41 replies to this topic

[Minisport7]

It seems like a smart way to save money for those that truly drive responsibly instead of being bullied into paying high premiums because of gender and age. However i fear it'll start a new trend for insurance companies where the black box will become compulsory since they'd be able to track your every move eliminating the chance of anyone lying on their quotations! Personally it's a tad too invasive for me to ever consider it, but was to curious as to how much money you'd save exactly should they find you to be a safe driver?

[Timtom]

You guys not read the website?


Q: How will I get my Safer Driving Discount?
A: Safe habits like these will positively impact your discount:

Gentle braking and acceleration
Rarely driving between 11pm and 6am
Keeping to speed limits
Taking corners safely.

Q: When will I be able to see reports of my driving style?
A: Once Smartbox has been installed it will start to monitor the car immediately. Reports will be fed through to your Dashboard on a daily basis.

Q: When will I earn my Safer Driving Discount?
A: Your revised premium will be assessed every 90 days. Your customer dashboard will tell you whether you are on course for a discount or an increase in premium and will provide tips and advice on what to do should you be on course for an increase in premium.

So it doesn't stop you driving - it won't stop your car working if you drive that late at night. If you want to regularly drive that late you shouldn't get this insurance!, The last point is that its like a special NCD - you get good recommendations if it says you drove OK for that period. Its not compulsory!

[Artful Dodger]

this sounds like a brilliant idea! who wouldn't want cheaper insurance:) I would definatly go for this but it wouldn't be on the mini.....



a 1380 race spec engined clubby GT will have to be insured on the garage:)

Edited by MiniclubmanGT, 23 May 2011 - 02:04 PM.

[maggies_minder]

without driving every road in the country how do they know whats safe??

theres a dual carriage way by me thats the best part of 4miles long. it has 2 huge road abouts, they are 3lanes wide.
late at night you can see every road leading onto both roundabouts from a good distance away.

now the speed limit is 40mph, its more than easy to stay at 40 (or more) across both road abouts.
its not unsafe, nor are you breaking any speed limits.
but i would bet my car on them seeing that as unsafe.

[Juju]

without driving every road in the country how do they know whats safe??

theres a dual carriage way by me thats the best part of 4miles long. it has 2 huge road abouts, they are 3lanes wide.
late at night you can see every road leading onto both roundabouts from a good distance away.

now the speed limit is 40mph, its more than easy to stay at 40 (or more) across both road abouts.
its not unsafe, nor are you breaking any speed limits.
but i would bet my car on them seeing that as unsafe.

You've forgotten your driving lessons already, haven't you?

Decelerate for roundabouts.......

[samsfern]

id take it out the mini and wire it into my nans car, id get dirt cheap insurance then

[maggies_minder]

without driving every road in the country how do they know whats safe??

theres a dual carriage way by me thats the best part of 4miles long. it has 2 huge road abouts, they are 3lanes wide.
late at night you can see every road leading onto both roundabouts from a good distance away.

now the speed limit is 40mph, its more than easy to stay at 40 (or more) across both road abouts.
its not unsafe, nor are you breaking any speed limits.
but i would bet my car on them seeing that as unsafe.

You've forgotten your driving lessons already, haven't you?

Decelerate for roundabouts.......

from a fellow mini driver, youve hurt me juju!

[Juju]

Decelerate for roundabouts.......

from a fellow mini driver, youve hurt me juju!

If I didn't decelerate for roundabouts I'd roll Matilda every day on the way to work, probably before I'd even got out of my little town!

There's a difference between deceleration and braking, though.

[maggies_minder]

too right braking costs money, i try and avoid it at all costs.

[Ethel]

There are minimum legal standards of cover that insurance has to give 3rd parties. They won't be able to say you were uninsured, but they could cancel your policy if you break the terms of the agreement.

It depends on the hardware, you could make a self contained system around GPS, but I'd guess they'd prefer to link it the car's engine management for greater accuracy and reliability (GPS wouldn't like tunnels) and it could be more tamper proof. No Minis have industry stand OBD data interfaces on their ECU's. I guess they'd also need a mobile phone signal, so won't be reliable if you drive out in the sticks.

You'd best hope they don't choose to hike premiums for drivers without their black boxes to encourage you to get one.

[stevede]

My pals 17 year old lad has just had one of these fitted to his car.

The difference with having this little black box was worth over £2000 on his premium !! (& he still paid £1800 on an X reg Suzuki Alto given to him by his Gran)

If he uses the car between 11pm & 5am he gets charged £100 every time

He's also limited to 5000 miles a year

He has a web log in so he can see what he has been upto & how he is driving.

Big brother / restrictive or not, it was the only way he could afford the insurance

Edited by stevede, 23 May 2011 - 03:49 PM.

[minikidx14]

without driving every road in the country how do they know whats safe??

theres a dual carriage way by me thats the best part of 4miles long. it has 2 huge road abouts, they are 3lanes wide.
late at night you can see every road leading onto both roundabouts from a good distance away.

now the speed limit is 40mph, its more than easy to stay at 40 (or more) across both road abouts.
its not unsafe, nor are you breaking any speed limits.
but i would bet my car on them seeing that as unsafe.

You've forgotten your driving lessons already, haven't you?

ACcelerate for roundabouts.......

Thats better

[Ethel]

Doesn't look like old Suzukis have OBD either, so maybe some at least are self contained. Those restrictions seem very reasonable - quite surprising if it reflects when the accidents happen. Those pizza delivery drivers must be a right bunch of boy racers!

[maggies_minder]

i work gigs that dont finish until 11pm (thats the time by law they need to be off stage without either a specially granted lisence or fines of £1000 a minute).

how would i get home from work?
drive there and run back?

if i had to pay £100 a time there'd be no point driving or working.

Edited by maggies_minder, 23 May 2011 - 04:10 PM.

[stevede]

Doesn't look like old Suzukis have OBD either, so maybe some at least are self contained. Those restrictions seem very reasonable - quite surprising if it reflects when the accidents happen. Those pizza delivery drivers must be a right bunch of boy racers!

I'm fairly certain he said it was GPS / SIMM card based. Only took the guy 10 mins to fit & he said he had taken it out of another car a few days earlier.

The box & fitting / removal is included in the premium but they value it at £750!! (suspect this may be a marketing hype to cover some of the huge premium they still charge)

He's liable for it for 3 years so if it is lost they charge him the £750 reduced by a third each year. If he goes with another insurer next year they remove it FOC.

Just to hightlight the girl / boy difference, his sister, a year and a bit older had a 02 plate 206 which she managed to put on its roof. Her renewal, (she now has a 05 Corsa diesel), earlier this year was less!!