Now that insurers recognise dash cams is this the time to buy or is it telematics?
My driving score cut my premiums by £140′: How technology can cut car insurance costs
New technology is changing the way car insurers calculate risk, with the happy result that, for many, premiums are going down.
But there’s a price to pay: in many cases, to qualify for lower premiums, you need to be prepared to share more data with the insurer, including information about when, where and exactly how you drive.
A growing number of motorists are using dashboard cameras, or “dash cams”, to lower insurance premiums or to provide evidence when a claim is made.
Sales of the gadgets have increased by 800pc year-on-year, according to car and bike chain Halfords.
Last year Nextbase, a dash cam manufacturer, asked 29 top insurers about the technology. All of the firms confirmed to researchers that they would consider using dash cam evidence in their claims process.
Cameras track the time, speed and location of the car and continuously film the view through the windscreen. The gadget is wired into the dashboard and starts recording as soon as the engine starts. Dash cam prices range from £20 to £200, but despite this, the number of drivers with dash cams is still low.
Axa, which also operates under the Swiftcover brand name, is one of the insurers offering a discount – of up to 12.5pc – to customers with the gadget fitted. It says that just 1.45pc of its customers have them fitted.
However, is the discount being offered by insurers much more than a marketing ploy? Ian Crowder, from the AA, said: “One or two insurance companies offer discounts, but in some cases you need to have a particular model of camera for the discount to apply.
“They can certainly help if you have an accident and it’s not your fault.”
Over 400,000 drivers already use “telematics” technology to slash the cost of their car insurance, a number which is growing at the astonishing rate of about 40pc per year.
For careful drivers this technology offers savings of up to 25pc.
The technology works by deploying “black boxes” in the vehicle – or on the driver’s phone -to monitor a number of factors including speed, cornering, acceleration and breaking. The black boxes also store the location and time of drivers’ journeys.
Insurers use this information to assess the risk of the driver. The safest are rewarded with the biggest discount. Over 40 insurers in the UK sell black box policies, including Aviva, Admiral, Direct Line and Tesco.
Of course, there is a risk that some drivers’ premiums will rise. And the way insurers choose to reward customers varies, as some will give lower premiums from the outset while others give discounts for good driving.
Andrew Seddon, a transport manager from Liverpool, drives almost 100 miles on his daily commute. He used the Aviva Drive app to cut £140 off his car premiums. Source: Telegraph
Andrew Seddon cut £140 from his
premium by using an app
CREDIT: LORNE CAMPBELL /GUZELIAN