FAQs

At this time, we’re only able to offer insurance to individuals who are in permanent possession of a vehicle either through ownership (paid for or financed) or a leasing agreement.

In the quote application process, the first person entered in the form will be the “primary insured” and therefore the only one authorized to make changes to the account.

The soonest effective date you can choose is the following day. As soon as payment is processed, your coverage will go into effect. Don’t worry about not having the Pulse right away – your insurance coverage is not affected. There is a grace period (7 days in CA, 10 days in IL/NJ/OR/PA/VA/WA) before you have to connect the device.

No. Most insurance companies will automatically renew your policy unless you request otherwise. Once you have purchased a policy with Metromile, please contact your current insurer to notify them of your request for cancellation.

You can cancel at any time, and we have no fees for terminating a policy. If you are in CA/IL/NJ/OR/PA/WA please give us a call (888.244.1702) Monday through Friday, 6am-5pm Pacific Time. If you are in Virginia, please fill out our online contact form.

In order to sign up for our insurance, you’ll need to agree to electronic delivery. This means we’ll send your bills and correspondence by email, and your policy documents will be available on your online account. We do not currently have the option for paper billing.

At this time, due to underwriting guidelines, we are not able to cover any vehicle that is registered in a different state than it is insured. All vehicles covered under Metromile must be insured and registered in the same state.

We send you a device that plugs into your car’s on-board diagnostic (OBD-II) port. It securely transmits data through a cell modem to update your account with trip information. No smartphone or Bluetooth pairing is needed.

We’re unable to insure vehicles used for work, including food delivery (e.g., DoorDash, Postmates) or ride-sharing (e.g., Uber, Lyft). We also do not provide coverage for vehicles used for car-sharing (e.g., Turo).

Yes, we offer roadside assistance as an optional add-on. The coverage includes fixing a flat tire, lockout and/or towing (up to the distance outlined in your contract). Please note that this coverage only applies to vehicles listed on the policy.

Metromile Insurance Services LLC is the Managing General Agent for your insurance policy and provides all customer service needs as long as you’re a customer. We are transitioning new personal policies to be underwritten by Metromile Insurance. Some older policies are underwritten by insurers in the National General Insurance Group, and we are currently in the process of updating these policies.

If you reside in NJ and your vehicle’s model year is within the past 7 years, you are required to have your car inspected within 7 days after your policy effective date. If you bought a future effective policy, you can have the inspection done 10 days before or 7 days after the effective date. Carco is our designated inspection company, and once you sign up for insurance, you will receive an email with information regarding the vehicles that need inspection and a link to find the closest locations to you. If there are no facilities within 10 miles of your location, please call our customer service line for assistance. Make sure to bring your declarations page with you to the inspection. If the inspection is not completed in time, your insurance coverage can be suspended. In the event that this does happen, please contact our customer support team (www.metromile.com/contact) to resolve the situation. You can find inspection sites and learn more about the process by visiting: http://www.carcogroup.com/policyholder-resources/inspection-site-locator

At this time, we’re only able to offer personal automobile insurance. Please check back with us from time to time for updates on new products we may offer.

We offer four different levels of liability protection as well as choices for your comprehensive and collision deductibles. Please keep in mind that financing and leasing companies may have their own coverage requirements, so please verify before choosing your coverage limits.

If you choose to have comprehensive and collision on your policy, it will come with pet injury protection at no additional charge (not available in IL or VA). This coverage provides up to $1,000 in the event your dog or cat is hurt as a result of a covered claim.

Yes. You can add multiple vehicles while completing a quote online. Our multi-car discount will save you money on each vehicle’s base rate and per-mile rate. If you’re already a policyholder, please give us a call and we can update your policy.

Most policy coverages do transfer to the rental vehicle. Please consult your policy contract or feel free to contact us if you have any questions about your coverage. There is no need to plug the device into the rental vehicle and you won’t be charged for mileage while driving this vehicle.

You, your spouse or domestic partner, all residents of driving age (whether they have a license or not), all regular drivers of the vehicles described in the application, and all children who live away from home who drive these vehicles, even occasionally, should be included on the policy. If any individuals over the age of 15 will not need coverage, you can exclude them in CA, IL, NJ, OR, PA, or WA. We do not offer driver exclusions in VA. Some states have statutes and regulations that prohibit driver exclusions. Therefore, in those states, we are unable to exclude any drivers from the policy and must consider such drivers in rating the policy.

Excluding a driver means there may not be coverage under your policy if the excluded driver is involved in an accident. Before purchasing your policy, you will be required to electronically sign a named driver exclusion form. Please read this form carefully to understand how your coverage will be affected. Note that driver exclusions are not available in VA and are only available for physical damage coverage in NJ.

Please contact the insurance company who covered you at the time of the accident, and request a “Letter of Experience” confirming the status of the accident as “not-at-fault.” Fill out our online form to get in touch with the Metromile support team and save your quote so that we can update your information (your quote is saved once you reach the application page in the process).

Traffic violation data is obtained from the DMV. Please contact them directly for more information. They will need to correct your record within their system before your quote can be updated.

A minor conviction can include things like speeding, running a red light, and failure to yield. Major convictions are more serious and may involve injury; examples include driving without a valid license,, and DUI’s. If you are unsure of the outcome of your conviction, please contact the DMV.

Due to our underwriting guidelines, some individuals may not be eligible for coverage through Metromile.

Please give us a call Monday through Friday, 6am to 6pm Pacific Time if you have a current Alaska driver’s license.

In order to log the miles a customer drives, a small device must be plugged into the vehicle’s OBD-II port. That port did not become a standard requirement in vehicles until 1996. If your vehicle was made after 1996 and you are unable to find it in the drop-down list, it may not be compatible at this time.

Your rate will not go up or down based on the financial status of your vehicle.

No, Metromile does a “soft pull” credit inquiry (in states where credit is used in your rate), which only reviews your insurance score, without lowering it. Soft pulls are not noted on your credit report except for listing the requester’s name.

The base rate is determined by a daily rate multiplied by the amount of days in each month, so shorter months will cost slightly less.

Unlike other insurance companies who charge a fixed rate, our rate is broken down into two parts. The first is a low monthly base rate and the second is a per-mile rate. At the end of each monthly cycle, your bill will include the next month’s base rate in addition to the cost of the miles driven over the past month. The base rate is determined by a daily rate multiplied by the amount of days in each month, so shorter months will cost less. Your bill will almost always be different each month but your rates will not change within the 6-month period unless you request a change.

Just like other insurance companies, several factors are considered when creating your unique base and per-mile rate. These can include: driver age, credit history (state specific), type of vehicle, driver history, and length of prior insurance (state specific).

If you don’t drive any miles in a given month, you’ll only be charged the base rate for that month. Unfortunately, we are unable to pause or suspend insurance policies.

Your daily mileage charges are capped at 250 miles per day for each vehicle (150 miles per day in New Jersey). You will not be charged for the miles above those amounts in any calendar day.

You will never be penalized or have your rate increase purely because of an increase in annual miles. You are allowed to drive as much as you’d like, but just keep in mind that you will be charged for each mile that you drive up to 250/day (150/day in New Jersey).

You’re charged for your first month’s base rate when you purchase a policy, plus any required prepayment. At the end of the first month, you’ll be charged for the next month’s base rate as well as any miles driven during the previous month. That way, you’ll only receive one bill each month. We also set you up for automatic billing when you first sign up, so there’s no need to worry about missed payments. If you ever need to update your billing information, you can login to your online account.

No, miles are charged retroactively. The miles you drive each month can vary, and your bill is based on the quantity of miles. As such, it is not possible to enable advance payment for multiple months.

At this time, we do not have the ability to change billing dates. Please note that we do not charge any late fees. If payment is not received after two successive failures to process the card on file, an email is sent with a potential cancellation date for your policy unless payment is rendered.

Your bill is due, and your card will be charged, two days (four days in NJ) after your billing date each month. The billing date is the day your bill is sent to you, and is usually 1-2 days after the end of your billing cycle. Your cycle begins on your effective date and ends the day before that same numerical day each month. For example, if your effective date is July 5th, then your next bill will cover July 5th to August 4th. The next cycle will begin on August 5th. The billing date would be approximately August 6th, and payment will be due two days later, on August 8th. Due to the different amount of days in each month, your billing statement can include between 28 and 31 days of base rate.

If your payment failed after the first submission for processing, you may see a pending charge on your credit card statement. This will be removed within a few days based on your bank’s processing schedule. If there is no removal on your account after a week, please call us 888.244.1702.

We currently only accept credit or debit cards. New Jersey customers can pay by paper check and California customers can pay by paper check or cash. Please give us a call to set that up. Coverage won’t begin for a new policy until we successfully cash your check or process the cash.

No problem! You can update your payment information from your online account at any time.

Your billing statements can be accessed on your online dashboard. Click on the billing section to access past bills and update payment information.

Metromile gives you the option to set a monthly mileage budget for your own personal use. It has no effect on your bill and is purely a tool for you to keep an eye on how much you’re driving. If you choose to set the budget for a specific amount of miles, we’ll shoot you an email when you’re getting close to the limit. Note that you pay the same per-mile rate for every mile you drive, whether it’s above or below the budget you set, and you can change your limit at any time.

The easiest way for Metromile Insurance customers to file a claim is online — simply visit claims.metromile.com to get started. You can also call (888) 595-5485. You’ll need to have your policy number, date of accident, location of the accident, description of the accident, and party names and vehicles involved.

You can call or email your claims representative to check on the status of your claim. In the coming months, we will be introducing new features that will make this even easier.

As as a Metromile policy holder you must report all claims. If the damages are not the result of your negligence we might be able to help you recover your costs – including your deductible – from the insurance company providing coverage to the at-fault party or directly from the at-fault party if they are uninsured.

No, and as long as you aren’t leasing or financing your car, you don’t have to get your car fixed at all. Any payments made in those cases are made to you only. If the vehicle is leased or financed payments are made to both you and the finance company in order to protect their lien. You can also choose to delay the repair if you aren’t able to pay your deductible to the repair shop at the end of the repair process.

Every policyholder’s situation is unique, so depending on your circumstances, your premium may or may not be affected. It depends in part on the terms of your policy, how many claims you’ve filed in the past and insurance regulations in your state. If you are concerned, don’t hesitate to call us.

Your claim payment will always be reduced by whatever your deductible is. If there is some source for us to recover our payment and your deductible from, such as in the case where another party is at fault and is insured, we will seek reimbursement for our claim payments as well as your deductible. This process is called subrogation and often takes weeks and sometimes months to collect.

Your car insurance deductible is the amount of money you have to pay if something happens to your car before your insurance kicks in, after a covered event. For example, if your car needs $1,500 in repairs and your policy has a $500 deductible, then you are responsible for $500 and your insurance covers the remaining $1,000. If you never repair the vehicle, then you won’t have to pay anything.

If you purchase comprehensive coverage and the glass can be repaired, we will waive your deductible. Whether or not the glass can be repaired is based on the location and size of the damage. Typically, repairable damage is small and out of the driver’s line of sight. If the glass cannot be repaired, any glass replacement is subject to a deductible.

If you choose to have comprehensive and collision on your policy, then you can elect to also have rental reimbursement for a rental vehicle after an accident. You will receive up to $30 a day for up to 30 days while your car is being repaired.

We only provide the Metromile Pulse, our OBD-II device, to our per-mile insurance customers. If you are interested in per-mile insurance, please learn more here.

For insurance customers, the Pulse must be plugged in to your car at all times so mileage can be accurately measured and billed. Of course, when you get your car serviced, It’s OK to remove the Pulse so that the mechanic can access the port.

No. There is a grace period of 10 days in IL/NJ/OR/PA/VA/WA before you must connect the Pulse. You will not be charged for miles you drive before your effective date or before plugging in the Pulse (during the grace period). In CA, there is a 7 day grace period, and you will not be charged for any miles during this time.

In general, the device should have little to no effect on a healthy battery for many months even if the car is not driven.

No, the Pulse functions separately from your phone and securely transmits data through a cell modem. All you need to do is plug it in and check for a pulsing red/orange light.

You can disable the GPS function of the Pulse through the online dashboard. Note, however, that this will also disable certain awesome features including trip information and street sweeping notifications.

For per-mile insurance customers, the Pulse must be plugged into your car at all times so mileage can be accurately measured and billed. The device also enables other valuable features of the Metromile experience (ex. street sweeping alerts, trip history, diagnostic codes). Of course, when you get your car serviced, it’s ok to remove the Pulse so that the mechanic can access the port. Just be sure to plug the device back in.

When you are no longer a Metromile insurance customer, you will need to mail the Pulse device back (you will be provided with a pre-paid envelope). If you do not do this, you will incur a $100 fee.

We take the security of our products and services very seriously and actively work to ensure that our products are safe and provide benefits to our customers. You may have heard reports of MDI, who makes our OBD-II dongle, having a vulnerability. Metromile took action immediately and released updates to all devices in the field to resolve the discovered remote exploits and can confirm that the devices have successfully downloaded and applied a patch. If you have additional questions please visit our help center.

We take your privacy very seriously, including protecting your location information. Please review our privacy policy for more information.

The device plugs into the vehicles On-Board Diagnostic (OBD-II) port. This port is the same place your mechanic plugs in his or her diagnostic tool to determine the health of your vehicle. We’re able to collect any information your vehicle shares via the OBD-II port, and share relevant information with you. In addition, the device has a GPS unit that can track location-based data. Insurance customers have the option to turn off location-based data at any time, because we don’t require it to log the miles driven. The device also has an accelerometer that measures changes in velocity and a gyroscope that measures the angle of the device, providing information that helps us find ways to make your life easier on the road.

Yes, insurance customers can request a CSV download of their data via the online dashboard.

If you’re noticing missing trips or ones with missing segments, please unplug your device and then plug it back in. This will reboot the device and improve signal quality. The beginning of some trips may be missing due to the device searching for a satellite to lock on to at the beginning of a trip, but in general, a reboot of the device should improve signal quality overall.

No, you can access your data via the online dashboard by logging into your account at www.metromile.com/dashboard. (For insurance customers, all policy documents are available there as well.)

No, the app is not required to have the insurance. Your policy documents and trip information are available on your online account. The app is another great way to visualize your data and receive notifications and alerts.

Yes, our app is currently available for pay-per-mile insurance customers only. To learn more, please visit our claims page.