Have you considered a Pay By Miles Insurance Policy
Discussion
We've long heard about and read studies about replacing Road Tax (or it's various forms worldwide) with a variable amount based on how much you drive, but I don't think anywhere has implemented it.
There's Black Box Insurance policies based on your driving behaviour. This one I'm talking about is a bit different.
So last year whilst getting quotes fro insurance, one of the black box policies came up as competitive.
Was a bit hesitant at first but read up on it a bit before taking the plunge.
Over 6 months in and it has worked out quite well for me, especially because of the lockdown with schools being closed but generally has worked out a bit cheaper as I work from home more often now.
So, how does it work?
Firstly, it works well if you can estimate your annual mileage. Rounded up to the next thousand. Best to over estimate, but not by too much as you might price yourself out. So depending on how regular your driving lifestyle is (both commute and leisure etc) you might have consistent annual mileage over last few years (notwithstanding any changes in future circumstances). If it varies wildly, the policy might not be for you.
Now assuming you've done the above and it's fairly competitive, it's work considering further. If it's way more expensive than other competitors, well ignore it.
The Quote
The quote you're given is an annual price with a big caveat. It will be based on the mileage you have input. Vary the mileage to see the impact on the quote.
So say the annual policy price based on 10,000 miles is £500 (not the case for me, but let's work with easy numbers), you pay a lump sum upfront of ~£250 (i'm not saying it's actually 50%) and the remainder you will pay each month - so first advantage there is effectively interest free instalments.
The amount you pay will be based on on how many miles you do. So your quote will tell you upfront that you pay e.g £250 upfront and the remaining mileage will be charged monthly at (in this example £250/10,000) 2.5p/mile that you drive. This will be unique to you.
So at year end, you will pay £500 if you drove exactly 10,000 miles or you will have paid more or less than £500, again based on how many miles you have driven.
For any long trips you do, they will only ever charge your for the first 100 miles in any day. So you've got a bit of a safety net there for long day trips.
How they record the mileage.
It's small box that plugs into your OBD port. There's clauses that say you have to keep it constantly plugged in. I can't recall what happens if you drive around with it removed but if you have an accident and it wasn't plugged in then you have to pay a higher excess (£500, I think).
The box has a sim card in it that constantly pings away. I've found that journeys are calculated slightly shorter than what's actually on car's trip meter.
Although it records the top and average speed of each journey, this information isn't used to reflect how much your'e charged. Though there's nothing to say they can't use it for your renewal quote and I'd imagine they may wish to use it in the event of an incident/accident - but then could they prove you were speeding at that given point during the accident ad how does that affect the claim/blameworthiness? So a few considerations there
How do you know what's being charged
They have a fantastic app.
For any given day you can see, a summary of how many miles you did in each journey - including the start and end postcode - along with the cost of that journey and the daily summary mileage & cost.
You can also see a map of each journey/route - so it effectively works as a tracker.
It's billed monthly so you can see where you're upto that month, how many days left until the next billing cycle and a summary history of previous statements so you can see how many miles you've been charged for so far.
<edit>
Obviously, due to lockdown, if you're driving less you pay less. I'm doing 2/3rds of my usual monthly mileage so I pay 2/3rds of what I normally pay. Don't drive? Don't pay anything extra (apart from that lump sum you already paid) With a normal policy, you're still paying, or have paid, for the car to be sat parked up.
Happy to answer any questions.
TL;DR;
if you typically do the same mileage every year, it's worth getting a quote.
Mod edit to remove unauthorised advertising.
There's Black Box Insurance policies based on your driving behaviour. This one I'm talking about is a bit different.
So last year whilst getting quotes fro insurance, one of the black box policies came up as competitive.
Was a bit hesitant at first but read up on it a bit before taking the plunge.
Over 6 months in and it has worked out quite well for me, especially because of the lockdown with schools being closed but generally has worked out a bit cheaper as I work from home more often now.
So, how does it work?
Firstly, it works well if you can estimate your annual mileage. Rounded up to the next thousand. Best to over estimate, but not by too much as you might price yourself out. So depending on how regular your driving lifestyle is (both commute and leisure etc) you might have consistent annual mileage over last few years (notwithstanding any changes in future circumstances). If it varies wildly, the policy might not be for you.
Now assuming you've done the above and it's fairly competitive, it's work considering further. If it's way more expensive than other competitors, well ignore it.
The Quote
The quote you're given is an annual price with a big caveat. It will be based on the mileage you have input. Vary the mileage to see the impact on the quote.
So say the annual policy price based on 10,000 miles is £500 (not the case for me, but let's work with easy numbers), you pay a lump sum upfront of ~£250 (i'm not saying it's actually 50%) and the remainder you will pay each month - so first advantage there is effectively interest free instalments.
The amount you pay will be based on on how many miles you do. So your quote will tell you upfront that you pay e.g £250 upfront and the remaining mileage will be charged monthly at (in this example £250/10,000) 2.5p/mile that you drive. This will be unique to you.
So at year end, you will pay £500 if you drove exactly 10,000 miles or you will have paid more or less than £500, again based on how many miles you have driven.
For any long trips you do, they will only ever charge your for the first 100 miles in any day. So you've got a bit of a safety net there for long day trips.
How they record the mileage.
It's small box that plugs into your OBD port. There's clauses that say you have to keep it constantly plugged in. I can't recall what happens if you drive around with it removed but if you have an accident and it wasn't plugged in then you have to pay a higher excess (£500, I think).
The box has a sim card in it that constantly pings away. I've found that journeys are calculated slightly shorter than what's actually on car's trip meter.
Although it records the top and average speed of each journey, this information isn't used to reflect how much your'e charged. Though there's nothing to say they can't use it for your renewal quote and I'd imagine they may wish to use it in the event of an incident/accident - but then could they prove you were speeding at that given point during the accident ad how does that affect the claim/blameworthiness? So a few considerations there
How do you know what's being charged
They have a fantastic app.
For any given day you can see, a summary of how many miles you did in each journey - including the start and end postcode - along with the cost of that journey and the daily summary mileage & cost.
You can also see a map of each journey/route - so it effectively works as a tracker.
It's billed monthly so you can see where you're upto that month, how many days left until the next billing cycle and a summary history of previous statements so you can see how many miles you've been charged for so far.
<edit>
Obviously, due to lockdown, if you're driving less you pay less. I'm doing 2/3rds of my usual monthly mileage so I pay 2/3rds of what I normally pay. Don't drive? Don't pay anything extra (apart from that lump sum you already paid) With a normal policy, you're still paying, or have paid, for the car to be sat parked up.
Happy to answer any questions.
TL;DR;
if you typically do the same mileage every year, it's worth getting a quote.
Edited by loofer on Wednesday 22 April 14:16
Mod edit to remove unauthorised advertising.
Edited by Scrump on Wednesday 22 April 14:30
This has to be aimed for those younger drivers that are already used to black box's.?
I pay under £400 for fully comp with every extra ticked. It is not worth it for me to save maybe £10 over the convid period to then spend £20 extra once the all clear gets given and I go mental driving all over the place.
I pay under £400 for fully comp with every extra ticked. It is not worth it for me to save maybe £10 over the convid period to then spend £20 extra once the all clear gets given and I go mental driving all over the place.
stupidbutkeen said:
This has to be aimed for those younger drivers that are already used to black box's.?
I pay under £400 for fully comp with every extra ticked. It is not worth it for me to save maybe £10 over the convid period to then spend £20 extra once the all clear gets given and I go mental driving all over the place.
This ^^^^^^I pay under £400 for fully comp with every extra ticked. It is not worth it for me to save maybe £10 over the convid period to then spend £20 extra once the all clear gets given and I go mental driving all over the place.
My car premium is under £200 for the year for up to 3k miles and my work van is under £250 for the year with unlimited miles,both have legal cover included so all a black box will do for me is zero
Teddy Lop said:
I wouldn't have thought risk increases in a linear way with miles.
E.g. I normally drive through barnet to get home from a certain direction instead of taking the A1M/M25 as per sat nav, less miles but slightly more time on higher risk roads!
I assume it's all priced in.E.g. I normally drive through barnet to get home from a certain direction instead of taking the A1M/M25 as per sat nav, less miles but slightly more time on higher risk roads!
nothing is completely linear/correlated as black and white except the basic fact that your less likely to have an accident, in your car (ignoring vandalism or parked car damage) if your not driving
stupidbutkeen said:
This has to be aimed for those younger drivers that are already used to black box's.?
I pay under £400 for fully comp with every extra ticked. It is not worth it for me to save maybe £10 over the convid period to then spend £20 extra once the all clear gets given and I go mental driving all over the place.
You're right. Not worth the hassle. Like I say, only worth it if it's already a considerable saving against other quotes whilst doing yur max estimated mileage. I pay under £400 for fully comp with every extra ticked. It is not worth it for me to save maybe £10 over the convid period to then spend £20 extra once the all clear gets given and I go mental driving all over the place.
Best not leaving to chance, that you might be under your estimated mileage, nor start being miserly and worrying about your driving (though for first few weeks you do keep checking app.
So for my example the annual Policy, based on 8,000 miles was £884/yr. This was similar to some of the other cheapest ones
I paid £308.52 upfront and my mileage element is 7.2p/mile.
In the 6 months I've had the policy I've paid £195. That includes a long journey, twice, that was 200 miles.
So assuming I do the same over the next 6 months, I will have paid a total of £706.
Perhaps I overestimated my mileage but a £180 saving is not to be sniffed at. (Plus chance to earn £50 referrals!
)it's not my business, i don't get paid to write that post. I don't get paid if you read it. they were all my words and took me the time to write it. to contribute to the forum. I don't get paid if you clicked on the link I had posted.
If you bought a policy, I would've benefited the same as you. The same as those posting octopus energy referral links.
Other than being a customer and posting about my personal experience, I'm not affiliated with the company.
If you bought a policy, I would've benefited the same as you. The same as those posting octopus energy referral links.
Other than being a customer and posting about my personal experience, I'm not affiliated with the company.
Sorry but no. When I was starting to drive 'black box' policies were just becoming a thing. Didn't want tracking wherever I went, and being penalised if I had to go to work early or late. Same thing now. My insurer charges me based on a risk profile. What I do (unless I bin it) isn't their business. If I drive 12,000 miles in a month and the car doesn't move for the rest of the year that's no problem to them.
The link was removed from your post but I'll bet they're a company that promotes 'freedom' and 'pay what you use' when really it's going to be worse when you're paying them to harvest your data. They have all your details and know exactly where you go. If you're happy that's great, but I wouldn't like it.
The link was removed from your post but I'll bet they're a company that promotes 'freedom' and 'pay what you use' when really it's going to be worse when you're paying them to harvest your data. They have all your details and know exactly where you go. If you're happy that's great, but I wouldn't like it.
JakeT said:
Sorry but no. When I was starting to drive 'black box' policies were just becoming a thing. Didn't want tracking wherever I went, and being penalised if I had to go to work early or late. Same thing now. My insurer charges me based on a risk profile. What I do (unless I bin it) isn't their business. If I drive 12,000 miles in a month and the car doesn't move for the rest of the year that's no problem to them.
The link was removed from your post but I'll bet they're a company that promotes 'freedom' and 'pay what you use' when really it's going to be worse when you're paying them to harvest your data. They have all your details and know exactly where you go. If you're happy that's great, but I wouldn't like it.
Like we’re not already tracked with our mobile phones and when we use card machines etc, let alone the internet you’re using when typing the above message. The link was removed from your post but I'll bet they're a company that promotes 'freedom' and 'pay what you use' when really it's going to be worse when you're paying them to harvest your data. They have all your details and know exactly where you go. If you're happy that's great, but I wouldn't like it.
Trust me there’s probably not a lot left for all these tech companies, collectively, left to learn about us. And that’s just from data that is picked from background without us explicitly consenting but just through implicit consent of using products and services.
Anyway I get your point and I digress.
I get there’s privacy concerns. It’s not an insurance policy for everybody.
Black box policies based on driving behaviour have been around for a few years. This one was slightly different and it has saved me money (so far).
I can also drive 12,000 miles a month and park up rest of year. Nothing to do with them, except I’ve agreed to pay based on that. It doesn’t stop you doing what you want to do.
edc said:
Is it really that different tan varying the insured mileage on a traditional policy?
I suppose varying it on a normal policy at quote stage, you fix the price. Would they really penalise you (if you made a claim) and your mileage was significantly higher? Not sure. I would expect them to discount me if it was significantly less ... works both ways.I can’t remember how much difference it would make on a normal policy if I varied my quote by reducing mileage by 1,000 but I doubt it would be a lot.
But based on my current policy, if I do 1,000 miles less than I estimated then I don’t pay £72, which is about 8% saving.
Now you could say it’s a numbers game as I may have overestimated my mileage so I haven’t really “saved” it.
But had I gone for a normal policy, I would’ve paid for the full amount even though I did less mileage than I entered in my quote.
Swing and roundabouts, do more mileage and you’ll pay more.
loofer said:
I suppose varying it on a normal policy at quote stage, you fix the price. Would they really penalise you (if you made a claim) and your mileage was significantly higher? Not sure. I would expect them to discount me if it was significantly less ... works both ways.
I can’t remember how much difference it would make on a normal policy if I varied my quote by reducing mileage by 1,000 but I doubt it would be a lot.
But based on my current policy, if I do 1,000 miles less than I estimated then I don’t pay £72, which is about 8% saving.
Now you could say it’s a numbers game as I may have overestimated my mileage so I haven’t really “saved” it.
But had I gone for a normal policy, I would’ve paid for the full amount even though I did less mileage than I entered in my quote.
Swing and roundabouts, do more mileage and you’ll pay more.
If you are over your declared quoted mileage they will adjust the payout for any claim for the extra cost of the mileage. I had a write off claim adjusted having gone over. Similarly I have different prices for 3k and 5k miles. If I need to increase during he year I notify and pay the difference, unlike in an earlier year when I didn't realise I was over. It is like getting a lease car at 5k miles per year and paying the mileage fees when you go over. I can’t remember how much difference it would make on a normal policy if I varied my quote by reducing mileage by 1,000 but I doubt it would be a lot.
But based on my current policy, if I do 1,000 miles less than I estimated then I don’t pay £72, which is about 8% saving.
Now you could say it’s a numbers game as I may have overestimated my mileage so I haven’t really “saved” it.
But had I gone for a normal policy, I would’ve paid for the full amount even though I did less mileage than I entered in my quote.
Swing and roundabouts, do more mileage and you’ll pay more.
The trouble is, for NOW, maybe they don’t use the speed data, but what about when they do, and they don’t tell you, so it’s too late when plod start sending automatic NIPs to your inbox, and the insurers collect the fines with your insurance premium, or even worse, decide that time you hit 100 on the motorway that they want to cancel your insurance because it breaches some tiny wording deep in the policy document removing your right to notice at a certain percentage over the limit, and of course, immediately informs plod of your location, speed, and full details with the time you ceased to be insured. Frightening.
edc said:
If you are over your declared quoted mileage they will adjust the payout for any claim for the extra cost of the mileage. I had a write off claim adjusted having gone over. Similarly I have different prices for 3k and 5k miles. If I need to increase during he year I notify and pay the difference, unlike in an earlier year when I didn't realise I was over. It is like getting a lease car at 5k miles per year and paying the mileage fees when you go over.
Ah ok I didn’t know that. So conversely, if it was under quoted mileage, pro-rata, would they pay out more?Presumably this is different to valuing your vehicle in the event of a write-off, which is irrelevant to what you said you would do when entering details at quote stage.
I’d say you were a sales person that included driving and you declared that but you vastly underestimated mileage to such an extent it could be considered fraud. That would be different and I can image claim not paid and insurance even nullified.
daytona355 said:
The trouble is, for NOW, maybe they don’t use the speed data, but what about when they do, and they don’t tell you, so it’s too late when plod start sending automatic NIPs to your inbox, and the insurers collect the fines with your insurance premium, or even worse, decide that time you hit 100 on the motorway that they want to cancel your insurance because it breaches some tiny wording deep in the policy document removing your right to notice at a certain percentage over the limit, and of course, immediately informs plod of your location, speed, and full details with the time you ceased to be insured. Frightening.
Anyone who does 100mph knowing they have a black box fitted is too stupid to have a licence, and probably shouldn't be allowed out at all without adult supervision. As for tiny wording hidden in the policy, there will be none. What there will be is normal sized print with the Ts & Cs, which people can't be bothered to read, and then try to excuse their laziness by bleating on about small print.
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