Metromile Insurance Review 2024

Whether or not Metromile is right for you boils down to how often you drive. If you drive less than 10,000 miles per year — we’ll show Metromile’s mileage calculator below — there’s a good chance you can save big with Metromile.

And because Metromile prioritizes mileage over factors like your age and driving record, it could be a good option if you’re a teen or have a less-than-perfect driving record.

Metromile Is Best for Those Who:

• Don’t drive very often — fewer than 10,000 miles per year is a good starting point to consider a quote
• Are high-risk drivers, which includes drivers with an at-fault accident, drivers with bad credit, young drivers, and other high-risk driver profiles
• Prefer to manage their insurance online and through an app
• Have a pet, as most Metromile policies offer up to $1,000 if your cat or dog is injured in an accident
• Work from home or have retired

Metromile Is Not Best for Those Who:

• Own an electric vehicle or certain vehicles made before 1996, which don’t qualify
• Drive many miles per year (more than 10,000)
• Lyft and Uber drivers, as Metromile doesn’t offer rideshare coverage
• Live outside of:
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Illinois
  • New Jersey
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Virginia
  • Washington

Like many Americans during the pandemic, I wasn’t driving very much in 2020. I knew pay-per-mile plans existed with big providers, like Allstate’s Milewise program, but I had never heard of an exclusive pay-per-mile provider.

On average, U.S. drivers pay $782 per month for full coverage with Metromile, which is the cheapest rate of any provider in the U.S. Metromile calculates your premium in two parts:

1. A flat rate, based on your driver profile (location, vehicle, marital status, driving record, etc.); safe, low-risk drivers will get a lower flat rate
2. A per-mile rate, usually a few cents per mile

Here’s an example of how Metromile might calculate its rates for safe drivers with various vehicle mileages (based on an example provided by Metromile).

Driving less isn’t the only way to save with Metromile. Metromile offers three auto insurance discounts that can lower your premium significantly. Below I’ll break down each one.

How Metromile Discounts Work

Although three discounts may not sound like a lot, especially compared to other providers offering more than a dozen saving opportunities, Metromile’s discount strategy is true to the company’s name: Most of your savings will come from driving fewer miles.

It’s also important to note that some savings, like having a clean driving history, are already calculated into your base rate. What would be a discount with another car insurance provider is already integrated into your quote. So, rather than earning an accident-free or moving violation-free discount, your base pay rate will simply be lower.

How You Can Save With Metromile’s Three Discounts

That said, it’s worth looking into the three discounts that Metromile offers: the Metromile Ride Along discount, multi-car discount, and Lemonade discount.

Metromile Ride Along Safety Driver Discount

Ride Along, integrated with the Metromile app, is a safety tracking feature that offers up to 40 percent off your car insurance premium for exhibiting safe driving habits. The nice thing about the Ride Along discount is that Metromile automatically applies it in your initial trial period.

When you sign up for Metromile, there is a free trial period with no commitment. It’s a 17-day trial that requires you to plug in Metromile’s telematics pulse device, pictured below. The device will fit under your dashboard (in some cases, it will go into your center console) and has to be plugged in 24/7.

Images from Metromile

Not only will Metromile track your mileage to calculate your premium, but it will also track your driving habits for greater savings. If you exhibit the right driving habits — gradual acceleration, conservative cornering, smooth braking, limited phone usage, etc. — you can earn up to 40 percent off your premium.

While you can call Metromile’s customer service number to get a quote, you can also sign up through the website. Depending on your state, you’ll be paired with a Lemonade agent, local third-party agent, or Metromile customer service representative. If I were to sign up for a policy in California, I’d be referred to a list of agent partners that I could choose from.

Wherever you are, the process is streamlined, so the Metromile website or a customer representative will direct you to exactly where you need to be.

If I were signing up for Metromile, I would definitely opt in to the 17-day trial before buying a policy. With the trial, I can see how much my rates would be before committing to a policy, providing me with all the information I’d need to make an informed decision.

Despite having an unconventional premium model, Metromile offers all the standard coverages, including liability, comprehensive, collision, uninsured motorist, and medical payments/PIP.

While all you need is your state’s minimum requirements, I always try to get at least $100,000 in bodily injury liability per person, $250,000 in bodily injury liability per accident, and $100,000 in property damage. Minimum liability simply isn’t enough to cover the costs of damages in most serious accidents. If you do get into a serious accident and don’t have high enough limits to cover the costs, you may have to pay out of pocket or face a lawsuit.

On top of full coverage, you can also sign up for two additional coverage options: roadside assistance and rental reimbursement. While I don’t have either of these add-ons with my current State Farm policy — and luckily, I haven’t ever needed them — it can provide you with some good peace of mind to add them to your policy.

Here’s how they work:

Metromile has mixed reviews when it comes to customer satisfaction. Because of its size and scope, it isn’t reviewed on several websites, like J.D. Power, which we leverage for reliable customer satisfaction data. However, there are a couple of other third-party customer service reviews available.

• Better Business Bureau (BBB): The BBB has collected customer review ratings for Lemonade Insurance, which handles customer service requests for Metromile in some states. Lemonade has a rating of 2.1 stars (out of 5) on the BBB, which, believe it or not, is on the higher end for car insurance providers (both Allstate and State Farm have just a one-star average).²
• National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC): Between 2021 and 2023, Metromile customers complained at a rate about four times the industry average, according to the NAIC.³

You can file claims either through the Metromile app or by calling a customer service representative. In order to file a claim, you’d need the following items:

• Your policy number
• The other party’s name
• Date of the accident
• Location of the accident
• Vehicles involved
• Description of the accident

Some customers report a slow claims process and difficulty making contact with Metromile agents, representatives, and claims adjusters. I can’t speak to Metromile’s customer satisfaction personally, but claims fulfillment is the central service to auto insurance, so this is an important factor to consider..

In general, it’s a good idea to take photos of the damages to your vehicle and exchange information with the other driver. For more information on how to navigate an accident scene like a pro, check out our guide on what not to do after an accident.

Metromile has a robust set of online resources and a mobile app that can help you make changes to your policy, track your bills, and benefit from some cool features, like fuel check and GPS vehicle locator.

You can also file claims and request roadside assistance with the app.

The Metromile app has a 4.6-star rating (out of 5) on the Apple App Store and a 3.1-star rating on Google Play, so iPhone users may have a better experience.

Another cool feature is the street-sweeping notification. If you’re parked in a street-sweeping zone, Metromile will send you a notification 12 hours before the street cleaning is scheduled, giving you time to move your car. You can set the notifications to your mobile app, text messages, and/or email. This feature is available in some cities and neighborhoods, including Los Angeles. And as a Los Angeles native, this would definitely be a feature I’d look forward to benefiting from.

Metromile’s street-sweeping notifications are available in the following locations:

• Chicago
• Los Angeles
  • Santa Monica
  • Hollywood
  • Downtown
• San Diego
• San Francisco

We assess companies on the following:

1. Pricing and coverage: We look at discounts, affordability concerning coverage, cost by age and demographic, and other cost-related metrics to assess pricing and coverage.
2. Customer experience: As auto insurance customers, we understand firsthand how important a seamless customer experience is. We use our own insights as well as publicly available testimonials to evaluate providers’ customer care qualities.
3. Claims handling: Claim fulfillment is a fundamental auto insurance service. Our analysis includes analyzing third-party data, our personal experiences, and customer feedback to analyze the claims processes of different insurance companies.
4. Industry ratings and reviews: We analyze data from the most reliable third-party rating agencies to assess providers based on their financial strength, customer service scores, claims fulfillment ratings, and more.
5. Digital tools and technology: Insurance providers are integrating new features, apps, and online tools every year. We assess those features firsthand and look at customer reviews to get a better sense of the user experience and the quality of new innovations.