Pay As You Drive plans are one of the most popular innovations in auto insurance of 2009. As their name suggests, Pay As You Drive plans charge drivers on the basis of how many miles they drive. Drive less, save more. In tough economic times, the idea of reducing this one monthly bill almost all of us have to pay is very appealing. However, Pay As You Go has a downside.

First off, if you use Pay As You Go, you have to allow your use of your car to be monitored. Monitoring your mileage is not free, and you pay those costs, not the insurance company. Especially if you have a GPS device installed, the costs of monitoring can be greater than the savings in your premiums. Moreover, if you change companies, you will have to change monitoring devices, too. That means you should think twice before you change companies just to get what appears to be a lower rate.

Second, the companies providing odometer tracking may also charge you a monthly fee for transmitting the data. You don’t just pay for the device, you pay to use it. This, too, can eat away any cost savings from your driving fewer miles.

Additionally, insurance companies would have to develop an entirely new payment structure in order to offer Pay As You Drive insurance to their customers. The insurance companies could then easily pass any costs associated with this new payment structure directly onto drivers, again removing any financial benefit gained from Pay As You Drive insurance.

Concerns have also been raised about the data gathered by the odometer tracking devices. Supporters of Pay As You Drive insurance claim the devices will only monitor the mileage necessary to compute the Pay As You Drive insurance premiums, but that could easily change. The devices could be revamped to gather additional data on drivers, including whether they drive, when and how often. This data could be then be passed along to the insurance providers, who could possibly use this information to justify rate increases for Pay As You Drive insurance premiums.

Pay As You Drive fans say that driving fewer miles will result in fewer crashes. However, there isn’t a simple correlation between how many miles you drive and how many accidents you have. Low-mileage drivers do not necessarily drive more safely. It is every bit as easy for a driver covered by Pay As You Drive to have an accident as it is for a driver covered by a traditional policy.

The potential financial benefits from Pay As You Drive insurance make the program look very attractive on the surface. However,drivers who are considering Pay As You Drive car insurance should contact a qualified insurance provider and ask detailed questions. Gather as much information as possible in order to accurately decide if Pay As You Drive insurance is right for you.

Tom Martens is the content syndication coordinator for Carinsurancesa.co.za. South Arica?s leading car insurance portal.