Car Insurance

Punkinboots

My daughter received an email this morning saying that her policy with 1st Central was going to be cancelled next week as her mobile phone has been on power saving mode. Shes got a black box fitted in her car since the policy started in February this year. She is a new driver (July 2022 but not been able to buy a car until February this year).  Ive not seen the terms and conditions of the policy yet as I am waiting for her to send them to me but can this actually happen? The man she spoke to said she can cancel it herself before next Friday else 1st Central will cancel it

DullGreyGuy

Technology behind blackbox insurance varies notably but certainly some do require the use of the driver's mobile and by not having the app installed, not having the app with the right permissions or disabling the app in some way would all be in the T&Cs of the insurance and be a breach of the terms if you dont follow it. There have been several here saying their policies were cancelled for not installing and activating their insurers app with 21 days or such.

If they wont allow her to bring herself back into line by re-enabling whatever they require then she certainly should proactively cancel the policy as not suitable for her and her mobile phone use rather than have the broker cancel it on her which then needs to be declared forever more.

daveyjp

If the box relies on an app which transmits data while the car is being driven, but in power saving mode the phone doesn't transmit data they may be able to cancel.

Only way to know is to read Ts and Cs which can be downloaded without having to wait for them to be sent to you

https://www.1stcentralinsurance.com/our-insurance-documents

Alderbank

Thanks for the useful link @daveyjp

The policy terms include the following:

11.5 Your 1st Central Connect obligations

The Sensor pairs to your phone with the 1st Central Connect App, and it is vital that the app and the Sensor stay connected throughout your policy. 

To remain insured, you must ensure that your smartphone is always able to pair with your telematics Sensor by:
• Ensuring Bluetooth is enabled during every journey you make.
• Enabling location services for the 1st Central Connect App.
• Enabling notifications for the 1st Central Connect App.
• Ensuring that it is not on power saving mode and is charged to more than 10% throughout every journey you make.

There are a small number of exemptions, for example temporary use of a courtesy car while your daughter's car is in for repair or if the windscreen sensor had failed and you had ordered a replacement.

Would any of these exemptions apply?

user1977

Out of interest, what happens if you drive somewhere not covered by your network? Presumably it doesn't literally need to stay connected all the time, just needs to "phone home" at some sort of minimum frequency?

CSI_Yorkshire

user1977 said:

Out of interest, what happens if you drive somewhere not covered by your network? Presumably it doesn't literally need to stay connected all the time, just needs to "phone home" at some sort of minimum frequency?

It's the phone (for the app) and telematics sensor that need to stay connected all the time - not to the outside world, just to each other.

DullGreyGuy

user1977 said:

Out of interest, what happens if you drive somewhere not covered by your network? Presumably it doesn't literally need to stay connected all the time, just needs to "phone home" at some sort of minimum frequency?

The list doesnt include connected to wifi/mobile data

The sensor doesnt have vast storage capacity and hence needs the connection to the phone to pass data over regularly. The phone has much more data storage and so can hold on to it until it next calls home. There is normally also a minimum frequency of connection to a data network but that can be less because of the above.