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My insurance policy was cancelled, what can I do now?

So I have been driving for 6 months now, I was with the company 'Insurethebox' so I had a black box fitted that monitored my speed, breaking etc. My policy has now been cancelled due to speeding and I'm receiving quotes for £7,918 and I'm wondering if there is anything I can do that will bring these quotes down? Any suggestions will be great!

:smile:

EDIT BY COMMUNITY TEAM

Check Endsleigh - they do student car insurance with significant discounts
If that doesn't work for you, try searching:
confused.com
gocompare.com
www.moneysupermarket.com

Bigger discussion on finding cheap car insurance here
(edited 5 years ago)

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Reply 1
Original post by hayley.e
So I have been driving for 6 months now, I was with the company 'Insurethebox' so I had a black box fitted that monitored my speed, breaking etc. My policy has now been cancelled due to speeding and I'm receiving quotes for £7,918 and I'm wondering if there is anything I can do that will bring these quotes down? Any suggestions will be great!

:smile:


You knew the risks of taking out a black box policy, now you need to face the consequences; there is very little you can do other than stay off the roads for 5 or so years then come back with decreased premiums.
Reply 2
I 100% agree I am in the wrong. Is there any chance they would let me stay with them but increase my policy price? Expecting someone to "stay off the roads for 5 or so years" when they're 20 years old and are now dependant on their car for commuting to work, etc is a bit much.
Reply 3
Original post by hayley.e
I 100% agree I am in the wrong. Is there any chance they would let me stay with them but increase my policy price? Expecting someone to "stay off the roads for 5 or so years" when they're 20 years old and are now dependant on their car for commuting to work, etc is a bit much.


Nope. If they've already cancelled it, you have a cancelled policy on your record - end of.

I'm sorry, but there is simply no way for you to legally get cheap insurance, given your record.
Reply 4
Original post by IWMTom
Nope. If they've already cancelled it, you have a cancelled policy on your record - end of.

I'm sorry, but there is simply no way for you to legally get cheap insurance, given your record.


Okay thank you very much for your help! :smile:
Why were you speeding knowing you had a black box?
There's no chance you'll get cheap insurance now for at least a couple of years. As it's been cancelled you've also lost your no claims for this year (As you haven't had a full year as it got cancelled). You'll just have to pay the really expensive price for it. Probably would've just been cheaper to pay more and not get a black box..
Original post by Jackieox
Probably would've just been cheaper to pay more and not get a black box.


Exactly! This is what I don't get, people will get black box insurance knowing this sort of thing may happen; when the difference is literally only a couple of hundred pounds, in most cases.
Reply 7
Original post by RoyalSheepy
Exactly! This is what I don't get, people will get black box insurance knowing this sort of thing may happen; when the difference is literally only a couple of hundred pounds, in most cases.


We do try and explain this to people, but they always seem to know best! :colondollar:
Original post by IWMTom
We do try and explain this to people, but they always seem to know best! :colondollar:


PRSOM.

They think we're trying to rip them off, but we're trying to save them money in the long run :lol:
Original post by RoyalSheepy
Exactly! This is what I don't get, people will get black box insurance knowing this sort of thing may happen; when the difference is literally only a couple of hundred pounds, in most cases.


For most people I know who live in urban areas, black box makes thousands of pounds worth the difference. For 90% of youngsters its difference between affording insurance and not being able to drive. I agree that if the difference was £200 itll be daft to get the blackbox, but its silly to assume OP made the choice of installing a blackbox to make a small saving. Most likely, the blackbox was installed to save thousands of pounds.

My first ever insurance was a black box one, the quote was £2200, otherwise without it I would have had to pay £6000. Nobody in my family was daft enough to pay that much for a £4000 car. Fortunately I managed to get cheaper insurance later and immediately switched.

To OP, look for insurance specialists and brokers and see if they can help you.
Original post by BullViagra
For most people I know who live in urban areas, black box makes thousands of pounds worth the difference. For 90% of youngsters its difference between affording insurance and not being able to drive. I agree that if the difference was £200 itll be daft to get the blackbox, but its silly to assume OP made the choice of installing a blackbox to make a small saving. Most likely, the blackbox was installed to save thousands of pounds.

My first ever insurance was a black box one, the quote was £2200, otherwise without it I would have had to pay £6000. Nobody in my family was daft enough to pay that much for a £4000 car. Fortunately I managed to get cheaper insurance later and immediately switched.

To OP, look for insurance specialists and brokers and see if they can help you.


Firstly, if you were in an urban environment, you wouldn't need a car as there is public transport.

Secondly, if you can't pay for insurance then simply don't drive! Black boxes are a massive scam from insurers, they know young drivers will be stupid at the wheel and will take any opportunity to cancel your policy and take your money. You're just another person which thinks they know it all! I wouldn't even care if the difference was £2000, at least I would be able to stop the car quickly if there was a child in the road without getting my policy cancelled.

I don't even think brokers would help OP out with a cheaper quote; it's too much of a risk.
Original post by hayley.e
So I have been driving for 6 months now, I was with the company 'Insurethebox' so I had a black box fitted that monitored my speed, breaking etc. My policy has now been cancelled due to speeding and I'm receiving quotes for £7,918 and I'm wondering if there is anything I can do that will bring these quotes down? Any suggestions will be great!

:smile:


What bullviagra said you now need to talk to a specialist insurance broker who deals in such policies. The comparison sites are unlikely to be of any use to you now. A broker will specialise and have access to more policies. There is at least one broker who specialise in these, but I couldnt find them yesterday for you, although am sure have posted their name before. I wouldnt give up completely, but you should expect to pay a multiple of your previous policy. It may not be feeasible but it should be cheaper than comparison sites.
Original post by RoyalSheepy
Firstly, if you were in an urban environment, you wouldn't need a car as there is public transport.

Secondly, if you can't pay for insurance then simply don't drive! Black boxes are a massive scam from insurers, they know young drivers will be stupid at the wheel and will take any opportunity to cancel your policy and take your money. You're just another person which thinks they know it all! I wouldn't even care if the difference was £2000, at least I would be able to stop the car quickly if there was a child in the road without getting my policy cancelled.

I don't even think brokers would help OP out with a cheaper quote; it's too much of a risk.


With millions of people living in urban enviroments, its very short-sighted to say none of them need a car. Personally, I work in the suburbs so I need a car to drive to and from work.

And whilst I agree that driving is a privilege not a right, I dont agree that black boxes are the work of capitalist satan. Many people join and use black boxes and manage to gain the necessary NCB to then drive without it. It's daft to pay an extra £2000 under the assumption that any small driving mistake would land you an insurance blacklist, it doesnt work like that. Speeding repeatedly or driving 30mph+ over the speed limit will void your policy. It actually takes a lot to get yourself cancelled. Occasionally emergency braking will not lead to a cancelled policy.

Thousands of people, including people I know, drive along with their blackbox just fine. One of them even speeds everywhere, and has only been given a crappy driving score but not a single speeding warning. Boxes are risky, but they are also a compromise for many people who would like to drive and also a means to attain driving experience at a young age.
Reply 13
Original post by BullViagra
With millions of people living in urban enviroments, its very short-sighted to say none of them need a car. Personally, I work in the suburbs so I need a car to drive to and from work.

And whilst I agree that driving is a privilege not a right, I dont agree that black boxes are the work of capitalist satan. Many people join and use black boxes and manage to gain the necessary NCB to then drive without it. It's daft to pay an extra £2000 under the assumption that any small driving mistake would land you an insurance blacklist, it doesnt work like that. Speeding repeatedly or driving 30mph+ over the speed limit will void your policy. It actually takes a lot to get yourself cancelled. Occasionally emergency braking will not lead to a cancelled policy.

Thousands of people, including people I know, drive along with their blackbox just fine. One of them even speeds everywhere, and has only been given a crappy driving score but not a single speeding warning. Boxes are risky, but they are also a compromise for many people who would like to drive and also a means to attain driving experience at a young age.


I must disagree - I have various female friends who all have black boxes and get atrocious scores despite them driving perfectly acceptably, one on the verge of cancellation because of it. Whilst I do note that this is a small subset of the larger market, I have seen similar results from TSR users, amongst other forums.

The boxes have been known to suffer GPS failures, resulting in a lack of accuracy. On top of the additional fees incurred with black box policies, they often barely work out cheap enough to justify the risk on the part of a policyholder.

There are many instances where someone can get easily affordable normal insurance on a different car vs taking out a black box policy on another car. The key to cheap insurance is basing your vehicle purchase around what's cheapest to insure in your area, rather than finding the cheapest quote for the vehicle you've already purchased.
Original post by IWMTom
Nope. If they've already cancelled it, you have a cancelled policy on your record - end of.

I'm sorry, but there is simply no way for you to legally get cheap insurance, given your record.


I agree.
Your premiums will be shockingly high for the next couple of years.
Try First Alternative. Do you have any no claims bonus?
Original post by BullViagra
For most people I know who live in urban areas, black box makes thousands of pounds worth the difference. For 90% of youngsters its difference between affording insurance and not being able to drive. I agree that if the difference was £200 itll be daft to get the blackbox, but its silly to assume OP made the choice of installing a blackbox to make a small saving. Most likely, the blackbox was installed to save thousands of pounds.

My first ever insurance was a black box one, the quote was £2200, otherwise without it I would have had to pay £6000. Nobody in my family was daft enough to pay that much for a £4000 car. Fortunately I managed to get cheaper insurance later and immediately switched.

To OP, look for insurance specialists and brokers and see if they can help you.


I think you will find that for quite a lot of people, black boxes are barely cheaper. They can actually be more expensive.
And with mileage limits and curfews they arent viable for some people anyway.
Reply 17
A friend of mine had her insurance cancelled too - she was on a black box but made too many journeys at unfavourable times e.g. late at night.

I think she was able to negotiate a better deal over the phone rather than via any comparison websites - we live in an urban area and her new quote after the cancelled insurance worked out at about £2,000. She was a relatively new driver too - she'd probably had her license for about 4 months.
Original post by Emma:-)
I think you will find that for quite a lot of people, black boxes are barely cheaper. They can actually be more expensive.
And with mileage limits and curfews they arent viable for some people anyway.


In my experience, as someone who lives in central london, most my friends and people I know were quoted thousands of pounds cheaper with blackbox, to the the point that insurance was not even possible otherwise.

However I also know people in the suburbs who were quoted £400 less if they opted for blackbox, in which case I think it's completely silly to not just pay the extra premium


my point from the beginning is that for a lot of people, blackbox is the only viable option (hence why a lot of people have had to accept it). saying that you'd rather pay an extra £2000 to avoid the box is completely daft.
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by BullViagra
For most people I know who live in urban areas, black box makes thousands of pounds worth the difference. For 90% of youngsters its difference between affording insurance and not being able to drive. I agree that if the difference was £200 itll be daft to get the blackbox, but its silly to assume OP made the choice of installing a blackbox to make a small saving. Most likely, the blackbox was installed to save thousands of pounds.

My first ever insurance was a black box one, the quote was £2200, otherwise without it I would have had to pay £6000. Nobody in my family was daft enough to pay that much for a £4000 car. Fortunately I managed to get cheaper insurance later and immediately switched.

To OP, look for insurance specialists and brokers and see if they can help you.


The smartest way to counteract this is to insure as a learner as soon as you can. Buy a £200 crapbox that doesnt even run if you need to and insure it on learners insurance. So long as you have a policy in your name. Then be a learner for a year. One years no claims straight out the gate, massively reduced premiums - around a 50% discount I believe. My first car after passing was a 1.6 and it cost about £1000 on the insurance w/out a black box by using this method.

To the OP - you sped with a black box installed? Seriously? Black boxes are awful. I have had a few situations where other peoples bad driving has caused me to accelerate or brake quickly which the box would have hated but it wasn't my fault - they're basically total liability mitigation for insurance companies.

You may be able to find specialist insurance to cover just your commute but honestly I'd say invest in a bus pass or a railcard because you won't be on the road for a reasonable price for years.

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