I’m looking to buy my first car and telematics policies are coming out around 10% cheaper (approx £90-£100) with admiral*
Does anyone have experience either of their own or maybe their child of using the telematics?
I won’t be driving everyday but may do the odd trip to the lakes or London (e.g. do I have to sit at 70 on the motorway?)

*yes I know but I’m only recently licensed and not over-run with affordable options

You’re newly qualified and concerned you might have to stick to the speed limits? I’d say a telematics box was pretty much essential for you.

ha I actually drive like a cautious old dear, just more concerned if i sat at say 75 for a bit would i get screwed by the telematics?

I’d rather pay 10% more!

do a google – people seem to be getting caught out by telematics boxes throwing a wobbler with little opportunity to get the situation rectified.

I’d take the hit and do without.

My son has one and it brought the cost down a lot, as did adding me and my wife to his insurance.
He wrote his car off on Christmas eve when a idiot pulled onto a roundabout in front of him! but no injuries and all paid out now plus he got to keep his car (Cat D) for £100 with only cosmetic damage 🙂

He always drives within the speed limit but its hard work keeping within 30 etc all of the time and not straying a couple of miles either way so he drives at 28mph and the amount of aggressive drivers he encounters is shocking.

Our son passed his test last year and I looked at insurance policies with the ‘black box’. As my wife and I will also be using his car, so traveling at rush hour for example or him driving late at night, I decided not to bother.

I got a policy through direct line, 19 year old new driver, 1.2 new suzuki swift, 6000 miles pa, for £738. Got a slight discount as I had another policy with them.

I’d rather pay 10% more!

This.

My nephew has a telematics box and although he is a very careful driver he is always in the lower categories (silver/bronze is what he calls it) because he is a very keen basketball player and his team always trains and plays in the evenings so he drives home after 10pm three or four times a week.

Our son passed his test last year and I looked at insurance policies with the ‘black box’. As my wife and I will also be using his car, so traveling at rush hour for example or him driving late at night, I decided not to bother.[/I]

I’ve 3 sons and we just paid the extra for each of them.

Especially concern was the youngest as he works in a hotel, so often late, late finishes and early starts.

I’ve been looking at insurance for my newly-qualified daughter. The Telematics policies we looked at had no curfews – oh and the saving was more like 30%.

I’d rather pay 10% more!

If it was only 10% then so would I 🙄

No curfew on Surfer juniors.

We bought a car last year – first one for me, but my wife had been driving for years… only she didn’t realise her no-claims could expire, and when our insurers asked for proof they ended up withdrawing the insurance because they wouldn’t cover the car at all (a fairly sporty Seat turbo) if none of the drivers had a no-claims bonus! So we had to rapidly find someone who would, and the only way to get a reasonable (but still quite hefty) price was to get a telematics box fitted.
It’s certainly helped me to resist the temptation to see what the car can do, knowing that I’m being monitored! Unfortunately my main use of the car involves a weekly drive out at 7pm and back at 11.30pm, mostly on the motorway, which is probably being frowned upon somewhere in their system… but I’ve yet to see the consequences. My wife uses it for her daily commute so it’s got a very tame user profile in general.

The Telematics policies we looked at had no curfews – oh and the saving was more like 30%

Direct Line didn’t have curfews but I would think their system wouldn’t be too happy with the driving times.

I think the night time thing is the nail in the coffin, I do quite a lot of stuff in the evenings which is when it would get used mostly. I won’t be commuting by car

We didn’t bother with our girls as they both work part time,late evenings, in restaurants and the curfews would have meant that they would have had to alter their working patterns

Direct Line didn’t have curfews but I would think their system wouldn’t be too happy with the driving times.

They either have a curfew or they dont. They dont tutut if you are home late 🙄
no curfew means you come and go as you please. Surfer Junior just gets scored on acceleration/braking/cornering and speed.

But you can get policies without curfews…..

He always drives within the speed limit

*snigger*
No he doesn’t. Nobody does, no matter what they say.

They either have a curfew or they dont. They dont tutut if you are home late

To be honest I like to drive over the speed limit at all times anyway so roll yer eyes at that sista.

He always drives within the speed limit but its hard work keeping within 30 etc all of the time and not straying a couple of miles either way so he drives at 28mph and the amount of aggressive drivers he encounters is shocking.

Good on him. he’d probably still get the dicks if he was doing 35.

We managed to get a policy cheaper without the telematics box so it was a no brainer for us

Both my twins had black boxes. Good savings, no curfews, no night time penalties, and ensures they stuck to the limits. As I was a named driver on both policies I got regular reports. They didn’t exceed the speed limit. The only risk identified was the morning drive to college, which occasionally coincided with rush hour.

I’ve got one as my job title carries a hefty insurance hike. Mine doesn’t have a curfew, it just measures your driving style (cornering, braking, acceleration) and uses a score and your mileage to calculate your policy. It’s an old version that’s not available anymore but it’s saved me well over a year’s premium in 3 years so was worth it for me. Does help that I commute by bike and only use the car for ferrying the bikes round so I tend to drive carefully anyway 😀

We have something similar to work. Up until they linked them to the gps you could still do stupid things it just took longer to get up to speed for them. Overall it has changed the way I drive in a good way as my desire to not having to go to another driver stand down safety meeting overrides my need to get anywhere fast… 😯
They aren’t perfect but if they can get you a good discount then they are worth it. Also look into pass plus to see if that will drop the overall cost.