Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[John-R]

Just wondering if anyone who has kids of "young driver" age has used insurance with the driving style monitor black box and wondered if it was any good?
Certainly I'm thinking about it when the premium comparison is £2300 for TPFT without the box and £1100 Fully Comp with the box.

[D]

Insure the box?

My wife uses it on her car. Cheapest quote by a mile. And very good service so far. Mileage is limited to 6k per annum though. Not that she does anywhere near that.

[henryd]

Friends of ours did it for there son,premium was initially high but they give money back for good driving apparently and it loads up if used between something like midnight to around 5am

[John-R]

Sounds the same as the one I'm considering - Co-Op Bank.

Pay you premium, guy comes and fits a black box. You can check your driving style on-line using a 5 point monitor where Green is good and Red is not. After 90 days they decide whether you get a reduction or extra loading.
Green is 15% refund; light green is 7.5% refund; yellow is stay same; orange is 7.5% loading red is 15% loading.

From the website:
Smartbox records, stores and sends data every day about different aspects of your driving style including:

•your speed on different types of road
•how fast and hard you accelerate or brake
•what times of the day you usually drive
•how quickly you take corners

I'm guessing it must incorporate a satnav to monitor speed. Also apparently 11pm to 6am is the worst time to drive with the smartbox.
It doesn't record indivdual incidents, just trends, so the odd emergency braking or night trip won't make any difference.

You can view your "score" 24/7 so you've got plenty of time to amend your driving style to ensure you stay in the green zone.

Eldest son, may not be too happy, but I am paying his insurance for him so he said he'll give it a go.

[tgm147]

I used these on my car 3 years ago when I passed my test. Unlike others they don't watch you like big brother. There's no penalty for harsh braking, pushing it on through a country lane or anything. Just don't drive it between 11pm and 5am. They came and installed a small GPS tracker behind the glovebox in my Corsa and that was it. Can only recommend them.

www.i-kube.co.uk

[Kevin Wood]

There was a guy on here a few years back who tried one of these style policies. The ape they sent round to fit the black box made a complete mess of his car's electrics and it all went rather sour, IIRC.

[Jimbob]

ahh yes....jon argraig from anglesey iirc

[aaronjb]

Ah, the thin end of the wedge.. the slippery slope.. etc. How long before these are mandatory for all of us?

Big brother can monitor my driving over my cold, dead, body! 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Ah, the thin end of the wedge.. the slippery slope.. etc. How long before these are mandatory for all of us?

Big brother can monitor my driving over my cold, dead, body! 

Spot on, Mr Aaron......1984 and all that.

[Lazydocker]

Ah, the thin end of the wedge.. the slippery slope.. etc. How long before these are mandatory for all of us?

Big brother can monitor my driving over my cold, dead, body! 

My thoughts exactly... As long as I drive safely and within the law I will drive how I like

[plym ian]

what electric circuit do these wire into?
also could you say disconnect it and leave it indoors connected to a battery?
I was just wondering
or wrap it up so no signal gets in or out

[tgm147]

what electric circuit do these wire into?
also could you say disconnect it and leave it indoors connected to a battery?
I was just wondering
or wrap it up so no signal gets in or out

All of the connections on mine were tamper-proof. They just take a constant live and an ignition live from the battery and the car loom if I remember right.

[Kevin Wood]

I think if anyone successfully fitted one to my car (I'd like to see them try) the box would find itself in an extremely hostile electrical environment that would destroy it whilst leaving no scars.

[aaronjb]

I think if anyone successfully fitted one to my car (I'd like to see them try) the box would find itself in an extremely hostile electrical environment that would destroy it whilst leaving no scars.

A microwave?

[albitz]

Ah, the thin end of the wedge.. the slippery slope.. etc. How long before these are mandatory for all of us?

Big brother can monitor my driving over my cold, dead, body! 

My thoughts exactly... As long as I drive safely and within the law I will drive how I like

What have you done with the real Lazydocker ?