How can you curb distracted driving habits and save money while doing it? Farmers Insurance offers a program called Signal that helps you do both.

Signal by Farmers tracks your driving habits, gives you insight into your driving behaviors — including distracted driving — and offers you a discount of up to 15% off your Farmers car insurance. Plus, you get a 5% discount just for using the Signal app.

Farmers won’t raise your rates if you don’t score well, and you can improve your discount at renewal. In addition, drivers who score at least 80% are enrolled in drawings to win $100 rewards each month.

The Farmers Signal app doesn’t cost you anything, and you might wind up saving 15% on your car insurance and becoming a better driver.

Keep reading to learn more about the Farmers Signal app, how the program works, and how to get the most savings. If you're in need of affordable car insurance, feel free to enter your ZIP code into our free quote tool above.

What is the Farmers Signal app?

Telematics programs are on the rise among insurance companies. Instead of relying on accidents and sometimes outdated records, insurance companies want to know how you drive now. In addition, it tells them more about the risk you pose as an insured driver.

However, by using a telematics program, you might enjoy lower auto insurance rates for safe drivers or those willing to respond to the information given, even if your driving record is less than perfect.

Signal by Farmers Insurance Group is a mobile app that tracks your driving habits and offers you a discount on your car insurance. You control how much money you save by how safely you drive.

To enroll in the program, you need to talk to a Farmers customer service representative. Then, you'll receive a link to download the app, available in the Apple App and Google Play Stores. All drivers on your Farmers car insurance policy can enroll in the program.

You'll receive a 5% discount on your car insurance using the Farmers Signal app when you sign up. However, you need to complete 10 qualifying trips with the app to get this discount. Then you get an additional discount based on your driving after the evaluation period.

Keep in mind only one participation discount is applied to the policy, regardless of how many people you have on it. With Signal, you'll be able to get up to $100 in rewards each month just for keeping your score at 80% or higher.

Signal also comes with optional CrashAssist. CrashAssist detects an accident and sends a notification asking if you’ve been in an accident. Then, it can contact emergency services, request a tow, send your location to contacts, and even help you file a claim.

How does Signal by Farmers Insurance work?

Once you start using Signal by Farmers, the app monitors your driving and awards you a score based on your driving. The score updates after every trip you take.

Your Signal discount will be reflected when you renew your Farmers car insurance policy. The discount depends on the driving scores of everyone on your policy that participates in the program. The more people who use the app on your auto insurance policy, the better the chance you will receive a higher Signal discount.

In addition to offering you a discount, the Farmers Signal app provides valuable insight that you can use to become a safer driver. You can also view your overall driving score and compare it to the scores of other family members to encourage safe driving amongst your family.

The Farmers Signal app gives you a personalized map of your trips. The map shows you where you drove, how many miles you went, how long the drive took you, and any risky driving events you had throughout the trip.

The risky driving behaviors tracked by the Farmers Signal app are excessive speeding, hard braking, and distracted driving. Your trip map shows you if and when these events happened on your drive.

Signal is a good fit for drivers who don’t speed or use their phones while driving. It’s also a good choice for drivers who want to improve their safe driving habits since the app gives immediate feedback, and rates don’t go up while you’re improving.

Signal by Farmers is not available in every state. Talk to a Farmers customer service representative to find out if Signal is available in your area.

What driving behaviors does Signal by Farmers monitor?

To offer you a car insurance discount and insight into your driving habits, Signal by Farmers tracks certain driving behaviors. You and anyone else enrolled in the program receive a driver score based on your driving patterns.

The following behaviors are tracked and may affect the amount of your Signal discount.

Distracted Driving

The Farmers Signal app tracks distracted driving behaviors. For example, it can detect phone use while you're driving. Distracted driving is risky behavior, negatively affecting your Signal driving score and discount amount.

Small things you might not notice, like drifting around your lane, could also indicate distracted driving and a greater risk to your auto insurance provider.

Braking Hard

If you have to brake very suddenly, you're more likely to get into an accident. The braking itself could lead to someone rear-ending you. But if you hard brake regularly, you're more likely to engage in other dangerous driving behaviors creating the need to brake faster.

It suggests that you're also not anticipating driving events and need to stop abruptly. Signal by Farmers can detect hard braking while driving, and it counts negatively towards your Signal discount.

Speeding

Speeding is risky driving behavior. Signal monitors your speed and tracks excessive speeding and acceleration incidents. This could include going over the posted speed limit or exceeding about 80 mph in most areas.

Miles Driven

Signal tracks the number of miles you drive. People who drive less are less likely to get into a car accident. But, of course, some people drive long distances and never get in an accident or drive short distances and get into multiple accidents.

Time of Day

Certain times of day are considered more dangerous to travel than others. Typically, it's more dangerous to drive late at night than to travel during the day.

Visibility and the driver's alertness are factors an objective third-party resource might consider. Signal monitors the time of day you drive.

Is Signal by Farmers Insurance worth it?

When you’re looking for ways to get cheaper insurance, don’t overlook telematics programs like Signal.

Drivers have the potential to earn a significant discount on their Farmers car insurance by using Signal and practicing safe driving habits. It also helps encourage you and your family to be safer drivers.

The mobile app allows you to pay bills and manage payment options, view your proof of insurance and policy documents, report an insurance claim, and request roadside assistance. In addition, you can contact a customer service representative and get quotes on a wide variety of insurance coverage options.

If you have a youthful driver in your household aged 15-24, that driver can enroll in the Signal Program. Once that driver is active and at least one driver has met the qualification requirements, you will qualify for the additional youthful driver component of the Signal discount.

Keep in mind that when you use Signal, you allow Farmers to collect information from you. So be sure you know how they could use your data. If anything, this should motivate you to be one of Signal's top drivers.

Even if you try it and don’t get a big discount, your rates won’t increase. So, give Farmers Signal a try to see how much you can save. If you're in the market for affordable auto insurance, feel free to enter your ZIP code into our free quote tool below.