Smart Miles Black Box

Cesca2206

We want to ask if anyone has had a similar experience to ours regarding the black boxes fitted to the cars of young (usually newly qualified) drivers in the hope of keeping down their insurance premium to a tolerable level.

Our daughter had a Black Box fitted and started to get concerned that the rating scores she was getting  bore little relation to how she was driving, or when she was driving.. She knew the low recorded and acceleration scores shown on her app. were not reflective of her driving. She got quite agitated and upset about this and didn't know what she could do. 

On the 4th August we rang Smart Miles (Hastings Insurance) and had a very long conversation with the lady responder and explained the predicament, namely that the scores bore no relation to how carefully our daughter is driving. 

The lady (sorry no name taken) was very reluctant initially to entertain the idea there could be a technological reason and spent a lot of time explaining how the system works. She appeared to be imbued with the idea that a machine can never be faulty.  In the end she appeared to accept there could be a different explanation and she undertook to look further into the matter and get back to us.

We have not heard from Smart Miles since about any further investigation but we have this week (26/09/20) received an email as follows

Your current score is 39. Unfortunately this means that your policy is currently at risk of being cancelled. The average of all customers is 65.
To clarify, your policy is not being cancelled at the moment, but your driving behaviour score needs to improve to at least 40 in order to avoid cancellation.

We’ll always give you some warning, and 7 days’ notice to find alternative insurance,
but we’d rather help you improve your score so you can stay on the road and save yourself some money at renewal.

We have looked at Trust Pilot reviews and found many customers of Smart Miles where similar concerns have been raised by customers. They complain that once these low scores have been determined it is very difficult to improve upon. The answer from the customers’ point of view is that they can’t be improved upon because they are wrong. The answer from Smart Miles is that the gadget (fitted to the top of the battery) is always right and the company then proceeds to act as judge, jury and executioner.

Whilst we are not so naïve as to believe that not all drivers have a totally accurate impression of their own driving aptitude the sheer number of complaints indicates that something is sadly amiss.  Our concern is that Smart Miles are able to impose such measures without any redress.

We would like to hear from anyone with similar experiences, what they found out, how it ended and whether they have identified any legal redress.

[Deleted User]

These boxes are inaccurate. They make all kinds of mistakes.

Unfortunately they will probably not admit it. Your best bet might be too look for other insurance and cancel this policy before they do. Get one without the box.

rudekid48

The problem is likely to fall into one of 3 issues; 1. The device is faulty, 2. The calculation being used to determine the score is faulty or 3. genuinely poor driving.   Black boxes use GPS as the basis of behaviour profiling often in conjunction with data from the accelerometer within the device,  boxes sitting on top of the car battery are not always as reliable as a professionally fitted device and so can have inconsistencies with data.  The lining under the bonnet differs from car to car and can have an impact on GPS accuracy as well as the box itself sometimes letting in water/moisture - so it is possible for the device to have a problem.  Similarly, if the GPS signal is not good then this reduces the accuracy of the data and can skew the behaviour scoring.  The best thing for you to do right now is to raise 2 formal complaints - one with the administrator of the smart miles product (I think it is iGO4) and one with the underwriter of the scheme (probably Advantage).  Raising 2 complaints is important - the first one should be on the basis that you have already flagged your concerns with the Administrator and that they have not taken any action to resolve the issue / prove that the box is functioning correctly, the 2nd complaint to the underwriter should be about the cancellation threat (it is their rules for this not the Administrator) and that they should not be looking to cancel the policy when you have previously raised concerns about the accuracy of the data.  Raising the 2 complaints also means that you have 2 avenues to the Ombudsman service should you need to.  If the worst happens and they do cancel the policy then having raised the 2 complaints will help you....

[Deleted User]

Do you drive everywhere she goes or does she drive alone? Are you sure she's not driving badly?
She could drive slower, accelerate more smoothly, change gear when revs are right, drive under the limit, avoid places where there could be confusion e.g. a 30 limit alongside a 60 limit (e.g. in Burton on the A38) and ensure the score is brought up. While I don't doubt the problems of the black box devices, scoring 39/100 when the average is 65 suggests terrible driving which can't solely be down to errors in the box