insurance co box in car

bouicca21

Forgive me if this has been asked before and if the subject line isn't very clear.

I am going to renew my carisurance in July and have already started looking around. Some insurance companies offer a discount if one puts some kind of gizmo in the car that does something (not sure whether it advises, comments, feeds back to big brother or what) to evaluate your driving abilities.

Now I am a bit of a crap driver. Safe but not brilliant. And I am going to have two named drivers who are not very experienced.

What does this sort of box actually do - is it worth having? Or will it tell the insurance company that I am rotten at parking and bump my premiums up instead of down?

arcon5

Do you mean like the tracking boxes? They record your speed, how sharp you break, how quickly you speed up etc. Builds them a picture as to whether you're a steady driver or like to thrash your car and break speed limits.

It's a good idea if you're a young driver as it drives your premiums down... but if you are adding 2 other people i'd be very wary of this as their driving may cost you if they drive like tits.

bouicca21

Well I'm an 'old' driver - and the two named drivers would be my daughters. I'm reasonably cheap but one of my daughters has only had a licence for a few months and the increased premium for her is phenomenal. I'm quite keen on getting any reduction going and if the box is about speeding and braking then maybe it would give me peace of mind too? And I'm just slightly p*ssed off that the various proposal forms don't ask about pass plus ...

mcjordi

unless its a massive discount in premium i wouldn't bother with them.. as ultimately they could cost you more in the long run if the insurance company decide they dont like your driving

Lum

The insurance company T&Cs should say what they monitor. For example Zenith Brightbox penalises you for going a certain percentage above the speed limit (I forget exactly what) and triggers an automatic policy cancellation if you go more than 50% above the speed limit.

I'd be very nervous about such devices, for example part of the M48 runs parallel, and very close to, a housing estate service road. I've seen quite a few satnavs suddenly decide I'm on the service road and those that have speed limit warnings suddenly start yelling at me for going 70 in a 30. If the Zenith device made this mistake I'd get an automatic policy cancellation.

londonTiger

driving isn't complicated, our road networks and driving lessons and exams ensures that as long as you follow the guidelines you should be safe. It's practically foolproof if you follow the guidelines.

Even roundabouts these days which used to be most peoples pet peeves are filtered by traffic lights, just get on the correct lane and follow the lane to your exit.

It's not like professional race car driving that you have to be super skilled, know exactly what revs to the hair and steer and worry about oversteer and understeer etc..

If you're not confident speak to a driving instructor to help you do refresher courses.

Any box of this sort will be very expensive or cheap and useless. Nothig will beat a human experieced driver to help you improve confidence.


I hope you're not one of these dangerous drivng school drivers that can't even parallel park and do 30mph on the motorway. If thats the case hand in your driving license.

Lum

@londontiger: This post isn't about that, it's about whether they can save money on insurance by getting one of these boxes and are there any cons to doing so.

No-one seriously expects the output of one of these boxes to give any meaningful feedback on your driving except, apparently, for some insurance companies.

jc808

londonTiger wrote: »

driving isn't complicated, our road networks and driving lessons and exams ensures that as long as you follow the guidelines you should be safe. It's practically foolproof if you follow the guidelines.

Even roundabouts these days which used to be most peoples pet peeves are filtered by traffic lights, just get on the correct lane and follow the lane to your exit.

It's not like professional race car driving that you have to be super skilled, know exactly what revs to the hair and steer and worry about oversteer and understeer etc..

If you're not confident speak to a driving instructor to help you do refresher courses.

Any box of this sort will be very expensive or cheap and useless. Nothig will beat a human experieced driver to help you improve confidence.


I hope you're not one of these dangerous drivng school drivers that can't even parallel park and do 30mph on the motorway. If thats the case hand in your driving license.

what a patronising post!!

arcon5

driving isn't complicated, our road networks and driving lessons and exams ensures that as long as you follow the guidelines you should be safe. It's practically foolproof if you follow the guidelines.

Even roundabouts these days which used to be most peoples pet peeves are filtered by traffic lights, just get on the correct lane and follow the lane to your exit.

Except most people don't follow the guidelines - and these same people in fact pose a risk to you. Being in an accident is not necessarily about how you are driving, but how those around you are driving. Experience gives you the knowledge of what to look out for, most common mess ups and the confidence to react when things go wrong. So maybe this is a comment that could ring some truth in an ideal world, it certainly is a very flawed comment in the real world!

Richard53

These devices can be very revealing. I had an motorcycle app for my phone which does something similar. It recorded the route, speeds along the way (referenced against speed limits) and also Gs of acceleration and braking. I took it for a 'spirited' ride of about 150 miles and it certainly recorded some interesting data Point is, they do work.

I'm a pretty steady driver and I wouldn't be bothered having one in the car, especially if it meant that my driving style got me a lower premium. But anyone else using the car (youngsters especially) needs to know that they are under constant supervision, 24/7, and that there are nasty consequences for driving like a muppet. Nasty consequences for you, the payer of the premium. If you are sure they would comply with this, you could make some good savings. If not, it could land you in a world of pain.

Personally, I find this a bit too Big Brotherish for my liking, and I would never fit one voluntarily. Your insco will know exactly where you have been at any time of day. That may not be a problem for you, but remember that 10 years ago, no-one would have dreamed that the Govt would be legislating to have access to the contents of our emails, either. As soon as all cars have these fitted (for 'road safety' purposes, of course), what's to stop the police and/or Govt of the day deciding that it would be in the national interest to have access to the vehicle movements of terrorist suspects? Of course, they would have to have access to everyone's, just to be on the safe side ...

bouicca21

Thanks - there are some really useful comments for me to consider. (And, richard 53 I'm paranoid about big brother too)

LondonTiger, I freely admit that I am crap at parallel parking, also I am one of those irritating drivers who sticks to speed limits - except on nice clear motorways ...