YOU HAVE YOUR SAY
EVERY week Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails about our stories. Here’s what you had to say about the rise in popularity of dashboard cameras to help drivers win insurance claims and get discounted premiums from some providers. MY DASHBOARD camera saved me a lot of hassle when someone hit m y car in a car par k and drove off . I t filmed i t all and helped me get my money back.
D. E., Lincolnshire. I HAVE one and you’d never know it was ther e. However, I recommend y ou turn off the microphone as you don’t want your insurance company listening to profanities as you get hit. And watch out if you get one which records your speed: if it shows you just one mile per hour over the limit, the other party’s insurance coul d claim you were partly responsible.
F. G., Truro. DASH cams are not only evidence for y ourself — the y can help others. I helped a motor cyclist struck from behind at a roundabout — the driver drove off, but we still managed to catch him as I sent the footage to the police. It helped the guy on the bike win his claim.
J. H., Reading. I HAVE dash cams in the front and at the rear, and they’ve saved me a couple of times against claims from dri vers disputing fault. In particular , they helped when I was a victim of a road rage attack. I wouldn’t be without one.
I. C., Warwick. GIVEN tha t dash cams cost so little, per haps it’s time manufacturers installed them in all new cars as standard.
M. D., via email. I’D REALLY like to have one, but it’s just something else to get out and pu t away every trip. A built-in version that’s difficult and ther efore impr actical f or thieves to prise ou t of the car would be great.
P. E., Shepherd’s Bush, London. DON’T forget that your own camera can also work ag ainst you. If y ou are at fault and it is seen that you have a camera on your dashboard, I under stand police can use it as evidence to establish the blame.
B. S., London. DASH cams sound like a gr eat idea as long as the o wner maintains control of the footage — and not ‘big br other’. The potential for it to be stored centrally or automatically sent to insurers in years to come is sinister.
B. I., via email.
WRITE to Tony Hazell at Ask Tony, Money Mail, Scottish Daily Mail, 20 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6DB or email asktony@dailymail.co.uk — please include your daytime phone number, postal address and a separate note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Tony Hazell. A sample letter can be found at thisismoney.co.uk/ permission. We regret we cannot reply to individual letters. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.