Car Insurance Black Box Idiocy.
I am currently with Tesco Insurance, and this is my second year driving with them. For the previous two months I had received 'red' rating for "safe speed" category, however after the first month of this rating I was making sure to drive at a safe, legal speed on every road, making it a greater focus point for my driving, I did not speed a single time.
The way that my black box registers speeding is stated as followed
"You have frequently driven too fast for the type of road you are on. You earn more Bonus Miles by considering the type of road you are driving on, as well as the legal speed limit. Earn more miles by considering a safe speed for local roads, minor roads and country roads and by not driving at excessive speed on any roads. "
This means, that even if my driving is well within the speed limits of the road, the country lanes I drive on (very regularly) at 40-50mph, could be registered as an unsafe speed, leading me to earn less bonus miles or actually have my insurance cancelled even though I am driving well within the legal speed limit.
I am just wondering, has anybody actually had their insurance cancelled for driving within the legal speed limit but at a speed which their insurance deems "unsafe"? Has anyone been cancelled by Tesco for this, if so how many times were they able to receive a red/amber warning with their black box before it became an issue leading to their cancellation?
Thank you.
The way that my black box registers speeding is stated as followed
"You have frequently driven too fast for the type of road you are on. You earn more Bonus Miles by considering the type of road you are driving on, as well as the legal speed limit. Earn more miles by considering a safe speed for local roads, minor roads and country roads and by not driving at excessive speed on any roads. "
This means, that even if my driving is well within the speed limits of the road, the country lanes I drive on (very regularly) at 40-50mph, could be registered as an unsafe speed, leading me to earn less bonus miles or actually have my insurance cancelled even though I am driving well within the legal speed limit.
I am just wondering, has anybody actually had their insurance cancelled for driving within the legal speed limit but at a speed which their insurance deems "unsafe"? Has anyone been cancelled by Tesco for this, if so how many times were they able to receive a red/amber warning with their black box before it became an issue leading to their cancellation?
Thank you.
Then slow down, not much of an issue is it. You bought the black box policy, you suffer with the black box policy
Original post by Dazeo
This means, that even if my driving is well within the speed limits of the road, the country lanes I drive on (very regularly) at 40-50mph, could be registered as an unsafe speed, leading me to earn less bonus miles or actually have my insurance cancelled even though I am driving well within the legal speed limit.
Perhaps one day your driving ability will mature to the point where you understand that speed limits are not the ultimate arbiter of speed, and that safety is. A huge number of country lanes, probably most, are simply unsafe to drive at anything more than 20 MPH. Your insurance company obviously understands this, even if you don't.
Original post by Good bloke
Perhaps one day your driving ability will mature to the point where you understand that speed limits are not the ultimate arbiter of speed, and that safety is. A huge number of country lanes, probably most, are simply unsafe to drive at anything more than 20 MPH. Your insurance company obviously understands this, even if you don't.
You really think black box insurers have a GPS database of all roads and their 'safe' speed limits?
Original post by Aaron702
You really think black box insurers have a GPS database of all roads and their 'safe' speed limits?
I have no idea, and did not say that they do. They may have a database, and if they do it may be based on an automated analysis of bends, road widths, accident statistics, satnav journey data and so on. It is not difficult to work out that a narrow lane, barely wide enough for two cars to pass one another, should not be driven along at anything like 60 MPH and, if bendy or hilly, probably at rather less than 20 MPH.
Black Box Telematics is an absolute scam, the technology used in them isn't actually that accurate and has caused many issues for my friends which I why I opted to pay about £400 more in the year and don't have one.
At the time all of my friends were getting black boxes and bragging about how cheap their deal was and etc etc. Now though most of them have had fines for driving home from work past 10 pm, have had fines for "speeding" on roads that are national speed limit and although I agree there are corners and sections of country roads where that is not the appropriate speed to be traveling at (some of which where I live are signposted as "Recommended Speed" or "Maximum Speed") but they have received fines for being at 34 MPH on the boundary of a 60 to 30 speed change or have detected them as driving when the car has been sat on the drive for three days! All their insurers put it down to was "Telematics Drift" because "it happens sometimes" but they still had to pay these silly fines and their insurance has ended up costing more than mine - I'm only slightly smug about this...
None of my friends have had insurance canceled so far but a lot of them have racked up multiple fines for harsh braking and speeding where the accuracy and ethics of the insurance companies have been called into dispute, a couple of times in a courtroom. (Imagine getting fined for braking too sharply before a car accident and the insurer claiming you should have maintained your speed into the side of the car that pulled out in front of you...)
The worst options are the ones where they track you using your phone GPS because one of my friends got fined sat in their parent's car!
To put that into context they drive a 1.0L Peugeot 107 or something to that variety, all I know is it's small and yellow and it struggles to get up to 70mph. On the way to their family holiday their parent had decided they wanted to risk speeding to make up some lost time and was flying down the motorway at somewhere over 100mph - which I don't support at all but it's not like I can say anything to my mates parents and it will be deservedly so when they decided to do that past a parked up police car or something - nonetheless, my friend gets a ping on their MySafe Driving app or whatever it was called to say they were going to be fined for breaking the speed limit, yet the insurance company refused to believe that the Peugeot wasn't capable of doing over 100mph despite the official "top speed" being 98mph...
Now that you've got hopefully a year of No Claim and maybe once this next year is up and you have hopefully two years no claims it would be a very good idea to shop around and look for insurance that doesn't require some sort of telematics
TL;DR - Telematics is a scam, they will fine you for anything they can as young drivers are a large source of money and expense for insurers so they drive the premium up and like to rake in that fine money. Never get a phone tracker and maybe spend a month "Driving like your grandmother" and if they still think you're speeding enquire about the cost of early termination and the cost of a more reliable insurer...
At the time all of my friends were getting black boxes and bragging about how cheap their deal was and etc etc. Now though most of them have had fines for driving home from work past 10 pm, have had fines for "speeding" on roads that are national speed limit and although I agree there are corners and sections of country roads where that is not the appropriate speed to be traveling at (some of which where I live are signposted as "Recommended Speed" or "Maximum Speed") but they have received fines for being at 34 MPH on the boundary of a 60 to 30 speed change or have detected them as driving when the car has been sat on the drive for three days! All their insurers put it down to was "Telematics Drift" because "it happens sometimes" but they still had to pay these silly fines and their insurance has ended up costing more than mine - I'm only slightly smug about this...
None of my friends have had insurance canceled so far but a lot of them have racked up multiple fines for harsh braking and speeding where the accuracy and ethics of the insurance companies have been called into dispute, a couple of times in a courtroom. (Imagine getting fined for braking too sharply before a car accident and the insurer claiming you should have maintained your speed into the side of the car that pulled out in front of you...)
The worst options are the ones where they track you using your phone GPS because one of my friends got fined sat in their parent's car!
To put that into context they drive a 1.0L Peugeot 107 or something to that variety, all I know is it's small and yellow and it struggles to get up to 70mph. On the way to their family holiday their parent had decided they wanted to risk speeding to make up some lost time and was flying down the motorway at somewhere over 100mph - which I don't support at all but it's not like I can say anything to my mates parents and it will be deservedly so when they decided to do that past a parked up police car or something - nonetheless, my friend gets a ping on their MySafe Driving app or whatever it was called to say they were going to be fined for breaking the speed limit, yet the insurance company refused to believe that the Peugeot wasn't capable of doing over 100mph despite the official "top speed" being 98mph...
Now that you've got hopefully a year of No Claim and maybe once this next year is up and you have hopefully two years no claims it would be a very good idea to shop around and look for insurance that doesn't require some sort of telematics
TL;DR - Telematics is a scam, they will fine you for anything they can as young drivers are a large source of money and expense for insurers so they drive the premium up and like to rake in that fine money. Never get a phone tracker and maybe spend a month "Driving like your grandmother" and if they still think you're speeding enquire about the cost of early termination and the cost of a more reliable insurer...
Original post by Dazeo
I am currently with Tesco Insurance, and this is my second year driving with them. For the previous two months I had received 'red' rating for "safe speed" category, however after the first month of this rating I was making sure to drive at a safe, legal speed on every road, making it a greater focus point for my driving, I did not speed a single time.
The way that my black box registers speeding is stated as followed
"You have frequently driven too fast for the type of road you are on. You earn more Bonus Miles by considering the type of road you are driving on, as well as the legal speed limit. Earn more miles by considering a safe speed for local roads, minor roads and country roads and by not driving at excessive speed on any roads. "
This means, that even if my driving is well within the speed limits of the road, the country lanes I drive on (very regularly) at 40-50mph, could be registered as an unsafe speed, leading me to earn less bonus miles or actually have my insurance cancelled even though I am driving well within the legal speed limit.
I am just wondering, has anybody actually had their insurance cancelled for driving within the legal speed limit but at a speed which their insurance deems "unsafe"? Has anyone been cancelled by Tesco for this, if so how many times were they able to receive a red/amber warning with their black box before it became an issue leading to their cancellation?
Thank you.
The way that my black box registers speeding is stated as followed
"You have frequently driven too fast for the type of road you are on. You earn more Bonus Miles by considering the type of road you are driving on, as well as the legal speed limit. Earn more miles by considering a safe speed for local roads, minor roads and country roads and by not driving at excessive speed on any roads. "
This means, that even if my driving is well within the speed limits of the road, the country lanes I drive on (very regularly) at 40-50mph, could be registered as an unsafe speed, leading me to earn less bonus miles or actually have my insurance cancelled even though I am driving well within the legal speed limit.
I am just wondering, has anybody actually had their insurance cancelled for driving within the legal speed limit but at a speed which their insurance deems "unsafe"? Has anyone been cancelled by Tesco for this, if so how many times were they able to receive a red/amber warning with their black box before it became an issue leading to their cancellation?
Thank you.
Black boxes also measure acceleration/deceleration so keep your speed down and try to drive more smoothly. I drive a lot of country roads too - use your gears to decelerate before corners - don't go above 50 mph.
I don't think you understand my point. I'm driving within the speed limit. It's a legal limit, imposing restrictions on my insurance for obeying the law is almost as though they are acting as delegated authorities of power, making me believe I should be going 20 in a 30 or going less than 40 in a 60 could lead to more dangerous scenarios than would usually occur were I going at the correct speed, driving too slowly can also be dangerous, have you not learnt that within your matured driving expertise?
I drive regularly at 2-6am, the country roads are empty, straight, wide enough for two cars and very short, there is no time to even accelerate up to 60 as by the time I would I will have to brake harshly into the new 30 speed zone, it would be impractical and I have "green" lights for smoothness of driving and no harsh braking.
If you believe that an insurance company should enforce or even hint at the possibility of insurance cancellation for driving only 20 mph lower than the legal speed limit then you clearly have some submissive characteristics whereby you wish to be subdued by some false authoritative power, controlling everything that you do. Suggesting it is immaturity in driving where I am extremely alert and enthusiastic about driving to the correct manner every time I sit in the car is extremely invalid. Perhaps your ultimate, infinite wisdom will go on to become a driving instructor, where you can tell your students to drive 20 miles below the speed limit (where it is clearly safe to go the speed limit as, as you can see, I am still alive and have no caused any deaths), because otherwise the black box might register you at an "unsafe speed".
I drive regularly at 2-6am, the country roads are empty, straight, wide enough for two cars and very short, there is no time to even accelerate up to 60 as by the time I would I will have to brake harshly into the new 30 speed zone, it would be impractical and I have "green" lights for smoothness of driving and no harsh braking.
If you believe that an insurance company should enforce or even hint at the possibility of insurance cancellation for driving only 20 mph lower than the legal speed limit then you clearly have some submissive characteristics whereby you wish to be subdued by some false authoritative power, controlling everything that you do. Suggesting it is immaturity in driving where I am extremely alert and enthusiastic about driving to the correct manner every time I sit in the car is extremely invalid. Perhaps your ultimate, infinite wisdom will go on to become a driving instructor, where you can tell your students to drive 20 miles below the speed limit (where it is clearly safe to go the speed limit as, as you can see, I am still alive and have no caused any deaths), because otherwise the black box might register you at an "unsafe speed".
Original post by Good bloke
Perhaps one day your driving ability will mature to the point where you understand that speed limits are not the ultimate arbiter of speed, and that safety is. A huge number of country lanes, probably most, are simply unsafe to drive at anything more than 20 MPH. Your insurance company obviously understands this, even if you don't.
Original post by Muttley79
Black boxes also measure acceleration/deceleration so keep your speed down and try to drive more smoothly. I drive a lot of country roads too - use your gears to decelerate before corners - don't go above 50 mph.
Good tip though on Tesco I believe it’s a separate measure under ‘smooth driving’?
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by Dazeo
I don't think you understand my point. I'm driving within the speed limit. It's a legal limit,
I don't think you understand. Being within the speed limit is the very least that is expected. Driving safely is also expected and that will often be significantly lower than the upper limit. Insurance companies are perfectly entitled to have expectations.
Original post by Themysticalegg
Good tip though on Tesco I believe it’s a separate measure under ‘smooth driving’?
I go down single lane country roads at 60 (as per national speed limit) and 70 down the dual carriageways and never had an issue.
You can;t go along country lanes at 60mph if they have 90 degree bends or they are narrow; especially with tractors around!
And horses and cyclists but I generally drive 60mph for most of the journey due to reasonable line of sight/easier corners but yeah of course I have to exercise caution round blind hills, sharp blind turns etc. I had to comfort a friend who crashed into a tree through not slowing down enough. Still surprised OP managed to get a red even though he drives at the speed limit, I've always had green/amber in the worst case scenario. The only red I ever get is not taking breaks!
Original post by Muttley79
You can;t go along country lanes at 60mph if they have 90 degree bends or they are narrow; especially with tractors around!
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by Themysticalegg
And horses and cyclists but I generally drive 60mph for most of the journey due to reasonable line of sight/easier corners but yeah of course I have to exercise caution round blind hills, sharp blind turns etc. I had to comfort a friend who crashed into a tree through not slowing down enough. Still surprised OP managed to get a red even though he drives at the speed limit, I've always had green/amber in the worst case scenario. The only red I ever get is not taking breaks!
Your country roads are clearly motorways compared to those around me!
Just. Change. Insurer.
Probably is to be honest, I've only lived in heavily urban areas for the past 5 years! Whenever I see one farmyard animal it counts as the country. 
Jokes aside I guess my daily route at the moment isn't that bad there's a lot of corners which aren't that sharp. There are just 4 extremely dangerous corners where you're screwed if you don't know the road... and it always scares me that cyclists are brave enough to use the road.
Jokes aside I guess my daily route at the moment isn't that bad there's a lot of corners which aren't that sharp. There are just 4 extremely dangerous corners where you're screwed if you don't know the road... and it always scares me that cyclists are brave enough to use the road. Original post by Muttley79
Your country roads are clearly motorways compared to those around me!
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