By Miles Car Insurance Review: Want to Pay Per Mile?

By Miles Car Insurance Review: Want to Pay Per Mile?

By Miles has a really interesting business model - you pay your car insurance based on actual mileage - and they're award winning! Are they right for you? Let's find out!

Good for

  • Those who don't drive a lot
  • Paying car insurance by mileage
  • App to track insurance costs per trip
  • "Find my car" feature

Bad for

  • Customer service phone lines closed at the weekend

Editor's Rating

4.0/5.0

The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.

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Read about By Miles to see if their mileage-based car insurance might be suitable for you. Find out how By Miles features compare, how existing policyholders rate By Miles' customer service and why they won "Best Car Insurance Provider" 2021 and "Best Insurance App" 2019 at the Insurance Choice Awards.

In This Review

By Miles Car Insurance Overall Review

Is By Miles Car Insurance any good? By Miles car insurance gets 4.4 out of 5 stars from Trustpilot, which is a high rating for customer satisfaction. And the company has improved their cover with some sought-after features such as personal possessions cover and a guarantee on accident repairs.

By Miles is a unique car insurance brand, which can be particularly suitable for those who don't drive a lot, or for those who like tracking their usage and costs with an app (e.g., like watching how much electricity you used today on your smart meter). By Miles charges you according to your actual mileage each month—technically, you'll pay a fixed, annual premium according to where you normally park, and a per mileage amount on top of this which is charged monthly.

In newer cars, you can connect By Miles directly with your car's mileometer. In older cars you do plug a miles tracker into the OBD-II socket of your car (in all cars made after 2002, and normally located under your car's dashboard), this is not a typical "black box" policy. Most black box policies analyse your driving style (e.g., how aggressively you brake and accelerate) and may use this information to increase your premium, but the By Miles tracker only uses your mileage when determining your premium. They use this information to charge you for insurance.

While you don't need to install the app (or if you don't have a smartphone), doing so will let you see how many miles you've driven and, perhaps more interestingly, the cost of insurance for each trip. The app offers a few other features, such as the "find my car" function which is super useful if you've forgotten where you parked—or if your car is stolen.

By Miles policies are underwritten by a panel of insurers including UK Insurance Ltd (you may know them as the company behind Direct Line) and Covea.

Features

By Miles comprehensive plans have inmproved recently, and now offer more "must have" features as recommended by the Money Advice Service like personal possessions cover and an accident repair guarantee.

Below is a high-level summary for policies bought direct from By Miles through their website—remember, these are always subject to conditions and exclusions, which you can read about in the policy documents.

How Good is By Miles Car Insurance?A Good Policy IncludesDoes By Miles Deliver?By Miles Comprehensive Coverage
"Must Have" Features
WindscreenFull repair or replacement
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If you use their approved repairers
Belongings£200+
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Up to £500
Keys£300+
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Included
Protected NCD2 times in 3 years (standard or optional extra)
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Optional
Car recovery after accidentIncluded
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Included
Courtesy car (repairs)Minimum 14 days
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Included for duration of repairs if use approved repairer
Repairs guaranteed12-month guarantee
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3 years or until you sell the car
"Should Have" Features
New car replacementTheft or damage at least 60% of list price; cars up to 12 months old
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Included
Stereo and satellite navMarket value for manufacturer fitted
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Up to market value if permanently fitted and part of the manufacturer’s standard specification; up to £1,000 otherwise
Alternative transport & Hotel after accident£250+
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Up to £250
24-hour emergency helplineStandard
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Included
Courtesy car (total loss or theft)Standard or add-on extra
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If you buy 'Courtesy Car Plus'
Motor legal expensesStandard or add-on extra
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Included (can buy extra)
Breakdown coverStandard or add-on extra
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If you buy the add on
"Could Have" Features
Same cover in EUStandard or add-on extra
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Up to 90 days
Child car seat replacement after accident, theft, fireIdeally replaced even if no visible damage
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Included; need proof of purchase
Larger/premium courtesy carStandard or add-on extra
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If you buy 'Courtesy Car Plus'
Uninsured driver NCD protectionStandard
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Included
Cancellation feeNo more than £50
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£50, in addition to cancellation fees from insurance provider

By Miles Car Insurance Customer Service Reviews and Ratings

By Miles achieves solid customer service scores from existing policyholders, for instance their 4.3 out of 5 star rating by close to 9,000 customers at Trustpilot. We scoured online customer review sites to find out what customers are really saying, both positive and negative. Here's what we found:

By Miles Ratings & Customer Reviews
Trustpilot customer service rating4.4 out of 5
Smart Money People4.94 out of 5

By Miles Trustpilot

Over 8,000 existing customers have rated By Miles with an average of 4.4 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot—a pretty high rating for a car insurance company. In fact, nearly 80% of customers on Trustpilot gave By Miles a 5-star "excellent" review.

Here are some comments by real customers to give a flavour of the By Miles experience. First, some positive customer comments—as you can tell, many people LOVE the concept of pay-as-you-go car insurance and love the company:

"Pleasantly surprised having used by miles for a year now & have just renewed for another year. Got a refund I wasn't expecting as I had paid upfront for miles I didn't use .Don't know of any car insurance company who does that so had no hesitation in signing up for another year. I don't do that many miles a year & can't think of a better way to have paid for my car insurance. Works out a far cheaper way paying for it with excellent cover tailor made for myself. This year instead of paying up front I opted for a reduced upfront fee & pay monthly for each mile driven for no extra charge. Would recommend anyone to try this even if it's just for a year to see how it works out for you."

"By Miles car insurance been perfect for me as I don’t really drive my car that often, I should have looked for this type of insurance as I it’s perfect for my purposes. Since I have insured myself I have referred few of my friends and family to by miles."

"Pay by mile policy is one of the best for savings on insurance, and especially for short driving."

"It’s good to know I am only paying for the miles I am travelling."

"I had been searching for a new insurer after my premium almost doubled in year two - it was the big one that spends my hard earned £s advertising every fifteen minutes on almost every TV channel! So what a breath of fresh air to ‘PAYG’"

"This is a brilliant concept and very easy to use. This is like tailor made for me because my driving miles are not huge as I use my car only for social purposes."

"The staff were very helpful by phone, the app works well to show detail of every journey the monthly billing is clear. And over the year I will save roughly 25% compared with my previous policies. This seems like a much fairer way to finance car insurance."

"Sensible, competitive alternative for low mileage driving."

"Truly excellent. And the cheapest insurance."

The negative comments are few and far between. The most consistent issue we noticed was difficulty in contacting them. But only 7% of customers have given negative reviews. Here are a few:

"Tried to contact numerous times however can’t get through to anybody!"

"£50 CANCELLATION FEE, £50 RETAINER FOR A DEVICE I HAVE YET TO RECEIVE, POLICY NOT EVEN DUE TO START TILL A WEEK LATER, NO COOLING OFF PERIOD, CUSTOMER SERVICE AREN'T HUMAN THEY'RE ROBOTS KEEP SAYING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN QUOTING T&C'S AVOID!"

"The bit you need to connect to your car basically flattens your battery."

We should mention that a car alarm constantly use up power, and the Miles Tracker will occasionally use your car's battery when the engine is off, too. Cars that aren't driven often are more prone to the battery losing charge. Especially if your battery is older, it's cold out and you don't drive much, you should try to run your engine at least once a month or keep the battery on a trickle charger to avoid any issues.

Another 12,000+ customers have rated By Miles with 4.9 stars out of 5 at Smart Money People.

Cancellation & Administration Fees

By Miles cancellation fees are typically £50, even during the 14-day cooling off period. While this fee is around average for a car insurance cancellation fee AFTER the first 14 days, it is on the high side for cancellations DURING the first 14 days. However, keep in mind that By Miles has costs involved in setting up tracker-based policies, since they need to send them out[symbol[:m-dash]if your car is "connected" and doesn't need a tracker, you still pay the same cancellation fees, however.

On the plus side, you're not likely to pay admin fees for amendments like changing your address since you get 3 free administrative charges per year. Of course, if the computers say your admin changes are a higher risk (e.g., depending on their experience in your new neighborhood or the driving history of an additional driver) your premium may rise due to an admin change.

Cancellation Fees
CancellationTypically £50
Admin fees (e.g., adding a named driver, change your address, etc.)3 changes per year free of charge (however, your premium might change)

Important By Miles Car Insurance Phone Numbers

By Miles customer service is available over the phone on weekdays only, from 9am - 6pm—but their webchat is open 9-6 weekdays and also 10-6 on weekends.

By Miles Car Insurance Contact Numbers
Customer Services0330 088 3838
Claims0330 088 3838

Policy Documents

By Miles policy wording will explain the full terms, conditions and exclusions—we always recommend reading the policy documents before signing up.

FAQs

By Miles only started selling car insurance policies in 2018, but have already won a host of awards such as "Best Car Insurance Provider," "Best Insurance App," "Customer Services," "Claims Excellence" and "Plain English" at the Insurance Choice Awards by Smart Money People between 2018 and 2021.
By Miles is underwritten by a panel of insurers, including UK Insurance Ltd and Covea.
To make an admin change on your By Miles policy, use the live chat in your app or web dashboard. As with all car insurance, your premium may change (in the base of By Miles, your annual cost and per-mile rate) if you make any changes to your policy.
Yes, you pay for car insurance with By Miles based on the mileage you drive, which is particularly suited to low-mileage drivers. To clarify, you pay both an annual fixed cost and a per-mile rate.
Policyholders pay a £50 fee to cancel By Miles car insurance, even during the first 14 days. And, as with all car insurance policies, you'll also need to pay for any period/miles of cover you received.
You can cancel your By Miles policy using the live chat in your app or on their website.
Around 21 days before your renewal date, By Miles will email you with your new fixed premium and your new per-mile rate for the next policy year. When your current policy expires, they'll automatically renew your policy for a further 12 months. If you don’t want to renew, tell them as soon as soon as possible and certainly many days before the renewal date.
Yes, you have 7 days to plug the Miles Tracker in (giving it time to get to you), from the time you purchase your policy. During those 7 days your insurance is valid even if you haven't plugged in the tracker yet.

Other Car Insurance Reviews

If you'd like to compare By Miles to other car insurance companies, see our other car insurance reviews below:

Erin Yurday

Erin Yurday is the Founder and Editor of NimbleFins. Prior to NimbleFins, she worked as an investment professional and as the finance expert in Stanford University's Graduate School of Business case writing team. Read more on LinkedIn.

Comments

The guidance on this site is based on our own analysis and is meant to help you identify options and narrow down your choices. We do not advise or tell you which product to buy; undertake your own due diligence before entering into any agreement. Read our full disclosure here.

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