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Can a Telematics Program Raise Your Rate? Yes. Here Is Exactly When

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Most coverage of usage-based insurance is written as if the only two outcomes are a discount or no discount. That is not what the programs' own terms say. Several of them can move your premium up.

Here is what is actually documented, with the sources, so you can check it against your own program before you enroll or before you quit.

The mechanism, in one paragraph

Usage-based programs collect driving data through a plug-in device, a phone app, or your car's built-in telematics. At the end of each policy period, the insurer converts that data into a result. Depending on the program and your state, that result becomes a discount, no change, or an increase. The recalculation happens at renewal, not mid-term.

What the published program terms say

Snapshot. The program's own state-by-state details page states, for the current program period, that "These results correspond to a discount for safer driving habits or an increase for riskier habits," and that driving results are updated at the end of each policy period once enough driving data has been collected. Snapshot is Progressive's usage-based insurance program.

The same page describes a second, less obvious path to a higher bill. If you stop participating more than 45 days after signing up: "we'll remove any Participation Discount immediately. If we have collected enough driving information, we will use that to personalize your rate when your policy renews. If we have not collected enough driving information, we will apply a surcharge when your policy renews."

Read that again. Quitting the program early, after the 45-day window, is itself a surcharge trigger when insufficient data was collected.

How big can the increase be? There is a documented number, and it comes from a legislative record rather than a marketing page. In a January 18, 2023 exhibit submitted to the Montana House during a hearing on telematics, prepared by attorney Bruce M. Spencer, the FAQ response to "What is the maximum surcharge for bad driving with Snapshot" states: "Currently as it stands, there is no Snapshot surcharge in Montana. In other states where a surcharge is permitted and where those states utilize the same model version of Snapshot as Montana, the maximum surcharge is 40%. However, the majority of drivers receive discounts as opposed to surcharges. Furthermore, Progressive will notify any driver receiving a surcharge and that driver will have the option to switch carriers prior to renewal."

Treat that carefully. It is a 2023 statement, made to a state legislature by counsel, about the model version in use at that time. It is not a current, universal cap, and surcharge availability varies by state. It is, however, the clearest published ceiling we could verify from a primary document.

The same exhibit records several other useful facts from that period: the participation discount was 10%, the maximum renewal discount was 20%, approximately 35% of participants received a discount of at least 10%, telematics data could not be used to raise rates mid-term because the insurer must wait until renewal, the data was not used for non-renewal or cancellation, the data was not shared with other insurance companies, and the retention policy was policy expiration plus 10 years.

Drive Safe & Save. State Farm's program page states that the premium adjustment "is calculated at each policy renewal (typically every six months)" and that "it may increase or decrease at each renewal." It also warns that a driver receiving a reduction for low estimated annual mileage, under 7,500 miles a year for personal use, may see the premium increase at future renewals if the car is actually driven more than that.

Different program, same principle: the adjustment is bidirectional.

What gets measured

The Snapshot details page lists the current inputs:

Two of these have nothing to do with skill.

Late night weekend driving prices when you drive. A hospital shift, a bar job, or a warehouse shift starting at 3 a.m. produces the same measurement as recreational late-night driving.

Trip regularity prices predictability. Irregular schedules score worse than routine ones. Neither factor responds to careful driving.

The disclosure you agreed to

The Montana exhibit reproduces the enrollment acknowledgement text drivers accept when signing up online. It includes: "Most drivers save with Snapshot, but some see their rate go up," and "If I download and register the app, I have 45 days from the effective date of my policy to then opt out without a penalty."

The exhibit also reproduces the program page language: "While your rate could increase with high-risk driving, most drivers save with Snapshot." The company's own savings claim on that page is framed conditionally, as an average among drivers who save, not among all participants. That distinction matters and it is easy to miss.

So the increase is disclosed. It is disclosed in a checkbox, on a page most people scroll past, in a sentence that begins by reassuring you.

What drivers report afterward

Public forum threads about telematics surcharges are numerous and consistent in one respect: the surprise is rarely about the existence of the program and almost always about the renewal. Posters describe expecting a discount and receiving a higher bill, disagreeing with hard-braking counts, and struggling to isolate the telematics effect from the insurer's normal rate changes.

One recurring and genuinely useful point raised by people who work in the industry: because base rates change between terms anyway, a higher renewal does not by itself prove a telematics surcharge. To know, you have to see the specific line move from a discount to a surcharge on your declarations page.

These are anonymous, self-selected accounts. They tell you what the complaint pattern looks like. They do not tell you how often any outcome occurs, and we have not attached a percentage to them, because there is no honest way to do that from forum posts.

Where surcharges are not allowed

Rules vary by state, and some states do not permit a telematics surcharge at all. The Montana exhibit is itself an example: as of that 2023 filing, there was no Snapshot surcharge in Montana while a 40% maximum applied in other states using the same model version.

California is a different case again. Under Proposition 103, the state specifies mandatory rating factors in order of importance, and the legislative counsel's digest for California AB 1833 (2025-2026) states that "The regulations do not permit using driving behavior or other telematics data as a rating factor." That is why several national telematics programs simply do not operate there. More on that in our telematics programs comparison, which has a California section.

Your program's own state details page is the place to check your state, and it is worth reading before enrolling rather than after.

Five questions to ask before you enroll

  1. Does a surcharge exist in my state for this program, and what is the maximum?
  2. Is the participation discount available if I add the program to an existing policy, or only at new business? On Snapshot, the details page states the participation discount does not apply when the program is added to an existing policy.
  3. What is my opt-out window, and what happens if I quit after it? Quitting late can trigger a surcharge when insufficient data was collected.
  4. Do all drivers on the policy have to enroll? App-based monitoring on Snapshot requires enrollment by all drivers on the policy.
  5. Does my policy currently carry a low-mileage assumption that measurement would overturn?

The short version

Telematics is not a free lottery ticket. It is a repricing agreement. For low-mileage, smooth, daytime drivers it usually prices better than the average-based alternative. For night-shift workers, long commuters, irregular schedules, and anyone whose policy is priced on an optimistic mileage estimate, the same agreement can run the other way.

Read the state details page for your specific program and state before you plug anything in.

Related: Is Drive Safe & Save Worth It, Telematics Programs Compared, Why Your Car Insurance Went Up in 2026.

Sources

FinanceRazor is not affiliated with any insurer named on this page. Program terms, surcharge availability, and maximum discount and surcharge amounts are set by the insurer, vary by state, and change over time. The 40% maximum surcharge figure comes from a January 2023 filing to the Montana Legislature and describes the model version in use at that time. Verify current terms on the program's own state details page before enrolling.