Cheap car insurance – Millions could be missing out on up to £500 discount
Millions of drivers could make significant savings on their car insurance by switching to a telematics or black box policy.
The benefits of black box policies are well publicised but motorists are still mildly sceptical about the technology because they are concerned about privacy and switching providers.
Research conducted by Compare the Market for This Is Money found that 86 per cent of drivers wouldn’t choose a telematics policy when renewing.
Black boxes monitor things such as your speed, driving style, distance travelled and how you accelerate and brake.
The data collected from them can be used to cut the overall cost if your insurance premium when it comes to renewing the car.
However, because these cars monitor how you drive some drivers are put off by them.
Drivers could stand to make some hefty savings if they opted for a black box with drivers on average saving £482 annually.
This could rise to as much as £1,450 for drivers aged between 17-20 and older drivers aged 40-49 could also save £516.
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Over half of drivers (56 per cent) didn’t want a blackbox fitted because they didn’t want their deriving information shared with their insurer.
Black boxes can also make it harder to switch insurers as they often can’t be transferred between providers.
Over a third (35 per cent) of drivers said the ability to transfer between providers would increase the likelihood of switching to a telematics policy.
Dan Hutson, head of motor insurance at Compare the Market, told This Is Money: “There is a common misconception that telematics policies only benefit young drivers, whereas people of all ages stand to save considerable amounts.
“As the cost of insurance seems set to rise throughout 2019, telematics can offer a great way to avoid expensive premiums so driver scepticism around this technology is worrying.
“Motorists agree that black boxes could make driving safer and more affordable, but this alone seems not enough of an incentive to switch providers.
“Our research suggests that if drivers were able to take their black box with them, over a third more people would consider purchasing telematics and would potentially save a lot of money in the process.
“For drivers to truly embrace the benefits of telematics policies, the industry must work to fix this interoperability issue and make switching blackbox providers as easy as possible.’
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Average saving that can be made with telematics per age group
17-20 – £1,451
21-24 – £425
25-29 – £243
30-39 – £249
40-49 – £516
50-64 – £484
65-79 – £343
80+ – £145
