20% drop in car accidents thanks to telematics insurance
An analysis of 10,000 young driver claims by The Co-operative Insurance shows that those with telematics or ‘black box' insurance are 20 per cent less likely to have a car crash than those with standard insurance.
The study has been compiled to mark the first anniversary of The Co-operative's Young Driver scheme and analyses the driving habits of customers age 17 to 25 across the country.
The data also proves that as well as having fewer car crashes, young drivers with a black box tend to be involved in less serious road accidents, as the cost of a typical insurance claim from a customer with the box is 30 per cent less than from a customer without.
As a result, The Co-operative will offer thousands of young motorists' major savings when they renew their insurance in the next three months . The cost of insurance for young people is very high, with a 17 to 22 year old often paying thousands of pounds for cover.
Amy Kilmartin, Manager of the Young Driver Insurance scheme at The Co-operative, said: "We can see that motorists with this type of insurance are genuinely driving better than those without it.
"Young drivers tend to pay a lot for insurance because they have more road accidents than any other age group, but with these schemes if they prove they are good drivers, they could see major savings.
"If more and more young people used this type of insurance, we would have a generation of much safer drivers which could play a big part in improving the safety of Britain's roads."
Young Driver insurance works by installing a smart box in the driver's car which analyses speed, cornering, braking, acceleration and the time of day the car is driven. It then scores people from one (low) to five (high) for each behaviour - if they score well, they will receive money back on their insurance.
Although it is mainly 17 and 18 year old males who have joined the scheme so far, The Co-operative is calling for more women to consider black box insurance. From December, a new ruling will ban insurance companies from charging insurance on the basis of gender.
Amy Kilmartin said: "At the moment, if you're a young woman you will pay less for insurance than a man of the same age, however, from December women's insurance will increase.
"This isn't fair as women are statistically safer drivers than men. But if they use black box insurance they can prove they are safe drivers and get cheaper insurance as a result."