An increasing number of UK drivers are taking out telematics-based car insurance, according to new figures which show that uptake of telematics policies soared in the first four months of the year.
Price comparison website Tiger.co.uk revealed that sales of telematics car insurance rose by 25 per cent between the start of January and the end of April 2012.
In fact, more than one in seven policies sold through Tiger.co.uk in April was a telematics-based policy and that figure is expected to rise as the year progresses.
Telematics car cover, also known as ‘black box’ insurance, is largely aimed at younger motorists who find affordable car insurance hard to come by.
It involves the use of a tracker being installed in the car to record the motorist’s driving habits. The insurer then uses this data to calculate the customer’s premiums based on their insurance risk.
The savings can be significant for those who drive carefully, but drivers who speed, accelerate aggressively and break hard, etc, are considered more risky and could se their insurance costs increase.
Commenting on the data, Andrew Goulborn, Commercial Director for Tiger.co.uk said: “We’re very pleased to see an increase in telematics sales. It shows that our customers are starting to understand that the use of this new technology in insurance could save them money .”
“Tiger.co.uk currently has four telematics insurers on its panel, some of which have a particular focus on young drivers’ car insurance and we are in discussions with more telematics insurers. As a result we hope to see an even larger rise in sales in the latter part of the year.”
