Telematics insurance...

[catso]

Car insurance expires at the end of the month so I'm playing the usual game of finding the best deal. Renewal comes in at £250 (loyalty doesn't pay) and a quick online using the 'robot' gives me offers from £130 - £800.

Although I checked the 'no' box to telematics (black box) monitoring, two of the quotes include this anyway, for which they say something along the lines of; 'Good Driver - to reward good drivers a black box will be installed in your car'.

The reward? well one costs £420, the other £440. Big Brother issues aside, exactly what is the benefit of being a 'good driver'?

[Toaster Pilot]

Telematics policies are aimed at 17 year olds, if you aren't 17 then it's hardly surprising they're not cheap for you.

[eybic]

There was something in the news recently saying they had sent drivers fines for speeding and driving out of the prescribed hours. One of them compares your driving to all the telematics policy holders and will only reduce your policy price if you are seen as "good" compared to all the others, it's a big scam and unless you can't get insurance without a box, I wouldn't bother.

[HorneyMX5]

Toaster Pilot said:

Telematics policies are aimed at 17 year olds, if you aren't 17 then it's hardly surprising they're not cheap for you.

Or just new drivers as my co-worker has one in his Q7 but is in his mid 30s.

[Devil2575]

They are aimed at people who normally pay £3000 for their insurance, not £200 i.e. people who's premium is sufficient to cover the cost on installing the box. I suspect the issue here is with the comparison site not the insurance provider.

[Devil2575]

eybic said:

it's a big scam

Really?

The Daily Mail story has been discussed at great length and as I recall the upshot was if you get a policy like this and drive like a twit you end up paying more. If you get one and don't drive like a twit you can save money, as evidenced by people who have them or parents of youngsters who have them posting positive comments.

[rallycross]

Ever wondered what data is being collected by your isurance company if you offer to take their black box in car recorder?

This is the list of stats recorded (we've done some work with this data hence this is genuine info)

Speed by time of day by speed limit
Maximum speed by time of day by speed limit
Driving time by time of day by speed limit
Location at 1 minute intervals
Avg speed at 1 minute intervals
Time over speed limit by time of day by speed limit
Harsh braking by time of day by speed limit
Harsh acceleration by time of day by speed limit
Any data transmitted from Engine Management System at 1 minute intervals

I think my premium would go through the roof if I had one of these fitted.

more details here
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=135...

[eybic]

Devil2575 said:

Really?

The Daily Mail story has been discussed at great length and as I recall the upshot was if you get a policy like this and drive like a twit you end up paying more. If you get one and don't drive like a twit you can save money, as evidenced by people who have them or parents of youngsters who have them posting positive comments.

I read that the "reductions" weren't forthcoming even when people had quite rigidly stuck to the rules of the road as what the insurers consider "safe" driving is very different to what most people consider it to be.

This is the article I read: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-25...

Another issue is that people will rush to get home before the curfew which can cause other problems too.

[ZOLLAR]

eybic said:

There was something in the news recently saying they had sent drivers fines for speeding and driving out of the prescribed hours. One of them compares your driving to all the telematics policy holders and will only reduce your policy price if you are seen as "good" compared to all the others, it's a big scam and unless you can't get insurance without a box, I wouldn't bother.

A surprisingly uninformed comment from a "Forum Janitor".

[ZOLLAR]

eybic said:

Devil2575 said:

Really?

The Daily Mail story has been discussed at great length and as I recall the upshot was if you get a policy like this and drive like a twit you end up paying more. If you get one and don't drive like a twit you can save money, as evidenced by people who have them or parents of youngsters who have them posting positive comments.

I read that the "reductions" weren't forthcoming even when people had quite rigidly stuck to the rules of the road as what the insurers consider "safe" driving is very different to what most people consider it to be.

This is the article I read: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-25...

Another issue is that people will rush to get home before the curfew which can cause other problems too.

Of course this is the Insurance companies fault not the driver who hasn't kept good timekeeping or been responsible eh?

[Dave Hedgehog]

rallycross said:

Ever wondered what data is being collected by your isurance company if you offer to take their black box in car recorder?

This is the list of stats recorded (we've done some work with this data hence this is genuine info)

Speed by time of day by speed limit
Maximum speed by time of day by speed limit
Driving time by time of day by speed limit
Location at 1 minute intervals
Avg speed at 1 minute intervals
Time over speed limit by time of day by speed limit
Harsh braking by time of day by speed limit
Harsh acceleration by time of day by speed limit
Any data transmitted from Engine Management System at 1 minute intervals

I think my premium would go through the roof if I had one of these fitted.

more details here
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=135...

pulling 1g on breaking on the approach to around about then pulling 1g on it would not go down to well i think lol

[eybic]

What I mean to say is that people need to think really hard before taking out a policy like this as there are soooo many T's & C's that can catch you out if you don't read them all.

[Devil2575]

eybic said:

I read that the "reductions" weren't forthcoming even when people had quite rigidly stuck to the rules of the road as what the insurers consider "safe" driving is very different to what most people consider it to be.

This is the article I read: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-25...

Another issue is that people will rush to get home before the curfew which can cause other problems too.

This is the Daily Mail article.

A few points:
The policies are cheaper in the first place so even if you don't get further reductions you still save money.

Critically, you may not even be rewarded if you do drive well. Buried in Admiral’s terms for Bell’s policies, it says: ‘We compare your driving with that of other customers and calculate a score based on how you drive — and how your driving compares to other customers.

So one provider of this type of policy only discounts based on a comparison with other drivers. That is one insurer. It doesn't mean that this type of Policy is a scam. As I said, if it's cheaper from the outset you can still save money.

As for your other issue, people rush all the time for a whole host of reasons. If these leads to problems that that is their fault. Would you suggest that offenders shouldn't be placed under curfew for the same reason?

[ZOLLAR]

eybic said:

What I mean to say is that people need to think really hard before taking out a policy like this as there are soooo many T's & C's that can catch you out if you don't read them all.

Indeed, T&Cs aren't fines are they?
If your policy states exceeding certain speed limits with a high G force will incur an increased premium then that's the drivers responsibility not the insurers, so hardly a scam is it?

Drivers for years have stated that insurers simply treat everyone the same and that they should focus on the individuals driving behaviour and lo and behold once this is done they cry foul!

[Devil2575]

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[eybic]

The point I made in my original post was that unless you cannot get insured without a "black box" then I wouldn't bother getting insured with one as they aren't as good as they are made out to be, please don't turn it round to be me saying nobody is responsible for their own actions, it's all the insurers fault and everyone should speed and drive recklessly as that isn't what I said at all.

[Rude-boy]

ZOLLAR said:

Of course this is the Insurance companies fault not the driver who hasn't kept good timekeeping or been responsible eh?

Did they say that it is the ins. co.s fault? I didn't see them place the blame on them, only state that it could lead to people driving recklessly to comply with the rules of their box.

http://www.firstcar.co.uk/news/is-telematics-insur...

[eybic]

Rude-boy said:

Did they say that it is the ins. co.s fault? I didn't see them place the blame on them, only state that it could lead to people driving recklessly to comply with the rules of their box.

http://www.firstcar.co.uk/news/is-telematics-insur...

Thank you, somebody taking what I wrote at face value rather than look for hidden meanings

[ZOLLAR]

eybic said:

Rude-boy said:

Did they say that it is the ins. co.s fault? I didn't see them place the blame on them, only state that it could lead to people driving recklessly to comply with the rules of their box.

http://www.firstcar.co.uk/news/is-telematics-insur...

Thank you, somebody taking what I wrote at face value rather than look for hidden meanings

They were insinuative posts.

[Rude-boy]

ZOLLAR said:

They were insinuative posts.

TBH the fact that it can and does happen is not insinuated, it is stated. It is to the reader to choose if they wish to blame the ins.co. for it or the drivers.

I blame the drivers FWIW but think that there could be some sort of halfway house where you can call and get a free 'by' once per quarter if you are worried you might have been caught in traffic or delayed by a vain girlfriend, etc.

I was against the boxes at first and would rather have syphilis myself but they are not aimed at people who have held a licence for 21 years, driven over 1m miles and be involved in one claim 19 odd years ago. They are aimed at those, as you have said, who would otherwise be paying £3,986 on their 1.nothing Ecobox.

It does concern me that they might be rolled out further but I am happy that this will be some time coming.

I do worry that the boxes seem to place more reliance on speed and acceleration than they do on if those are conducive to the road conditions but it is a start.