Teen Learning to drive - black box on my car?

[IDontDoIroning]

Hi anyone with any knowledge of this would be grateful.

My 17 yo is keen to learn to drive. I have a small car which is due to renew insurance very soon so I'm looking for a policy with dc as named driver obviously as good value for money as possible.

I've found a policy with quite a good price which needs a black box to be installed on the car, but as it's my car and I need it for work every day and running round the other dc etc, 17yo dc will only be having infrequent use of it at least at first so I'm just wondering if there are any down sides to this.

Also how does the box will know who is driving it.

Thanks in advance

The up side is that you will get feedback on your driving. Bad habits will affect renewal prices. I dont think that the black box knows who is driving.

My DD had a black box in her car. From year 1 to year 2 her premiums halved because of the black box record.

The simple answer is that the black box doesn't know who is driving, so you will have to drive in a careful and appropriate manner in order to get a reduction in premium and/or avoid penalties. So if you are an erratic driver who puts your boot to the board and breaks heavily then this sort of policy is not going to be for you. You will be able to track the driving on computer so will know who is to blame but the insurance company won't be interested if it is the young driver or experienced one who was driving. Also be careful as some companies have a curfew with their black box - but not all of them.

We added DS (17) to our small car when he was learning and he has now passed his test. The renewal notice has just come through and DH rang up to ask them for their best price - they knocked £150 off to keep the business and DH said it was comparable to policies he had looked at with a black box - only we won't have a black box.
Ring around for quotes and ask for what the price will be assuming your DS passes his test within the year as well as the cost whilst he is learning.

I put DS1 on my insurance when he was learning. The best price by far was with Direct Line and since he passed his test I have kept him on as a named driver. He uses car occasionally but I am main driver.
There was no black box option then but they do have one now. It gives you a discount but is not AFAIK compulsory. As offto says it will be judging your driving more than your DC if you drive a lot.

We put our DSs on our car insurance when they were learning (DS2 17 still is) using Collingwood learner driver insurance. It is a separate policy to your own and costs about £300 for 24 weeks. You can insure them for shorter amounts of time. It is void as soon as they pass their test.

DS2 is having a black box on car when he passes. I am relieved about it tbh, he can bend to peer pressure a bit so at least I know he will drive sensibly.

We have just installed one for the same reason - dd starting to learn to drive. It saved a fair bit on the premium (which went up just under £200 for the year when I added her). I am a fairly careful driver and so I'm not fussed about if monitoring me. DH, on the other hand looked a bit alarmed when I said I would be able to look at his driving behaviour online...which is good because he thrashes my poor little car and now he might stop. I am more conscious of my speed now, we will definitely keep the box once DD passes her test just so she knows something is watching (and that I can look at the stats for her journeys online). I think the black box is a positive thing for us all round (I am a bit holier than thou about these things because I work in health and safety and I have studied human error and accident statistics quite a lot).