Black Box Car Insurance Policyholders Increase

Black box car insurance, also known as telematics cover, has being growing in popularity since it was first introduced a number of years ago. There are now several hundred thousand policyholders and it will be interesting to observe in the next few years if more motorists take on board this type of cover.

So, why the interest in this type of motor insurance? Well, the main reason is that it is often cheaper to arrange such cover and, in the current economic climate, a lot of people are keen to reduce or contain their household expenditure.

Initially, black box cover was designed for the younger motorist who was usually faced with having to pay an awful lot more for their car insurance in comparison to say a mature, experienced driver. In fact, some young drivers could find that it was costing them more to insure their vehicles each month than their monthly car loan repayments. This is not surprising as, statistically, a young driver is more likely to be involved in a road traffic accident than an experienced motorist.

So, hew does telematics cover work? Well, a black box is fitted to the dashboard and it records certain aspects of your driving i.e. where you are driving, the time of day you are at the wheel of your car, how fast you are driving, your braking and cornering. The insurance company has access to this data and will assess the risk you present to them of being involved in a road traffic accident and base your premium on this as well as many other factors. The insurer reviews how much they charge you sometimes as frequently as every quarter. Those motorists who drive more carefully are more likely to pay less for their cover than someone who drives too fast for instance.

It is worth noting that a number of insurance companies will consider black box car insurance for mature drivers so, if you are of that age, why not get a quote and compare it with the cost of your existing cover.