Car Insurance tracking my vehicle. Is this normal these days ?

[ToEarlyForDecorations]

My husband and I got some car insurance quotes today. A few of the insurance companies wanted to attach a tracking device to our car to monitor our driving habits. Earlier but unrelated we went to Tesco and had to validate our parking ticket with our rental car registration number. A security camera picture of us entering the car park came up as a result. Although, I don't recall using the validated ticket to get through an exit barrier. That's more scrutiny than airport security ! It's not the first time we've had to input our car registration number to pay for parking. Is it me or has Britain gone surveillance crazy ?

We had to agree to a 'black box' in order to insure 20 year old dd. I was worried in case it picked up my bad habits and attributed them to dd. But I think it made my dh more aware of how bad his driving was and drive better just in case

As well as all the things you mention OP, there are ANPR cameras on loads of major roads and in Police cars that constantly monitor traffic to search for unlicenced, uninsured vehicles or where the MOT has run out.

The data is also used to help look for missing persons, or place people near the scene of a crime. But the main reason why you have to give your reg no when paying for parking is to stop the sharing of tickets - if it is a set fee to park all day, people using the car park for a couple of hours in the morning will frequently give their still valid ticket away to new arrivals as a random acts of kindness gesture - linking the ticket to reg no stops this sort of thing.

Big Brother is indeed watching us all.

That camera thing for car parking is at my local hospital, it is how the system knows when you arrived to calculate the charge. Don't see a problem.

Black boxes monitor driving habits - encourages better driving.might mean fewer get killed.

In a country full of entitled people it all has to be done.

Loads of carparks use video cameras and link to registration these days. Up here (Lake District) I think it's mainly to stop tourists parking, not paying and then never being seen again, and to stop ticket-sharing between cars so carparks don't lose out.

You just park and then head off, and when you leave, put your registration number in and it tells you exactly how long you've been there and how much you owe. If you leave without paying, they track your address through your registration and send you the ticket in the post, with a fine if you don't pay within x days.

The insurance monitoring is common for young drivers but I think will increasingly become common for everyone. They can no longer charge a 17 year old male more than a 17 year old female even though statistically the male is a higher risk, so they have to use other ways to differentiate.

Have a look at Watchdog these black boxes can be wrong.

I'm considering getting one, my driving is rubbish but after seeing I can chuck it on the kitchen side and get a perfect score I'm tempted.

Those boxes can definitely get it wrong. I moved my daughters car (with box) out of our drive on to our quiet cul-de-sac and then back again ( to get my car out) and she got a bad score for driving on a high risk road! She also cannot drive after 10 pm without getting penalized.

Floweringcactus Did you query that with the insurers?

Different boxes assess different things. My daughter's (with Tesco) is quite vague - just gives her a % score each month and bonus miles. My nephew's, on the other hand, with another company, would log his speed on every bit of road and log on his portal that he had been going, say, 70mph in a 40 limit. That was an error, as he'd been driving along a dual carriageway (70 limit), but there was a 40 limit road crossing it via a bridge, which they clocked. They also said that certain roads had 30 limits, whereas my nephew could prove they were 40. They always amended their records, but he had to keep on top of it and check up.

Those boxes can definitely get it wrong. I moved my daughters car (with box) out of our drive on to our quiet cul-de-sac and then back again ( to get my car out) and she got a bad score for driving on a high risk road! She also cannot drive after 10 pm without getting penalized.

Take this advice if you're prepared to have your claim refused when you have an accident and your black box says you were home at the time. Although the insurance would pay out to any third parties, they'd recover it all from you.

Would a dashcam prove where you were, to contradict the black box?

It's not the first time we've had to input our car registration number to pay for parking

That's not surveillance, that's to stop you giving the paid for ticket to someone else.

Personally I think the black boxes are the way forward. Obviously they need some tweaks to ensure they're getting speed limits correct but if everyone had one in straight away speeding is going to stop making everyone safer.
I can understand the reasoning behind current insurance charges, eg I've only been driving a few months my insurance is really high, my dad has been driving years and his insurance is really low. But I stick to the speed limit and drive carefully, he will regularly exceed the speed limit by a lot and he drives horribly and loves tail gating. Surely if we were insured based on driving style, mine should be lower than his. I am a much safer driver.

I was 29 when I passed my driving test 2 years ago. Insurance for my 1.4 renault scenic was nigh on £3k as I was classed as a 'young driver' rather than a 'new driver'. I got it down to £1700 by having a 'black box' installed. What a nightmare. My score dropped for driving after 11pm, despite one of my occupations listed as 'barmaid'. I got penalised for braking 'wrong'. I got penalised for using the same route every day - despite driving to work and back, work and back, work and back with the odd Asda trip chucked in. I got marked down for driving at peak times, the same for sitting in congestion............absolute joke and no way out of it. Basically I used one road regularly to avoid the congestion on another road, so they either penalised me for sitting on a congested road or for using the same route!

I was glad a year later when I could switch and tell them that I didn't want the 'box' in my car any more. It also dropped to £500 for the year!!

Never, ever again!

ETA - Occupation listed as barmaid, where I regularly finished after 11pm - hence why I learned to drive as buses stop after 11pm in certain areas where we live so would cost me a taxi fare . £8 taxi fare when I was paid less that £8 per hour!!

A driving instructor told me that the boxes have 'caused' lots of accidents. Folk with them and with a driving curfew (ie the car has to be at the registered address from 11pm till 6am), will often hurry to get home in time and drive dangerously.....often ending up with a bump.

Also;
My dash cam shows where I am so if someone has one and a box, if there is a dispute, the dashcam would back the driver up. Although it would only do that if they have correctly set the date and time in the dash cam.

Ok they'd definitely need to improve the technology because that's awful aspoonfulofyourownmedicine. I had none of that with my box just weekly emails with my driving rating. It didn't have a curfew or anything like that and I only had to have it for 3 months.