Black box insurance

It’s still worth considering black box insurance if you work nights as not all insurance companies require a curfew. 

While there aren’t lots of insurance companies who offer a curfew free policy, those who do understand that driving between 11pm – 6am can be unavoidable. As long as you’re driving safely and similarly to how you do in the day, your driving score shouldn’t be affected.

On your result page look at the policy info to go to a provider’s page to see if they offer the insurance without a time curfew.

You can usually drive your car while you wait for your black box to be fitted – there’s often a 7-day grace period, though this depends on the insurer.

Black box insurance collects data that will allow your insurer to get a good picture of your driving so they can assess how good/safe a driver you are. The more careful driver you are then the less risky you are to insure.

Data collected by your box covers various aspects of your driving:

• Braking
• Cornering
• Speed
• Mileage
• Time of day you drive

You’ll usually be able to view all the collected data that is collected. Your insurer isn’t allowed to share your black box data with third parties. They can only share your data with the police as part of a criminal investigation – for example, if your car has been stolen.

Safer, careful driving should result in a higher driving score. While black boxes collect a lot of data on your driving, the speed and the general smoothness of your driving are largely what determine your driving score. This means you need to keep to the speed limits and try to accelerate smoothly and brake with plenty of time. Black boxes just don’t like surprises, so consistent, safe driving should be rewarded. You’ll usually get tips through a personalised dashboard on how to improve your driving score.

If you can, it might be better to avoid driving between 11pm and 5am – doing so might lower your score as insurers tend to see greater risk of an accident during these hours.

Your insurer won’t tell the police, but your premiums might go up as speeding affects your driving score. Breaking the speed limit by a small amount occasionally might not affect your policy very much. However, if you regularly break the speed limit by a lot, it’s likely to push up your premiums. In some cases, your insurer might even cancel your policy. 

If you take out a black box insurance policy, you should try to stick to the speed limit – speed is one of the main influencers on your driving score.

This depends on your insurer, but if you think you’re going to go over your mileage you should talk to your insurer in advance.

Some black box insurance companies will let you buy more miles if you exceed the agreed limit. Others may amend your premium if you tell them ahead of time that you’ll be going over. If you have a pay-as-you-go policy, you may be charged automatically if you exceed the mileage limit without topping up.

A professionally fitted device would need to be uninstalled by a professional as well. You shouldn’t attempt to uninstall your box mid-policy as it could leave you uninsured.

You don’t need to have the black box removed if you’re cancelling the policy or not renewing, it’ll just stop collecting data. If you still want the black box removed, you may need to pay the labour cost. For those with a self-fitted device, you can remove this yourself.

Yes, you can normally drive abroad. Up to 90 days cover to drive in the EU and certain other European countries is included with many black box insurance policies, though you should check the terms and conditions in your policy.

Black box insurance policies last for 12-months, just like a standard car insurance policy. When your policy is due to renew, you can decide if you want to continue with a black box policy for another 12-months or switch to standard car cover.