There’s a certain injustice that comes with traditional car insurance. You pay a hefty premium every month, even if your car spends most of its life parked neatly in the driveway. Maybe you work from home, or your commute is only a few kilometers. Perhaps you’re that friend who is always catching lifts rather than driving. Yet the insurance company charges you as though you’re clocking 25,000 kilometers a year. That frustration—paying the same as a long-distance driver when you barely use your car—is exactly what Auto & General’s Pay-As-You-Drive Insurance tries to address.
Now, on paper, the concept sounds almost too obvious: if you drive less, you should pay less. But insurance is never quite that simple. The model itself has benefits, limitations, and even a few trade-offs that many drivers don’t consider until they’re knee-deep in policy documents. So let’s unpack what this “pay as you go” insurance really looks like for South African drivers who don’t rack up much mileage.
The Premise: Why Low-Mileage Drivers Get a Raw Deal
Insurance pricing traditionally bundles everyone into broad categories—age, location, car type, claims history. Mileage does play a role, but it’s usually an estimate you give upfront and rarely something that gets verified continuously. The result? Someone driving 5,000 km a year and someone driving 25,000 km may not see as much difference in their premiums as you’d expect.
I’ve been on both sides of this. Years ago, when I was commuting 40 minutes each way to work, I grudgingly accepted that my risk of accidents was higher and my premiums reflected that. But fast-forward to working remotely, my car sat gathering dust for most of the week. Yet my insurer didn’t seem to care. I was still being charged as though I was dodging potholes on the N1 every morning. That’s the pain point Auto & General is trying to solve with Pay-As-You-Drive.
How Auto & General’s Pay-As-You-Drive Works
The structure is fairly straightforward, though the marketing makes it sound more mysterious than it is. You estimate your annual mileage upfront—say, 5,000 km, 10,000 km, or up to 20,000 km. The lower your mileage band, the lower your premium.
If you only drive to the shops on weekends and maybe take the occasional family road trip, you could land in the lowest bracket and save a noticeable amount. But if you underestimate, things get a little trickier. Go over your declared mileage, and you’ll need to “top up” your coverage, or your claim could face complications. It’s not unlike topping up prepaid electricity—only this time, the stakes are higher than having the lights flicker out mid-dinner.
The logic makes sense. Fewer kilometers generally mean fewer hours on the road, which usually translates into lower accident risk. But critics might point out that not all kilometers are created equal. A cautious driver who does 25,000 km mostly on quiet highways might be less of a risk than a low-mileage driver tackling bumper-to-bumper traffic in Johannesburg. Auto & General’s system doesn’t drill down that far—it’s a blunt instrument, not a laser.
Who Stands to Benefit the Most
The obvious winners are retirees, remote workers, or households with multiple cars where one doesn’t get used as much. For example, if you’ve got a little hatchback that mostly runs school drop-offs and grocery trips, the Pay-As-You-Drive model can slice a decent chunk off your insurance bill.
But there’s another group that may quietly benefit: young drivers under 25. They usually face brutal premiums because of their age, but if they don’t drive much, the reduced mileage could soften the blow. Of course, the counterargument is that inexperience, not mileage, is the risk factor insurers care about most. Still, it’s one small lever young drivers can pull to ease the sting.
I’ve got a friend who falls squarely into this category—she lives in Cape Town, works remotely, and only drives when she heads out to Muizenberg on weekends. For her, the traditional insurance model felt ridiculous. She was paying for risk that simply wasn’t there. Switching to a low-mileage option almost halved her premium. The only catch? She now has to keep one eye on her odometer, like she’s rationing kilometers.
The Psychological Shift: Odometer Anxiety
Here’s where the human side of insurance creeps in. When your premium depends on staying under a mileage cap, every extra trip suddenly feels like it counts. Spontaneous road trips? They come with the subtle question: “But what if this pushes me over my limit?”
This shift can be both empowering and constraining. Empowering because you feel in control—you’re actively managing your insurance cost. Constraining because it introduces a new kind of stress. One acquaintance described it as “odometer anxiety.” It may sound dramatic, but it’s real. She found herself skipping weekend drives just to make sure she didn’t overshoot her band, which ironically defeated the whole point of owning a car.
So yes, the savings are attractive, but you trade them for a new mental calculation every time you turn the key in the ignition. That trade-off may not bother some people at all, but for others, it could feel like a leash.
What the Critics Might Say
Insurance companies rarely create products out of pure generosity. Pay-As-You-Drive isn’t philanthropy—it’s a way to carve out a niche, attract customers frustrated with traditional models, and hopefully keep them long-term. The system also banks on human behavior. Some people underestimate their mileage, overshoot, and end up paying penalties or higher costs anyway.
Another critique is data-driven. In an age where telematics devices and smartphone apps can track driving behavior in real time, a mileage-based system may feel a bit outdated. Why only track how much you drive, when you could also track how you drive? Many insurers abroad already offer pay-how-you-drive models that reward safe braking, cornering, and speed control. Auto & General’s offering seems simpler—perhaps deliberately so, since South Africans may be wary of constant tracking. But simplicity has a cost: it paints all drivers with the same brush.
A Nuanced Look at the Savings
Let’s be honest—savings are the headline reason anyone considers this type of insurance. Auto & General suggests that the lower mileage bands can knock a significant percentage off premiums. But how much? That depends on factors like your age, car model, and driving history.
For some, it could mean hundreds of rand saved every month. For others, especially those already classified as low risk, the difference may be less dramatic. That’s why it’s worth running the numbers and not just assuming “low mileage = huge discount.”
I’ve seen people thrilled with their reduced premiums, and I’ve seen others shrug because the savings weren’t game-changing enough to warrant the mileage monitoring. The truth sits somewhere in between: worthwhile for some, underwhelming for others.
Alternatives Worth Considering
It’s also useful to compare Auto & General’s model with what other insurers are offering. MiWay, for example, has a Total Loss Cover plan aimed at budget-conscious drivers, while Discovery taps into its Vitality ecosystem with rewards-based insurance. King Price famously decreases premiums every month as your car depreciates.
Against these competitors, Pay-As-You-Drive feels practical but maybe not groundbreaking. It appeals most to people with genuinely low mileage, but it doesn’t necessarily solve broader complaints about insurance pricing, like unfair surcharges for younger drivers or the lack of rewards for safe habits.
Is It the Right Fit for You?
If you’re reading this wondering whether it’s worth switching, here’s the simplest litmus test: How much do you actually drive? Not how much you think you drive, but the real number. Pull out your last roadworthy certificate, check the mileage, and calculate how many kilometers you add in a year. If the figure is comfortably within Auto & General’s lowest bands, chances are you’ll save.
But if you’re hovering near the upper limits—say you drive 18,000 km and the cap is 20,000—you may be better off sticking to traditional insurance. One extra road trip to Durban could tip you over and wipe out the benefit.
Final Thoughts: A Good Idea With Strings Attached
Auto & General’s Pay-As-You-Drive insurance captures a growing frustration: why should someone who barely uses their car pay the same as a daily commuter? It’s an answer to that inequality, but not a perfect one. You get the benefit of lower premiums if you truly are a low-mileage driver, but the strings attached—monitoring your kilometers, worrying about exceeding caps, potentially paying penalties—can make it less carefree than advertised.
In the end, it’s about matching the product to your lifestyle. If your car is mostly a weekend convenience, this model could finally stop you from feeling fleeced. If, however, you’re someone whose driving patterns swing unpredictably—some months barely driving, other months clocking big trips—you might find the restrictions frustrating.
Insurance is rarely about perfection; it’s about compromise. Auto & General’s Pay-As-You-Drive plan offers a compelling compromise for low-mileage drivers. But like all compromises, it requires you to give something up in exchange for the win. Whether that trade-off feels fair? That’s the real question only you can answer.