Black box? Not in my day...
Motorists would rather pay higher motor insurance premiums than have an electronic device spying on their driving.
That's the view of most respondents in UK drivers in a new survey by one insurance broker (www.motorinsurance.co.uk), and it follows the insurance industry's experiments with new lower cost motor insurance policies dependent on having an electronic monitoring device fixed to the car.
Over two thirds (70 per cent) of drivers do not want their journey data to be recorded by an insurance company, or a recording black box to be fitted to their vehicle.
Most (64 per cent) of 750 drivers polled said that price is the most important factor when purchasing motor insurance, and do want their premiums to reflect their usage (56 per cent) – but not at the price of Big Brother keeping track of their movements. However, 40 per cent of drivers said that they thought having a black box fitted to their car would make them improve their driving.
With the new style of insurance, the car owner pays a small up-front premium, and a device fixed to the car records time, location and distance travelled. Just as with a mobile phone contract, the owner then receives a monthly usage bill.
However, there may be a long way to go before insurers can introduce ‘pay-as you-go’ insurance schemes. Government plans to introduce pay-as-you-drive road pricing means motorists could be charged up to £1.28 per mile to pay for the ‘environmental cost’ of their journey. This has resulted in a mini revolt, with almost 740,000 (at the time of writing) people signing the petition that's up on the Downing Street Web site until 20 February.
The broker's managing director Paul Cosh said: “Although the majority of drivers seem very wary of pay-as-you-go insurance, low mileage drivers, or those who avoid rush hour traffic, can save money. As the black box records speed as well as the car’s location, people seem nervous about how this data will be used.
“Will the police be able to check whether or not drivers are speeding at any time of the day or night? Maybe drivers are also wary that their insurance company will have an exact record of their speed at the time of an accident.
“Whatever the reasons, this new style of insurance has a long way to go before drivers are convinced.”
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