Who doesn’t love technology! Not only has it changed our daily lives but innovation after innovation, whole industries are transforming to keep up with the fast pace of development.
The car industry has also played along; it has become a lot safer. From steering assistance to side airbags and driving sensors there seems to be more and more our cars can help us with whilst on the road.
Telematics is a great example of technology that has helped create a solution for a worldwide safety issue – and make driving more personalised.
What is telematics?
Telematics is information technology that uses GPS and informatics. Most commonly, telematics is spoken about in reference to car insurance, also known as black box insurance.
Yes, air planes also have black boxes that record flight information but despite sharing the name, the technology works differently.
Telematics insurance is based on data provided by a small black box, smaller than an iPhone, fitted to your car. This black box helps the insurer gather information about your driving.
At drive like a girl this black box data allows us to calculate a customer’s premium based on their driving behaviour instead of a generalised, potentially expensive, price. We also reward safe driving with Reward Points that can get you extra miles or retail vouchers.
How does telematics work?
When you have a black box fitted in your car, the device using telematics technology records things like your speed, location, the time of day or night you drive and how many miles you drive.
The black box is easily fitted out of sight and it won’t be connected to your electrics, so there’s no need to worry about it affecting your battery. So, here’s how it works.
The GPS will record where you’re driving also showing the types of roads you take, and the motion sensor will track your speed and record any impacts like sudden braking. The SIM card found in the black box, just like your phone’s, sends the recorded information to your insurer so that they can analyse the data – to create a personalised profile for you.
So it isn’t to just keep a record of your driving habits but can eventually help you save money. If this sounds like your thing, you can get a quote with drive like a girl here.
Am I in Big Brother?
Sharing information about yourself isn’t something any of us do lightly nowadays. It’s often the doubt people have with telematics or black box insurance but there’s no need to worry.
The black box doesn’t record any visual footage or sounds, and neither will it make any sounds or try to tell you what to do – it’s not the Big Brother! We don’t call the police if you’ve driven over the speed limit or share your data with any 3rd parties, unless required by law.
All driving data is safely stored and only available to you and us; with only one intention – to keep you safe on the road. We don’t keep your data forever and any driving analysis is always done anonymously.
Why should you choose telematics?
Car insurance is mostly based on statistics, and it’s pretty clear that if you’re holding on to a new licence, you’re not top of the list of who traditional insurance companies will trust. This often results in high premiums.
Telematics, or black box insurance, is all about giving you the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to drive well and safely.
A personalised price and rewards aren’t the only thing we offer at drive like a girl. Thanks for the telematics technology, the box might detect a strong impact on your car and alert our team so that we can try to call you and check you’re OK, or alert the emergency services*. We can also help the authorities track the location of your car, if it’s ever stolen.
The black box data is also a great help with a claim – we can cross-examine the incident with the data recorded and come to a resolution quicker.
Read more about the benefits of choosing drive like a girl here.
*We can’t guarantee the emergency services will attend so you should always call them immediately if needed.