Black box insurance, also commonly called telematics insurance, is a relatively new concept particularly suitable for drivers who have not yet developed a record of safe and careful driving and who want to reduce their premiums immediately and see a significant reduction in following years. It also pays real dividends for careful drivers as a whole.
Undergoing initial UK trials in 2005, black box insurance immediately showed that for those willing to take it up it could bring about serious reductions – young drivers who signed up for it are on average 20% less accident prone on the road, and that level of risk reduction is something insurance companies look on very favourably.
So what is black box insurance? A ‘black box’, named for the equipment attached to aircraft that gathers performance data, is affixed to your car containing telematics equipment, including GPS and wireless broadcast gear. This allows a remote
With this pattern of behaviour established and analysed, your premiums can be adjusted in subsequent years based on far more accurate data that is available otherwise. For the insurance company, the advantage of this is obvious – but it’s also just as obvious for you if you’re confident in your safety as a driver.
They begin by reducing your premium slightly as a reward for being willing to put your driving to the test; safe driving, year on year, then reduces your premiums further as their analysis of your behaviour mounts up.
You might even find that if you are in an accident, and it’s demonstrably not your fault, the cost to your next premium isn’t nearly as high as it would be otherwise – the black box will show you were behaving safely at the time, after all, putting the blame squarely where it belongs – the other driver – with cold hard facts to back it up.
That kind of safety from unfairly assigned costs is a selling point for the system on its own. The fact that the black box is compact, lightweight, and can be fitted out of sight in less than an hour by a qualified technician means that there are even fewer drawbacks.
If you’re wondering whether or not to go with black box insurance, help is at hand from Insuro. Spend a while browsing comparison quotes using our quote comparison tool (provided by
Weighing the two up against one another will easily tell you whether or not this is a good avenue to explore or not. Make sure to select the cheapest packages that cover your needs in both cases, to ensure that it’s a fair test! If you decide against black box car insurance then you may want to search for car insurance without a black box.