Telematics may soon become compulsory when getting car insurance

For decades it has been a well known fact that women are generally safer drivers than men, therefore having an additional driver who is female on your insurance policy will mean lower insurance premiums. Last year Belgian campaigners managed to persuade the court that it is gender discrimination by offering women lower insurance premiums than men although it is a well known fact that men are responsible for 98% of dangerous driving convictions but now insurers will have to disregard that. Women drivers are generally less aggressive drivers compared to men so this new ruling will mean that men will save around 10% on car insurance whilst women will see their premiums rise by a quarter.

Car insurance with Telematics

Telematics is not very common in the UK at the moment; it was offered a few years ago by Norwich Union but then dropped. In the EU and US, telematics car insurance works and it has been around in the US for quite some time now with drivers saving 10 to 15% on their annual car insurance quote. If the UK will have to stop giving insurance quotes based on the gender of the applicant, then they will need to find another way to make money but still keep quotes fair. The only way to do so will be to introduce Telematics to everyone who needs car insurance. There are already many car insurers in Britain who are trialling this.

How does Telematics work?

It’s basically a little black box a bit similar to a GPS system which tells your insurer everything about your driving, from how fast you are driving to any sudden acceleration and braking; in other words it’s a 'big brother' style box that captures your every move and updates your insurer by the second. The little black box will ultimately mean higher car insurance premiums for many as driving over the speed limit even for a few seconds will mean a penalty.

How will Telematics affect you insurance-wise?

As a female driver on my partner's car insurance policy when we started out, it has meant that car insurance quotes have halved, his original car insurance quote was around £2,500 but by adding me this decreased to £1,200 Nowadays we obviously pay a lot less but nevertheless Telematics will affect us too. They will decrease for him but increase for me so hopefully it will level out and we won’t be forced to pay more than we do. For those who do not have a female driver on their policy, ultimately their insurance premiums will decrease but when it’s time to renew many will be shocked to see how much more they will need to pay as breaking the speed limit, driving more than you declare and the time of the day that you drive will cause insurance premiums to rise. If your driving is good then you can also expect cash back as a reward and with the current economic situation, it’s a good incentive.