Black Box Myth Buster

Black box technology (also known as telematics) has a mountain of misconceptions surrounding it. Many people believe that black boxes come with a shedload of rules designed to catch young drivers out and push their premiums up. This isn’t the case – our Black Box Insurance is designed with the safety of young drivers in mind, and to keep insurance premiums down by reducing claims.

Should you be worried about Black Box Insurance?

Absolutely not! The purpose of black box technology is to reduce your risk rating by demonstrating safe driving skills - it's not to catch you out or to punish drivers. Effectively, it's there to keep you safe and potentially save you money. We're demystifying all that and more, just keep reading.

1 Night-time curfews and penalties

A lot of people think that all black boxes come with curfews on when you can drive, such as no driving between 11pm and 6am, or that your driving score will be affected by driving at night.

There are some policies like this, but not with Marmalade. There are no night-time driving restrictions with us, so you’re able to drive where you like when you like.

2 Limited mileage on black boxes

Just like any insurance policy (black box or not), you’ll be asked to estimate your annual mileage when you take the policy out. There isn’t a cap imposed, so there aren’t any penalties to worry about.

Commuting, road trips, just driving locally – all we ask is that you're honest about your mileage. This helps insurers make sure you’re protected and that you receive the right quote for you. Misleading insurers about your mileage can affect any claims that you make.

3Penalties for driving mistakes

The box isn’t there to catch you out, and the odd mistake here and there isn’t going to make your premium shoot up!

If you continue to drive at risk, you may be charged a premium, or the policy could be cancelled.

4Speeding is automatically reported to the police

Some people believe that if you speed with a black box in the car, this data is sent straight to the police, and you’ll be subject to a driving penalty.

This isn’t the case either… Unless you’re caught by the police or a speed camera, you won’t receive a speeding ticket. However, if you consistently speed when driving, this will decrease your driving score

When reviewing journeys on your app, you’ll be able to see where you’re speeding so you can keep an eye on your speed in the future. If you continue to drive at risk, you may be charged a premium, or the policy could be cancelled.

5Having a black box is embarrassing

Black boxes have this nifty little feature of being pretty small and barely visible. Our device fits discreetly on your windscreen, directly behind your rear-view mirror, so unless you tell someone you’ve got a black box, no one is going to know you’ve got one.

6Black box jammers make you invisible on the road

Some people think that using devices which block GPS signals, such as a black box jammer, will stop your black box from picking up your location and therefore journeys (and driving mistakes) won’t be picked up.

This isn’t the case – even with the signal blocked, your box will know the car is moving and will log this as usual. Once the device is switched off, the data will be backlogged and uploaded as usual.

Basically, there’s no point using these devices but it’s important to know that, if you do and you end up in an accident, it could invalidate any claim.

7Insurers are looking for reasons to increase your premium at renewal

It may be surprising to hear that insurers don't actually want you to pay more than you need to for cover.

The idea of the black box is that it allows young drivers to prove they are safe and responsible drivers. The data it collects can be used to better evaluate the level of risk and likelihood of a claim when pricing the premium at renewal.

8Black boxes are like Big Brother

Contrary to popular belief, we are not watching your every move, keeping an eye on how often you nip to McDonald’s, or checking where you are at 2am on a Saturday!

The black box will only flag to us when you repeatedly drive at risk on a journey. In truth, you’ll probably spend a lot more time looking at your journeys than we will.