Does Your Black Box Insurance Have A Curfew?

At Think Insurance we’re more concerned with how you drive, not when, which is why we don’t have any curfews on our policies. 

What is a Black Box?

A Black Box, sometimes referred to as a Telematics device, is a small unit that is installed into a vehicle for the purpose of monitoring how a person drives. This device records a number of elements such as speed, breaking, cornering, acceleration, time of day and mileage. The owner of the black box will be rated on their performance in these areas every time they get behind the wheel, and will be given a Driving Performance Score to let them know how well they have done.

When we calculate a Young Driver insurance premium for a driver with some experience, we focus on your Driving Performance Score, and use this to help us work out what your renewal price will be. For any new or inexperienced drivers who have not taken out a Telematics insurance policy with us before, we won’t have a driving score to guide us, which means we will have no indication of your driving skill, so there is a level of trust, and risk, involved and a lower premium is offered in return for the commitment that you are prepared to have your driving monitored, and you’re going to be a good driver. 

As you drive, your driving score is calculated using the data the black box records for all of your journeys.

The Black Box insurance Driving Score is calculated using the following:

• They time of day when you drive
• The amount of journeys you take
• Total amount of driving you do
• The roads you drive on
• How you accelerate
• The speed at which you drive
• Your braking performance
• The way in which you handle corners
• Rest periods when on a long journey
• Miles driven
• Vehicle location

Having Insurance Without a Curfew

For many drivers, driving at night time can be a necessity due to work commitments, social commitments or for any other reason, and we believe that as a young driver who has taken out a Black Box Car insurance policy with us, you should not be penalised for this, so there are no fines or curfews on our policies.

However, driving at times of the day deemed more of a risk, such as rush hour or during the night time, certainly won’t help improve your driving score, but we leave that decision up to you, as we know that sometimes, driving at those times may be unavoidable for you, and what’s the point of having a car and paying for an insurance policy if you can’t drive it when you need or want to?! 

We have trust in the young drivers that are insured with us to drive responsibly whatever time of the day it is.

Does Having No Curfew Affect the Cost of My Insurance?

Having no curfew can be a brilliant thing, as it allows you to gain the necessary experience in driving at all times of the day and night, and also shows us how well you handle driving during different times.

While the times you drive are monitored and taken into consideration, it is the way you drive during these times that is evaluated. Are you more cautious in the day? Do you make far more mistakes at night? These are the types of things that can affect your driving score and ultimately the cost of your insurance when it comes to renewal.

Statistically, night time driving has a much higher rate of incidents and reckless driving, which could be a factor into why these times are monitored closely, and scores impacted more heavily during certain times of the day. More often than not, poor driving at night will impact your score more heavily than if you were to drive the same way during the day, so make sure you concentrate on your driving if you’re out late at night, and don’t get distracted or overconfident.

Have More Questions?

You may have more questions regarding our Young Driver insurance policies, and if you do, you can get all your questions answered in our FAQ section. However, if there’s something we’ve missed out or you’re still not quite sure about something, then feel free to call our specialist Young Driver team on 0800 221 8077.

Get a Cheap Black Box Insurance Quote

Ready for a quote? Then click ‘Get a Quote’ below and a member of our Young Driver team will get in touch to start the process of getting you on the road with one of our Black Box insurance policies, by helping you to get your Telematics insurance premium calculated as quickly as possible.