Pay-As-You-Drive Insurance: Modeling and Implications

Pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) insurance is an exciting innovation. We develop a dynamic model to study PAYD insurance from the policyholder’s utility maximization perspective. We demonstrate that PAYD insurance does benefit the policyholder by reducing premium paid and increasing the total utility derived from auto usage and wealth. PAYD insurance may also improve overall social welfare by incentivizing customers to drive less. We illustrate that PAYD insurance is more efficient than fuel tax in reducing mileage due to the concavity relation of premium and driving distance. Finally, we derive a cut-off value of mileage below which policyholders who drive with traditional insurance should switch to a PAYD policy. Our research proposes a reliable theoretical framework, and confirms that PAYD insurance benefits both individual customers and society as a whole.