I will let you know as my step son is due to have a Tesco one fitted to our fiesta in a week or so.
New black box + road trip
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Soldato
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So you're going to rag it and take the blame
. Tbh I also wondered for milage as there's the same issue imo.It's still breaking the law.
Clearly incorrect then
Either of those examples will be points on your license time
I'm a named driver on his policy, but the policy is limited to 6k miles anyway. If he drives well he can "earn" an extra 100 miles each monthSo you're going to rag it and take the blame
You'll notice that 77 is more than 70, so yes it is "fast" when compared to the speed limit. Also if the GPS in the black box clocked you at 77, then it's likely the speedo was showing 80+. Ultimately it's irrelevant whether you think it's fast or not, you've shown the insurer that you have little regard for the rules of the road, so it's no surprise they've decided you're a higher risk.
As far as servicing vs MOT, they are very different things.
The MOT is a check to make sure your vehicle is safe and roadworthy, and is a legal requirement.
A service is regular maintenance, e.g. changing the oil, filters etc., and while there is technically no requirement to have one done (at least not on a 13 year old car which is well out of warranty), it's definitely advisable if you want to keep the car actually running (not to mention you are legally required to keep it in a roadworthy condition).
On such an old car though, I'd definitely suggest learning how to to DIY it. On most older cars it's a pretty easy job with plenty of youtube videos to show you the steps, and requires only a few basic tools.
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Soldato
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Oh I was thinking if your son was the only driver on his insurance but you drove under cover from your own car how do they know who's doing what speed or what milage?I'm a named driver on his policy, but the policy is limited to 6k miles anyway. If he drives well he can "earn" an extra 100 miles each month
I think on some of them you have an app and can manually specify that it wasn't the black box driver, e.g. when driven by a mechanic etc
The Tesco one looks to just be a web portal, but until the black box gets fitted and starts recording data it doesn't allow you to do anything
The Tesco one looks to just be a web portal, but until the black box gets fitted and starts recording data it doesn't allow you to do anything
On the subject of black boxes, they do seem to be becoming significantly more common, even for older more experienced drivers - cheapest option by 15% for me was a black box policy from Hastings, and I'm 40, driving for almost 20 years with 9+ years NCB
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They don't. Which is why it's flawed.
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Let me know how it goes , I assume it's via a company called RS Connect?
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Yeah I'll probably do stuff like change the oil myself
I'm having the front tyres changed - does this count as a "modification" as I've heard that if the insurers think your car is modified they'll either increase it by a bomb or will cancel your policy. Logically, this shouldn't be the case for tyres as it improves the cars safety, but logic doesn't really come into it with a lot of insurance policies
No, new tyres are not a mod. Changing wheels/wheel size on the other hand would be.
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As long as they are an appropriate size and not "stretching" them to rubber bands or similar. If in doubt stick to the sizes recommended on the tyre pressure sticker normally inside your door or fuel filler cap.
Grey area, but changing to another set of genuine OEM wheels e.g. from Ford 16" wheels to Ford 17" wheels is probably acceptable, it could easily have been a factory option (assuming it's a size listed on the sticker mentioned above), and unless you were the original owner you could not reasonably be expected to know they weren't the original wheels.
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I'm just hoping they don't "find something" and say that the car is modified and therefore they can't insure it, policy cancelled, can't get reasonably priced insurance for the forseeable future etc. As far as I'm aware the car has no modifications and I bought it as such but its used so I don't know what might have been done. Knowing how low the modification threshold is, I'll even probably remove the dashcam warning sticker i have on my back windscreen and unplug the usb dashcam.
Who's going to be looking? The black box installer doesn't care or have any idea what you've told your insurance they're just contracted to fit the boxes.
I wouldn't worry too much. Unless it's been mapped to increase power or had something obvious like a straight through exhaust, massively lowered etc. then A) they will almost certainly never find out and B) even if they do, the likely scenario is they'll increase your premium to cover what you SHOULD be paying.
If you want to be absolutely pedantic about it, then like you said, even something as innocuous as changing to a non-factory brand of tyres, filters, brake pads, oil, bulbs or even screenwash could be classed as a "modification".
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I've read reviews of people complaining that the people doing the installation look at the car for modifications and if they find any they tell the insurance company and they cancel it etc.
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Also another point - will the insurer freak out that I'm driving overseas and parking at locations miles away from home etc?
A general point as well - my work currently means I often finish at 11PM a night, there is no curfew but just wondering what the lenience of this things is before a computer determines you to be too risky a driver and cancels you. Ironically that work is Tesco itself.
I had an admiral black box the first year; they sent me a driving score once a month but never really paid it much attention. I probably should start to do so with this new one. I don't care too much about the renewal price as I think after this trip my trusty Civic will be being retired, so a new car is probably in order. I just want to make sure the policy isn't cancelled.
A general point as well - my work currently means I often finish at 11PM a night, there is no curfew but just wondering what the lenience of this things is before a computer determines you to be too risky a driver and cancels you. Ironically that work is Tesco itself.
I had an admiral black box the first year; they sent me a driving score once a month but never really paid it much attention. I probably should start to do so with this new one. I don't care too much about the renewal price as I think after this trip my trusty Civic will be being retired, so a new car is probably in order. I just want to make sure the policy isn't cancelled.