Black box pushes up over 30s’ insurance

Black box insurance policies which are promoted as a way for drivers to save money on their car insurance actually cost some drivers more than traditional policies.

New analysis of insurance data reveals that while telematics-based policies can bring significant savings for younger drivers, for those aged 30 and above, they actually push up the price of premiums by as much as £200.

Telematics policies work by using in-car monitoring to record driving behaviour and then setting a premium based on how well or badly they are ranked. In recent years there has been a growing adoption of the policies among younger drivers as they can offer significant discounts over traditional policies.

Data from MoneySuperMarket based on more than one million quotes shows that on average for drivers aged 17 to 19 a black box policy will save them £855 a year. Instead of paying £2,079, drivers with a telematics system fitted pay an average of £1,224 - a saving of 41 per cent.

Drivers in the next age bracket (20-24) also benefit from large savings - 28 per cent - bringing their policies down by £383 to £997 per year. However, for 25-29-year-olds the policies offer average savings of just £20.

And once drivers hit 30, the tables turn and the policies start to be more expensive than that.

Those aged 30-39 pay 22 per cent more if they opt for a black box policy, pushing their premiums up from £590 to £717. And the older drivers get the more they are punished by telematics systems. Forty to 49- year-old spay almost half as much again while over-65s could pay 77 per cent more with a black box policy.