Question about black box insurance.
Question about black box insurance.
Author
Discussion

backwoodsman

Original Poster:

2,508 posts

159 months

Monday 18th November 2013
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A friends son has a black box in his car, and a flat battery.

What will happen if we bump start the car?

We assume the box will have a back up battery for things like this.

But would bumping the car register as hard acceleration and braking, and cost him an extra £30 in penalty fees this month.

He tried calling the company, but they are closed until 8am, and he needs the car before then.

backwoodsman

Original Poster:

2,508 posts

159 months

Monday 18th November 2013
quotequote all
Anyone?

Dog Star

17,625 posts

198 months

Monday 18th November 2013
quotequote all
Hard acceleration/braking incurs £30 in penalty fees?

This is the future for all of us, my friends it's ste.

Steffan

10,362 posts

258 months

Monday 18th November 2013
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Bump starting modern high compression cars is a very risky business. I would suggest jump stating the car with an experienced motor engineer doing the connections. Still a risk but much lower than bump starting which can break modern OHC engines. Easily.

iloveboost

1,531 posts

192 months

Monday 18th November 2013
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If you're serious I'm sure it takes time and speed into account.

backwoodsman

Original Poster:

2,508 posts

159 months

Monday 18th November 2013
quotequote all
Steffan said:
Bump starting modern high compression cars is a very risky business. I would suggest jump stating the car with an experienced motor engineer doing the connections. Still a risk but much lower than bump starting which can break modern OHC engines. Easily.
MK3 Fiesta, I'm sure bumping it will be fine.

backwoodsman

Original Poster:

2,508 posts

159 months

Monday 18th November 2013
quotequote all
iloveboost said:
If you're serious I'm sure it takes time and speed into account.
I'm serious, I think the best I can tell them is, bump it, and then call the insurance co, when the lad gets home from work tomorrow afternoon.

Steffan

10,362 posts

258 months

Monday 18th November 2013
quotequote all
backwoodsman said:
Steffan said:
Bump starting modern high compression cars is a very risky business. I would suggest jump stating the car with an experienced motor engineer doing the connections. Still a risk but much lower than bump starting which can break modern OHC engines. Easily.
MK3 Fiesta, I'm sure bumping it will be fine.
Jump starting is safer but still has its risks. Good luck.

iloveboost

1,531 posts

192 months

Monday 18th November 2013
quotequote all
Steffan said:
Bump starting modern high compression cars is a very risky business. I would suggest jump stating the car with an experienced motor engineer doing the connections. Still a risk but much lower than bump starting which can break modern OHC engines. Easily.
Yes don't ever bump anything without pushrods! I have also bump started a fiesta after leaving the sidelights on all day. Doh!

Nigel Worc's

8,121 posts

218 months

Monday 18th November 2013
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Dog Star said:
Hard acceleration/braking incurs £30 in penalty fees?

This is the future for all of us, my friends it's ste.
Poor bd, how on earth did he end up agreeing to this ?

backwoodsman

Original Poster:

2,508 posts

159 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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Nigel Worc's said:
Poor bd, how on earth did he end up agreeing to this ?
That why the black box insurance is cheaper, they make the money back on penalties.

Imagine this, you are driving in a 30 limit, and being well aware of your surroundings, you see a car approaching a junction, they pull straight out, without looking or stopping, this causes you to brake hard, and swerve to avoid them.

You are a good drive, who saw the threat, and avoided it.

But to the black box, you are a bad driver, and have just got a penalty on this months payment, 3 penalties, and your insurance is cancelled.

Daston

6,154 posts

233 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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Looking at this in the darkest possible way, but how long is it until someone is run over after the driver either hesitates due to the increase in money/loss of insurance, or just dosnt care due to the lose of money/insurance.


MotorsportTom

3,343 posts

191 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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iloveboost said:
Yes don't ever bump anything without pushrods! I have also bump started a fiesta after leaving the sidelights on all day. Doh!
Complete and utter tosh.

Have you never watched moto gp and when a bike goes down and then stalls a few marshalls will then push the bike to get it started again?

If it's good enough for 7 figure bikes I'm sure a MK3 fiesta will do just fine.


With regards to the black box that is complete nonsense. I'd rather not drive than be worried all the time about incurring fees for harsh acceleration or braking.

McWigglebum4th

32,414 posts

234 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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iloveboost said:
Yes don't ever bump anything without pushrods! I have also bump started a fiesta after leaving the sidelights on all day. Doh!
You will of course will be able to explain how using the gearbox to turn the flywheel is completely different to using the starter to turn the flywheel

Krikkit

27,938 posts

211 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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backwoodsman said:
Nigel Worc's said:
Poor bd, how on earth did he end up agreeing to this ?
That why the black box insurance is cheaper, they make the money back on penalties.

Imagine this, you are driving in a 30 limit, and being well aware of your surroundings, you see a car approaching a junction, they pull straight out, without looking or stopping, this causes you to brake hard, and swerve to avoid them.

You are a good drive, who saw the threat, and avoided it.

But to the black box, you are a bad driver, and have just got a penalty on this months payment, 3 penalties, and your insurance is cancelled.
Ridiculous, isn't it? No-one can predict every hazard on the road, best thing to do is buy a dash cam and just crash into these people.

Devil2575

13,400 posts

218 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
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Sounds like bks to me. Is he seriously worried that if he bump starts his car he will incur a £30 penalty fee? Last time I bump started car it didn't involve hard accelleration or braking.

Is this post for real or is this just another attempt to create a straw man arguement?

Devil2575

13,400 posts

218 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
quotequote all
Krikkit said:
backwoodsman said:
Nigel Worc's said:
Poor bd, how on earth did he end up agreeing to this ?
That why the black box insurance is cheaper, they make the money back on penalties.

Imagine this, you are driving in a 30 limit, and being well aware of your surroundings, you see a car approaching a junction, they pull straight out, without looking or stopping, this causes you to brake hard, and swerve to avoid them.

You are a good drive, who saw the threat, and avoided it.

But to the black box, you are a bad driver, and have just got a penalty on this months payment, 3 penalties, and your insurance is cancelled.
Ridiculous, isn't it? No-one can predict every hazard on the road, best thing to do is buy a dash cam and just crash into these people.
More rubbish.

Does anyone actually imagine that isolated incidents have an impact on your premium or do you think that perhaps it's based more on overall trends.

How often does this kind of thing happen to you? It's happened to me about 3 times in the last 20 years. If it happens to you all the time then pehrpas you need to ask why.

backwoodsman

Original Poster:

2,508 posts

159 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
quotequote all
Devil2575 said:
Sounds like bks to me. Is he seriously worried that if he bump starts his car he will incur a £30 penalty fee? Last time I bump started car it didn't involve hard accelleration or braking.

Is this post for real or is this just another attempt to create a straw man arguement?
So when you bump started it, it didn't kangaroo a bit, before starting?

And you have never got rolling, dropped the clutch in second, and instead of starting, the car stops dead?

Why does everyone seem to be so argumentative on here lately? And any thread they don't like has to be by a troll, or a lie?

TwigtheWonderkid

49,158 posts

180 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
quotequote all
Devil2575 said:
More rubbish.

Does anyone actually imagine that isolated incidents have an impact on your premium or do you think that perhaps it's based more on overall trends.

How often does this kind of thing happen to you? It's happened to me about 3 times in the last 20 years. If it happens to you all the time then pehrpas you need to ask why.
100% spot on. I wish morons who post tripe about black boxes actually took a bit of time to investigate the facts before posting tinfoil hat tripe.

Devil2575

13,400 posts

218 months

Tuesday 19th November 2013
quotequote all
backwoodsman said:
Devil2575 said:
Sounds like bks to me. Is he seriously worried that if he bump starts his car he will incur a £30 penalty fee? Last time I bump started car it didn't involve hard accelleration or braking.

Is this post for real or is this just another attempt to create a straw man arguement?
So when you bump started it, it didn't kangaroo a bit, before starting?

And you have never got rolling, dropped the clutch in second, and instead of starting, the car stops dead?

Why does everyone seem to be so argumentative on here lately? And any thread they don't like has to be by a troll, or a lie?
When the car stops dead it doesn't do so from a very high speed and it is an isolated event. Kangarooing? Only when the car won't start for reasons other than a flat battery. How often does he flatten his battery? Twice a day?

Why did I think it a lie? Because it's a silly thing to worry about as anyone with any degree of common sense can see that it isn't going to be an issue even with black box insurance. Black box insurance is not about punishing individual events. It's about looking at trends to get a picture of driving style. Everyone has to do an emergency stop at sometime or other and no one is going to be charged an increased premium for the rare occasions that it happens. However if you find yourself doing an emergency stop everytime you get in the car your insurer may well think that there is an issue with your driving.