The Student Room Group

Direct Line black box limitations?

Hi all
I know there is no curfew but what about bad driving?

How sensitive is it to speeding?

Will it increase my premium instead if I do drive badly?


It is quoted at £1036 (quite good for a 17 y/o) or £1400 without a black box.


And has anyone ever claimed with them? The reviews aren't exactly positive

Scroll to see replies

Pay the excess and just don't get the box
Reply 2
Original post by Jackieox
Pay the excess and just don't get the box


How come? £400 is a lot for a 17 year old lmao
Reply 3
Original post by Ollie1999
How come? £400 is a lot for a 17 year old lmao


You'll just be yet another user complaining that their insurer f**ked them over on TSR in a few months time. We reserve the right to say we told you so.

Black boxes are absolutely awful, and you'll usually be more out of pocket than if you'd paid for normal insurance. It's a false economy.
Original post by Ollie1999
How come? £400 is a lot for a 17 year old lmao


What's worse? Paying an extra £400 or be penalised every time you harsh brake (Which is sometimes unavoidable), go slightly over the speed limit, ect

According to them they look "at factors such as speed, smooth driving (acceleration/braking), roads you drive on, length of journey and time of day."

Joining a motorway for example you need to accelerate quickly, and they may not give you a curfew but you're likely to get a lower score driving late at night

If you think £400 is too much then honestly i don't think you can afford a car at all, repairs and fuel come to alot more than that..
Reply 5
Original post by Jackieox

If you think £400 is too much then honestly i don't think you can afford a car at all, repairs and fuel come to alot more than that..


This. Couldn't agree with you more.
Reply 6
:innocent::innocent::innocent::innocent: off. That isn't logic. I can afford a car, but I can't afford to continually spend £400 more on a car than I've actually budgeted. Nobody could, if you think it through. Or where is it going to stop?
My car costs x. So I have £400 more, because you say I should. Well then it costs x+400. So I should have £400 more than that. But then it costs x+800, and I need 400 more. Have you seen how ridiculous you're being yet?!
Reply 7
Original post by Juno
:innocent::innocent::innocent::innocent: off. That isn't logic. I can afford a car, but I can't afford to continually spend £400 more on a car than I've actually budgeted. Nobody could, if you think it through. Or where is it going to stop?
My car costs x. So I have £400 more, because you say I should. Well then it costs x+400. So I should have £400 more than that. But then it costs x+800, and I need 400 more. Have you seen how ridiculous you're being yet?!


Yeah that's my reasoning.

DirectLine says it doesn't increase prices anyway but that could just be a lie
Original post by Ollie1999
Yeah that's my reasoning.

DirectLine says it doesn't increase prices anyway but that could just be a lie


You'll be sorry when you've run out of miles on your policy or when your policy has been cancelled for something you've done wrong.

Don't come back here crying about you're sh*tty decision, you can play it safe and pay £400 more or do you want to pay £1000+ for a new policy if you do happen to run out of miles. Your choice.
Reply 9
Original post by RoyalSheepy
You'll be sorry when you've run out of miles on your policy or when your policy has been cancelled for something you've done wrong.

Don't come back here crying about you're sh*tty decision, you can play it safe and pay £400 more or do you want to pay £1000+ for a new policy if you do happen to run out of miles. Your choice.

But you can run out of miles without a black box
Reply 10
Original post by Juno
But you can run out of miles without a black box


Whilst that is true, the cost of purchasing addon miles for a black box policy is significantly higher than that of a standard policy; it's how they make their money!

People underestimate the number of miles they'll travel, then find their insurance company will cancel the policy if they keep driving without paying extortionate amounts for extra miles.

Spoiler

(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 11
Original post by IWMTom
Whilst that is true, the cost of purchasing addon miles for a black box policy is significantly higher than that of a standard policy; it's how they make their money!

People underestimate the number of miles they'll travel, then find their insurance company will cancel the policy if they keep driving without paying extortionate amounts for extra miles.


But they're already paying £400 more for the non black box policy. So the cost per mile would have to be significantly higher for the non black box policy to work out more expensive.
Reply 12
Original post by Juno
But they're already paying £400 more for the non black box policy. So the cost per mile would have to be significantly higher for the non black box policy to work out more expensive.


You cannot base your argument solely on the principal of mileage - I was merely stating a fact.
People think that black boxes limit how you can drive, but after having mine for 3 months I've found out that I can drive how the hell I want, as long as I don't throw it round corners. I accelerate hard often and occasionally speed on country roads and the box doesn't seem to care. Make sure you are going the correct speed when going round bends/turning into junctions, and brake in good time.
Reply 14
Original post by IWMTom
You cannot base your argument solely on the principal of mileage - I was merely stating a fact.


In other words, you know I'm right :-)
Reply 15
Original post by Juno
In other words, you know I'm right :-)


Absolutely not; your debate was with @RoyalSheepy not myself - I just answered a question for you. If you'd like further information on my justified opinions of black boxes, please take the time to read other threads in this subforum as I'm not prepared to reiterate the same facts over and over.
Original post by Juno
In other words, you know I'm right :-)


You're really not, if you're fine to pay £1000+ for a black box however not able to pay only £400 more to have no black box, which'd prevent issues such as a rise in the premium due to something such as driving in a manner the insurers do not like, or driving late at night because you have a curfew then you're ridiculous.

As @IWMTom stated adding more miles onto your policy would be more than just having a non-black box insurance, as people will underestimate how many miles they'll do and end up paying more money for more miles than just taking out a non-black box insurance (Which he is completely correct in saying!). In fact some insurers may even refuse to give you more miles on your policy, ultimately meaning you'd have to take out a whole new policy, which may mean another £1000+ coming out of your pocket.

When I was speaking to my insurer a couple of weeks back (I do not have a black box, and I refuse to have a black box) the annual milage on a non-black box policy is used as a rough guideline, whereas for black box policy it is used as a strict guideline.

Plus lets be realistic here: the advantages of having a non-black box insurance will outweigh them of the black box insurance, no matter what.
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 17
Original post by RoyalSheepy
You're really not, if you're fine to pay £1000+ for a black box however not able to pay only £400 more to have no black box, which'd prevent issues such as a rise in the premium due to something such as driving in a manner the insurers do not like, or driving late at night because you have a curfew then you're ridiculous.

As @IWMTom stated adding more miles onto your policy would be more than just having a non-black box insurance, as people will underestimate how many miles they'll do and end up paying more money for more miles than just taking out a non-black box insurance (Which he is completely correct in saying!). In fact some insurers may even refuse to give you more miles on your policy, ultimately meaning you'd have to take out a whole new policy, which may mean another £1000+ coming out of your pocket.

When I was speaking to my insurer a couple of weeks back (I do not have a black box, and I refuse to have a black box) the annual milage on a non-black box policy is used as a rough guideline, whereas for black box policy it is used as a strict guideline.

Plus lets be realistic here: the advantages of having a non-black box insurance will outweigh them of the black box insurance, no matter what.

For some people black box insurance is better. You've decided that everyone drives at night or underestimates their mileage - when actually, many people don't. And in your opinion, having a black box is bad. But many people don't think that. You cannot state your opinion as fact - you haven't even tried a black box policy so you can't even state your opinion based on actual happenings.

Original post by IWMTom
Absolutely not; your debate was with @RoyalSheepy not myself - I just answered a question for you. If you'd like further information on my justified opinions of black boxes, please take the time to read other threads in this subforum as I'm not prepared to reiterate the same facts over and over.


But you're not reiterating the same facts. You have an opinion, and then change that to suit yourself when it's pointed out you're wrong.
Original post by Juno
For some people black box insurance is better. You've decided that everyone drives at night or underestimates their mileage - when actually, many people don't. And in your opinion, having a black box is bad. But many people don't think that.


When you say "many people don't", how exactly do you know that?

And what black boxes are heavenly now are they? I reckon people would disagree with that highly which means my opinion is correct, although I am in no position to criticise black boxes from an experience point of view; however, from a bystanders point of view and the idea of having a black box is anything but good.
Reply 19
Original post by Juno
For some people black box insurance is better. You've decided that everyone drives at night or underestimates their mileage - when actually, many people don't. And in your opinion, having a black box is bad. But many people don't think that. You cannot state your opinion as fact - you haven't even tried a black box policy so you can't even state your opinion based on actual happenings.


Black box insurance is a scam designed to look good - granted, for some people it works out well, because they hardly ever drive or somehow manage to conform to the ridiculous expectations - for the vast majority, however, it is another story.

Every single friend I have using black box insurance says the same thing - they've had price hikes because they've been "driving badly", and I can assure you, they are all perfectly good women drivers who don't speed, brake efficiently, and accelerate correctly. One is on the verge of cancellation due to having a low score. For Christ's sake, an emergency stop caused by a bloody deer in the road caused someone's braking score to shoot from green to red!

If you think it works for you, then great, but on the balance of probability you will sooner or later you'll realise how foolish you were cheaping out on something designed to protect you!

@Reality Check @Emma:-)

Quick Reply

Latest