Can I Legally Drive Before The Black Box Has Been Installed?

Once your policy has started, you have 7 days in which to get the black box fitted to your car. During the period between taking out your Black Box insurance policy and one of our Black Box Installation Engineers installing the Telematics device in your car, you will still be insured to drive, however you will have a higher Excess attached to your policy during this time. Once the Black Box has been installed and turned on, your policy Excess will be lowered to the previously agreed amount. Failure to get the box fitted within the 7 day period can result in your policy being cancelled.

In the short time between your Telematics insurance device being installed and your Young Driver insurance policy being taken out, it’s in your best interests to prevent yourself from picking up any bad habits. Although it may seem farfetched that you could pick up bad driving in habits in a matter of just a few days, please remember you will never have driven alone before, and will previously have been driving with an instructor who will have been keeping a close eye on your driving, to make sure you didn’t develop any poor driving habits ahead of your driving test. If you had a Car Insurance For Young Learner Drivers policy with Think Insurance, you may have been driving without your instructor but with a family member instead, who will have been operating in the same role as your driving instructor, so there will always have been someone else there to help you out.

When preparing for your test you may have even had an intense focus on your driving to make sure you didn’t develop any bad driving habits, but with your driving test successfully passed you may find that your focus has relaxed. However, it’s important that you don’t let it, not just so that you don’t develop any poor driving habits but also for the safety of other road users.

Whether you’ve had your black box fitted or you are still waiting for your Black Box Installation Engineer to install the telematics device to your car, it’s important that you drive responsibly. Remember the point of having a black box device fitted to your vehicle is so that you can lower your insurance premium. Driving irresponsibly before installation not only puts yourself at risk but if you are involved in a crash you would see your premium rise on renewal, even if you manage to maintain a perfect driving score, once your telematics device has been installed.

If you have more questions about the Telematics insurance device that will be fitted to your car such as ‘Can a telematics box be fitted to any car?’ you can view a wide range of topics and questions that we’ve covered in our Young Driver FAQ section. However, if you still haven’t found the answer to your question(s) you can always give us a call on 0800 221 8077 and we’ll put you through to a member of our Young Driver Telematics insurance team, who will be happy to help you out.

They can also assist you in getting a Young Driver insurance policy, or alternatively you can click ‘Get a Quote’ below and we’ll be in touch!