To wonder why all car insurance companies don't do this?

[bendmeoverbackwards]

I have a box fitted in my car that my insurance company have as part of their terms and conditions. It monitors my driving and I get regular email updates.

I think it's good and makes me think about my speed, braking and acceleration which should make me a safer driver.

I'm wondering why all insurance companies don't do similar? Surely this is the best way to catch people who speed or drive aggressively and increase their premiums accordingly?

That's what I mean - if all insurance companies did them, there is nowhere to hide. There is always the risk of people driving uninsured but the penalties for this I imagine are huge and not a risk most people would take

Not everyone yearns to be watched, monitored and micro managed the way that you seem to. If you want that for yourself, fair enough. But don't insist upon it for everyone else.

@Somerford

That's what I mean - if all insurance companies did them, there is nowhere to hide. There is always the risk of people driving uninsured but the penalties for this I imagine are huge and not a risk most people would take

Not everyone yearns to be watched, monitored and micro managed the way that you seem to. If you want that for yourself, fair enough. But don't insist upon it for everyone else.

I agree with this! Plus the additional costnof having it fitted would probably make my costs about 10-15% higher!

I don’t want any further monitoring than we currently have. I think this year has shown how quickly things can turn in terms of how we are monitored and controlled so I don’t plan on adding to the ease of that

I wouldn't want it as there is no context, there is no camera showing why you accelerated or braked suddenly.

I don't break the speed limit and would consider myself a careful driver plus my car is so shit at accelerating economical that at times I feel I could run faster when I drive on a dual carriageway and it takes forever to come up to speed. So I don't feel like I could even drive like an idiot.

Those who would most need it wouldn't have it fitted.

Nope. Like someone else said it's too much like 1984 dystopia.

How do they work? Does every instance of what is seen as bad driving (over the speed limit? Sudden braking?) get added up and your premium increases/decreases accordingly? So yesterday when I had to suddenly brake hard because a car pulled out without looking and slammed into the side of the car in front of me would go down as a mark against my driving?

Haven’t there been reports of inaccuracies with these boxes, so people being penalised with higher premiums completely unfairly?

Why not go whole hog and let house insurance companies fit your houses with cctv and motion sensors they monitor....

I’m all for technology and how it makes my life easier and yes some of that will involve me technically being monitored but being monitored for insurance purposes poses no positive for buying insurance other than a possible lower premium for those judged high risk for everyone else it would just be something installed on something they own just because the big companies want it.

Speeding: illegal yes, not necessarily dangerous.
Braking: how else does one slow down or stop?
Acceleration: what is dangerous about this?

I am a careful driver but no I wouldn’t have this. I remember reading somewhere that it measures many factors - its a small step from you have 2 instances of speeding this month to invalidating your insurance because you approached a roundabout at the wrong angle, applied too much pressure to your brakes rather than a uniform deceleration approaching the roundabout starting 20 meters back...

As pp have said the boxes don't know why you're breaking suddenly. It could be because you're a dangerous driver not paying attention or it could be that someone else suddenly veers in front of you without warning.

Then there was the programme about problems with the boxes and inaccurate readings. I think it was an episode of Watchdog that showed a black box on a kitchen table, obviously not moving, but was recording data that it was travelling at over 50mph.

That plus Dh works shifts so is often driving at "risky times" so would potentially put his premiums up just for working.

We sell these devices and I wouldn't want them in everyone's cars. Dangerous drivers aren't actually the drivers who harshly accelerate. They're the drivers that don't look before turning, that dawdle, that don't know who has right of way at a roundabout. Dashcams, absolutely, massively useful in the event of accidents. But trackers are mostly useless to 1, prove to police you weren't speeding and 2, find out if someone is using your vehicle in a manner they shouldn't. Like using your bosses massive van to go to the seaside for the weekend.

It's mostly for young drivers plus I was told by my insurance company that it doesn't work really if you live in a rural area changing speed frequently and have to drive at night

Not for me. I'm not a fan of this increasing trend of people wanting en masse monitoring of various things to ensure compliance.

The people at highest risk of causing car accidents young drivers, especially young male drivers pretty much have to agree to a black box these days to even get quotes for car insurance.

Besides, increasing number of cars now have telematics installed at factory which does a similar job anyway.

I encountered a case a few years back where a court used BMW's telematics system to prove that a driver had been well over the speed limit when he hit and killed a pedestrian.

He ended up being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving largely because of the data provided by that system.

There is always the risk of people driving uninsured but the penalties for this I imagine are huge and not a risk most people would take.

No, fines are much less than premiums for some drivers

Most companies do offer the option. I don’t want it and the discount offered certainly isn’t enough of an incentive. I’m a very safe, cautious driver. I still don’t want a box reporting my every move to my insurance company. They obviously don’t force the issue because they know customers would be furious.

@Somerford

That's what I mean - if all insurance companies did them, there is nowhere to hide. There is always the risk of people driving uninsured but the penalties for this I imagine are huge and not a risk most people would take

Not everyone yearns to be watched, monitored and micro managed the way that you seem to. If you want that for yourself, fair enough. But don't insist upon it for everyone else.

The driving of others affects us all though doesn’t it? I am generally a good safe driver but it pisses me off no end to see idiots speeding and driving dangerously. They never seem to be caught!

@VeniVidiWeeWee

Speeding: illegal yes, not necessarily dangerous. Braking: how else does one slow down or stop? Acceleration: what is dangerous about this?

Both acceleration and braking should be smooth and controlled.

My phone spying on me is enough. I don't need/ want another machine to do this for me.

@BackforGood

There is always the risk of people driving uninsured but the penalties for this I imagine are huge and not a risk most people would take.

No, fines are much less than premiums for some drivers

Only fines for uninsured driving?

The reason I didn't get one (As a young-ish driver, I passed when I was 17 and I've never had one in the following 5 years i've been driving)

-It was only slightly cheaper to get insurance with it..there wasn't a huge massive discount for me. It was like £50 at the most?
-I currently work until Midnight..most of them penalise you for driving at night. Why should I be penalised just because I HAVE to drive late to get home?
-How does it pick up if someone else is driving (ie my partner and dad are both on my insurance) and each of us have different driving styles..
-Finally you say "Braking should be smooth and controlled".. Okay..fab next time a child runs in the road i'll just slowly break then shall I? I've had it before where i've driving been at the limit (weather that be 30 or 40) and the parents are more glued to their phone than watching their child who then runs into the road...causing me to emergency stop... a black box can't detect that child or why i've stopped...Just that i've braked harshly..
-I don't really want my insurance to be tracking me 24/7, that just creeps me out a little bit

Agree with pp. If you wish to be monitored, micromanaged and remotely observed at all times, fine.

But don’t try and make it a worthy “thing” that should be standard.

I drive safely and have zero need, want or desire to have my every movement tracked thanks.

Both acceleration and braking should be smooth and controlled.

Righto. I'll just very slowly apply my brakes and risk a collision when a child runs out in front of me then. Can't have the insurance company thinking my braking isn't smooth and controlled can I?

I think you will be less enamoured of your shiny black box when you start getting "feedback" from it. Computers can be very stupid things.

So because you've just discovered black boxes (that have been around for years) and you like yours, you think everyone must have one too?

Can you not see that the really dangerous dickheads are most likely uninsured and/or probably driving a stolen car?

@bendmeoverbackwards

I remember having this discussion with a 19 yr old back in the 80s. He said his insurance premium quotes were around £1000. His mate had just been given a fixed penalty fine for driving with no insurance, of £200. Obviously I'm not condoning it, but you can understand the temptation.
I've just done a quick Google, and it said the fixed penalty fine for driving with no insurance today is £300. I don't know what a male, 19 yr old, employed as a mechanic 's insurance would be now but I'm going to take a stab at around the £1600 mark, going on what my dc have been quoted. When you think you are invincible, and a great driver (as many 19 yr olds will), and you are on NMW or worse, apprenticeship wage, then you can see why people are tempted.