DriveMyWay FAQs

To participate in DriveMyWay, you must install the MyAmFamDrive app on your smartphone. Most smartphones with an iOS (Apple) or Android operating system should work. If you can’t update the phone to the most current version of the operating system, it may not be compatible with the MyAmFamDrive app. Your phone must also have the right sensors. 

On average, the app uses only a small amount of data each month, so it doesn’t impact most data plans.

For the app to work properly and for you to receive the best rate possible based on your driving behaviors, it’s important to set your app permissions correctly.

After you enroll, make sure the MyAmFamDrive app is installed on your phone and that you are logged in to the app. Also, check that your phone is connected to the internet.

• Required app permissions:
  • iOS (Apple)
    • Location (including Precise Location if available) — Required to record trips
    • Motion & Fitness — Required to track trip stops and starts
    • Notifications — Recommended to keep you informed of updates and what to do if the app isn’t working correctly
  • Android
    • Location — Required to record trips
    • Physical Activity — Required for reliable trip detection
    • Notifications — Recommended to keep you informed of updates and what to do if the app isn’t working correctly

The app is an important part of the program — it’s how you earn your personalized rate! After enrolling in DriveMyWay, each participating driver has 28 days to download and install the MyAmFamDrive app on their smartphone. If you don’t download and log in to the MyAmFamDrive app within 28 days after enrolling, you will be unenrolled from DriveMyWay. Unenrolling will immediately remove any introductory and/or participation discounts from your policy and may also impact your personalized rate.

• You decided to stop participating in the program.
• The MyAmFamDrive app was not installed on your smartphone for more than 28 days.
• You were not logged in to the MyAmFamDrive app on your smartphone for more than 28 days.
• The MyAmFamDrive app was not able to accurately record and send trips because of an issue with your permission settings, and the issue was not fixed for more than 28 days. (Reminder: If you’re logged in to the app with the appropriate permissions enabled, you do not need to take trips to remain in the program.)

If you didn’t mean to opt out or if you’d like to re-enroll — great news! You can come back to DriveMyWay at any time. Simply contact your agent today to get back on the road to savings.

Yes! If you decide the DriveMyWay program isn’t for you, contact your American Family agent to unenroll.

If you unenroll all participating drivers before your 100-day trial period ends, the DriveMyWay score will not be used to calculate your auto insurance rate. Please note: Unenrolling will remove any introductory discounts from your policy.

If you unenroll drivers after the trial period ends, we’ll still use their driving behavior when calculating your auto insurance rate at your next renewal. Please note: Unenrolling all drivers will immediately remove any introductory and/or participatory program discounts from your policy.

If you didn’t mean to opt out, contact your American Family agent for help re-enrolling.

The most common reasons the app didn’t recognize your phone number are:

• You aren’t enrolled in the program. Contact your American Family agent to enroll in DriveMyWay before downloading and installing the app.
• Your phone number was entered incorrectly. Your agent can verify your number and help you make changes if needed.
• You aren’t an American Family customer. DriveMyWay is only available for American Family customers. If you’d like to receive an auto insurance quote, please call 1-800-MYAMFAM (1-800-692-6326), ext. 73606 or get a personalized quote online.

 

New phone, same number. If you upgrade your phone but keep your phone number, just make sure the MyAmFamDrive app is installed and you’re logged in to it on your new device. Don’t worry — all your driving data will be saved!

New phone number. If your phone number changes, please let your American Family agent know so your account can be updated. You won’t need to update any information in the app, but if you log in to the app later, you’ll need to use your new phone number.

If your trips aren’t recording in the MyAmFamDrive app, first check to make sure you have the proper permissions set for location, motion and Wi-Fi. You may also want to read Top Reasons Your Trips May Not Be Recorded.

Did the app record you as the driver when you were actually the passenger? No problem! You can change the vehicle or driver assignment for any trip made within the last five days without impacting your score. Just follow these steps:

1. Open the app and tap the Trips icon at the bottom of the screen. Then, tap the trip you’d like to change.
2. Next, tap the Driver, Passenger or Not a Car icon in the top right of the screen.
3. Then, choose the correct driver, passenger assignment or mode of transportation.

It may take the app a minute or two after your trip starts to detect driving activity and start collecting location data. In these situations, the app takes an educated guess about which path you took from your last known location. This path displays as a gray line on the trip route.

We’re here for you every step of the way! If you have any issues with the app or need technical help, contact the DriveMyWay Support Center:

• Phone: 1-800-MYAMFAM (1-800-692-6326), ext. 73606
• Email: DriveMyWay@amfam.com

As long as you have the MyAmFamDrive app installed on your smartphone and are logged in, you will remain in the program.

If you accidentally get logged out of the app, no problem! We’ll send you a friendly reminder to log back in. After all, we want to make sure you get the rate you’ve worked so hard to earn!

The app collects data needed to measure your driving behaviors during a trip, including:

• Driving distance
• Instances of hard braking
• Smartphone settings and status
• Time of day you’re driving
• Your interactions with the app’s screens and information
• Your speed
• Active phone use while the vehicle is moving; examples include minimizing screens, texting and making a handheld call

The MyAmFamDrive app does not collect information about which apps you use or the content of any messages or calls.

Like all apps that use your location, MyAmFamDrive uses a small amount of battery when you're not driving and slightly more when you're taking a trip. Most people won't notice a significant difference in battery use after installing the app, but if you have a particularly long commute or an older phone, you may want to charge your phone while driving.

To check the app’s battery usage:

• iPhone

○ Go to Settings > Battery > Scroll to find the app

• Android

○ Go to Settings > Apps > Scroll to find the app

Each manufacturer may modify its interface, so these steps might vary.

American Family Insurance takes your privacy seriously. It is our policy not to share your personal information outside American Family for any purpose other than the underwriting or administration of your policy or account, or for marketing additional American Family Insurance products, except when the disclosure has been authorized by the customer or is permitted or required by law. For additional information, refer to our General Privacy Notice.

The app collects and analyzes your driving data and then provides an overall driving score from 0 - 100. This score can affect what you pay for auto insurance. For each driving behavior below, the app provides a specific sub score.

• Phone use: measures when a person is actively using their phone while the vehicle is moving; examples include minimizing screens, texting and making a handheld call
• Hard braking: measures when the vehicle stops abruptly or slows down by 7 mph or more in one second
• Speeding: measures when a person is driving 10 mph or more above the posted speed limit

Certain variables, such as those listed below, are also used to score your driving behaviors. Research shows these factors can increase your risk of having an accident. By adjusting your driving behaviors based on the feedback you receive from the app, you can improve your safe driving habits — and increase your savings!

Key driving variables

• Hours driven: measures the amount of time the vehicle is driven
• Evening driving: measures the total driving time between 6 PM - midnight
• Late-night driving: measures the total driving time between midnight - 4 AM
• Average speed: measures your average speed over the course of your trip (including idle time)
• Number of short trips: measures the number of trips that are less than 5 minutes in duration (a higher number of short trips is typically better because it indicates you often travel to familiar areas)

 

Number score: The app shows your overall driving score from 0 - 100. This is the key measurement of your driving performance. It’s calculated using data from your trips over the past 12 months. For more information, visit the DriveMyWay Scoring page.

Star rating: Star ratings are generated for each individual trip and can be viewed on the Trips screen. These ratings provide an idea of how many unsafe driving events happened per trip. For example, you can lose stars for using your phone while driving, hard braking or speeding.

Sometimes you must hit the brakes hard to avoid an accident. We don’t want you worrying about your score in these situations! While you may lose stars for an individual trip (because the stars provide a measure of what happened on that trip), occasional hard braking won’t impact your score much. Several instances of hard braking over a longer period of time may indicate a pattern and could impact your score.

Phone use includes:

• Making a call while holding your phone
• A passenger using your phone (the app can’t tell who is using the phone)
• Picking up your phone when the screen is unlocked
• Touching the screen, including swiping and typing

Phone use does not include:

• Charging your phone or having an audio cable plugged in
• Listening to music or podcasts
• Using voice commands to send a text, make a call or use a navigation app
• Stopping your car, then taking a call while holding your phone
• Using your vehicle’s touchscreen

 

Over time, the app learns your driving behaviors and common routes, which helps it determine whether you were the driver or a passenger for a given trip.

To help your app get to know your driving behaviors, we recommend you review and update your trip classifications for your first 10 - 15 trips so it learns when you’re the driver, a passenger or using another form of transportation.

If the app determines you’re not in a car — maybe you’re riding a bike or riding on a city bus — that trip isn’t calculated in your score. Likewise, if you are marked as a passenger, that trip isn’t calculated.

Need to change a trip assignment? Read the answer for “What if a trip records incorrectly?” in the Troubleshooting section above.

 

The app cannot tell the difference between trips for pleasure and trips for work.

If you regularly drive a work vehicle and would prefer those trips not to be counted toward your score, we recommend logging out of the app when driving your work vehicle. Just remember to log back into the app when you switch to your personal vehicle!

If you forget to log out before driving your work vehicle, simply remove the trip within five days. Just follow these steps:

1. Open the app and tap the Trips icon at the bottom of the screen. Then, tap the trip you’d like to change.
2. Next, tap the Driver, Passenger or Not a Car icon in the top right of the screen.
3. Then, choose the correct driver, passenger assignment or mode of transportation.

If these options don’t work for you, the DriveMyWay program may not be the right fit. Please reach out to your American Family agent to learn about other savings opportunities that may better suit your needs.

The DriveMyWay program gives you more control over how much you pay for car insurance by providing a personalized rate based on your safe driving habits.*

• Enroll today and enjoy up to a 10% introductory discount on your car insurance.*
• Show off your safe driving skills and you could earn even greater personalized savings, applied at your next policy renewal.
• Most customers actively enrolled in the program will save between 5% and 20%!*

 

Please note that higher-risk drivers may see their rate increase. In addition, other factors — like inflation or changes in state regulations — may also affect your rate, causing it to go up or down. Your American Family agent can provide more information about your specific policy and rate.

 

The DriveMyWay program offers a 100-day trial period so you can test drive the program and the MyAmFamDrive app. On day 90, you’ll receive an email showing your current DriveMyWay score. At this point, you will have three program participation options to choose from:

• Like your score or want to improve your score? Keep the app for the opportunity to improve your personalized rate at your next renewal — plus enjoy a 5% ongoing participation savings at your next renewal for your continued enrollment in DriveMyWay.*

• Like your score and want to lock it in? After the 100-day trial period, let your agent know you’d like to lock in your program score and no longer participate in the program. You’ll still enjoy a personalized rate based on your DriveMyWay score but won’t receive the 5% participation savings. Please note: Unenrolling will remove any introductory discounts from your policy.

• Decide the program isn’t right for you? If you decided DriveMyWay isn’t for you, contact your agent to unenroll all drivers before the 100-day trial period ends. This will result in the DriveMyWay score not being used to calculate your auto insurance rate. Please note: Unenrolling will remove any introductory and/or participation discounts from your policy. In addition, if you unenroll drivers after the 100-day trial period ends, we’ll still use their driving behavior at the time of unenrollment when calculating your rate.

If you choose to continue participating in the DriveMyWay program or choose to lock in your score, your personalized rate will be applied at your next renewal. If you choose to unenroll from the DriveMyWay program after the 100-day trial period ends, your driving behavior at the time of unenrollment will be used to calculate the rate applied at your next renewal.

When you enroll in DriveMyWay, you can enjoy up to a 10% introductory discount on your car insurance.* This introductory discount remains on your policy until your next renewal, as long as you continue to participate in the program, have finished your 100-day trial period, and have at least 90 days and 10 hours of driving to calculate your personalized rate. If you don’t have enough driving days and/or hours, you will continue to receive the introductory discount until the following renewal. Please note: If you choose to unenroll drivers from the DriveMyWay program before your next renewal, this will remove any introductory discounts from your policy.

If you’d like the opportunity to improve your personalized rate at your next policy renewal, simply keep the app and continue practicing safe driving behaviors. The app even provides tips and feedback designed to help you drive even safer — and the safer you drive, the more your score could improve.

The program uses the last 12 months of driving to determine your rate, so it might take a little while to see an improvement in your score. As a bonus, you’ll receive a 5% participation discount for staying in the program once your personalized rate takes effect.*

For more information, visit the DriveMyWay Scoring page.

DriveMyWay rate adjustments apply to all eligible vehicles on your policy, regardless of which driver is assigned to which vehicle.