Telematics Box

I've had mine for 2 years (not direct line) and it was the ONLY way to afford insurance, other than winning the lotto.

Nothing bad at all if you drive legally, most people are scared of them because they are bad drivers and like to break the law speeding etc...

The only downside is that if you have a little bump, or scratch etc then you can't always sort the problem privately as the company may know but it's your call at the end of the day.
 
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I'm glad to hear it. Mine's about £800 without it, which I've saved for, but would obviously rather not have to pay.

Hah I don't drive badly but I do go a little quick. I went through the concerns everyone who's replied here had with the chap from Direct line and it's all free, on, off etc. you can post it back to them apparently, so I guess they just stick in under the bonnet with some sort of tape.

Your premium will never go up, but could go down. They're not using it for intrusive reasons though, it's more to assess your driving as far as I can tell.

Anyway, accepted the quote.
 
I'd rather not have one on my car ever. If I was to get banned and couldn't afford insurance without one then I'd obviously consider it.

They would probably think I'd crashed the way I drive sometimes.
 
The problem with these is they consider anyone who doesn't drive like they're on a driving lesson as 'dangerous' or 'bad' drivers, yet an elderly person or someone who isn't paying attention at all and is all over the road will be considered 'safe' because they're driving 20mph less.
 
I don't know how they use the data as I don't work for Direct Line anymore but I let them fit one to my car as part of a pilot scheme when they were testing it out, it's still in there actually thinking about it, they never asked for it back.
 
I'd want to see their terms and conditions, read through them in great details, check what break clauses they have and if they could alter terms mid way through the contract, check and double check all related charges, get a full data protection breakdown of how and where they can share the data...

...and then tell them where to shove it
 
No chance, big brother is watching us enough as it is, dont give them the advantage of knowing exactly when and where you go, what speed you go everywhere at, how fast you accelerate/brake, what speed you take corners at, these boxes can literally monitor everything you are doing in the car and frankly I dont want them to know that, they will use it as a tool to bump up your premium slowly over time, also i have heard lots of people saying that they charge to fit, remove, change or even do anything to the box if it develops faults etc.

Plus heard horror stories of you ending your policy early for whatever reason and being charged a fortune to remove the box and get it back to them.
 
EnderXi said:
also i have heard lots of people saying that they charge to fit, remove, change or even do anything to the box if it develops faults etc.

Plus heard horror stories of you ending your policy early for whatever reason and being charged a fortune to remove the box and get it back to them.
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Fitting is free, they don't remove them at the end of the policy either it just gets turned off and left there. I actually can't see any negatives from it, this is essentially the same scheme I was part of by the looks of it but on a wider scale, you are doing it for a discount on the policy whereas I did it out of curiosity & the chance to win an iPad.

It's just a trial of the technology.

And if you do get rear ended it doesn't matter come renewal as Direct Line don't load policies for non-fault claims anyway.
 
It doesn't go up because the person that processes the renewal can't see the data. To them it's just a normal policy with a note on it to apply a discount.
 
I got a 20% discount from aviva this renewal by doing 200 miles using the aviva drive app on my phone and scoring 9.2 out of 10.

Brought my premium down from £711 to £568, was well worth the effort!
 
Wouldn't have one fitted at all. I imagine when it comes time to move from them you'll get stung a nice fee to have the box removed aswell.
 
As a 19 year old, I got a box when I was 18 in my 1st car. My insurance was £1300 with Bell because of it, this was £700 cheaper at a minimum than another company without the box.

I recently changed car and it cost £40 for them to deactivate the old one and put a new one in... fair enough.

I do find the scores amusing... Sometimes when I've driven 'badly'... fast, at night, hard breaking, quick acceleration etc. my score has been 'average' while when I drive better it has been poor. As long as I have 1 year NC I hope to get rid of it in January depending on the prices.

I used to be really careful with it and always think about it.... but now I don't care. As long as I'm not in the bracket of drivers where I would need to pay more.

Not sure how much it costs to remove it if I move away from Bell, can't be bothered to check now.

One thing I do worry a bit about is motorways, they are obviously going to know if you are on a motorway so know the speed limit, policy is cancelled at 100 mph. But will they care if I go 80mph for example?
 
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Not for a good clock. If I could no longer afford insurance on my current car, I would sooner change motor than install a box. I fear the insurance premium would increase every time VTEC kicked in.




(Yo)
 
Maximum Triceratops said:
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You think i'm wrong?

I used to work for Direct Line when the pilot scheme first started last year, my car has one of their boxes fitted as part of that scheme. I used to process probably over 30 renewals a day so I can tell you for a fact it's just bog standard policy with a note on it telling the person to apply a discount, just like a staff discount.

You need to take your tin foil hat off.
 
Why insurance companies would give you a discount is explained here;

http://www.tracker.co.uk/about-us/resources/insurance-telematics-explained/

More and more companies are bringing out telematics box schemes and to be honest it means they're working, premiums are dropping. I work for an insurance company that deals a lot of young drivers, we don't have a telematics box scheme (yet) but we're having to now compete with prices offered by them.

You have to see if from a risk perspective, age is a big thing in motor insurance, one major part of the risk profile as well as age, driving experience, occupation and post code. If for example all drivers who had passed their test less than 2 years ago and under 25 had to have one of these boxes then there probably, from a risk point of view, would be a positive thing to come off that. If you're a good driver and it would be cheaper with no removal cost at the point of renewal next year then I don't see the problem really. You get a car to drive it for whatever needs or pleasure you want from it, that isn't against the law. You were taught how to drive, you passed your test on the basis you had a safe knowledge to go on the road as an individual and you are expected to know the know highway code and the road traffic act 1988.

If you read the T&C Direct line will pass on your data to the police in accordance with the Data Protection act, meaning the police will need to ask for it which in reality will only be if you're in a bad position for them to question what speed you were doing...if you get me.
 
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