's SafePilot	Up to 30% with a 10% signup discount[8]
American Family's KnowYourDrive	Up to 20% with a 10% signup discount[9]
Allstate's Drivewise	N/A
Esurance's DriveSense	N/A
Farmers' Signal	N/A

Is GEICO DriveEasy Worth It?

If you’re already a safe driver or committed to driving more safely, then GEICO DriveEasy can be worth it because you’ll be rewarded with a rate reduction on your GEICO policy if your score is favorable. In addition, remote workers and other low-mileage drivers may benefit from signing up, as mileage is one of the metrics that affects your driving score.

That said, privacy concerns are always a concern in today’s technologically-advanced world. If you’re hesitant about surrendering data about your driving, especially if you commute daily, then you may want to pass on any type of telematics technology.

How Do I Sign Up for GEICO DriveEasy?

To sign up for GEICO's DriveEasy program, you'll need to follow these steps:

1. Download the GEICO Mobile app: You can download the app from either the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, depending on your device.
2. Verify your account: Once you've downloaded the app, open it and enter your mobile phone number. You'll need to accept the GEICO Mobile terms and conditions and then you'll receive a confirmation code via text message. Enter this code in the app.
3. Enable permissions: For DriveEasy to function correctly, you must enable certain permissions in the app. These include allowing the app to access your location and other necessary data to log your trips.
4. Invite other enrolled drivers: If you're the policy owner and have other drivers on your policy, you must invite them to participate in DriveEasy. They'll need to download the GEICO Mobile App and complete the DriveEasy setup as well.
5. Start logging trips and earning your driver score: After completing the setup, the app will automatically record your driving data when you drive and you can start earning your driver score.