Insurance expert predicts rise in black box popularity
Posted by James Cox on Thursday, 12 Jul 2012, 17:06 in UK Motoring
There will be a sharp increase in the number of drivers using in-car black boxes to bring down the cost of insurance. That's the view of Graeme Trudgill, head of corporate affairs at the British Insurance Brokers' Association (Biba), who believes increased awareness and the emergence of new players in the market will lead to a spike in the number of electronic boxes being used to monitor how people drive. The technology, which has proved popular with young drivers, can cost hundreds of pounds to have installed, but can lead to major savings for drivers faced with paying expensive premiums. The boxes monitor everything from speed and the time of day the car is being driven, to breaking and acceleration. This data gets passed on to the insurance company, allowing them to make informed decisions when calculating the risk the driver poses and the price of the premium. Three years ago there were about 12,000 policies in the UK linked to black boxes, but that has risen to 180,000 today. "It's the start of a whole new way of looking at car insurance," Mr Trudgill told BBC's Newsbeat. "We think there are going to be half a million more policies in the next two years. You can expect more and more brands, more and more products from insurance brokers and insurers coming out."
