Pay As You Drive Insurance - UK

[Restyle]

This relatively new scheme might prove useful to certain drivers, particularly those expecting to do low annual milage, {less than 6000 miles}, or those younger drivers who are finding standard insurance a tad expensive.

My wife has just taken out this insurance via Norwich Union PAYD scheme on her Ford KA

Basically, a satnav gps unit is installed by the RAC, {who are also part of Norwich Union`s AVIVA group}, which then transmits all the car data - Type of road - Time of day - Speed - etc, back to Norwich Union via its inbuilt mobile telephone transmitter.
Payment is then calculated by paying so much per mile dependant upon the time of day & type of road - Interestingly, Motorway driving is cheaper than B roads as less accidents per mile statistically occur on Mways.
There is also a fixed price to pay on top of this to cover the car against theft / accidents etc while it is parked up.
They also offer a fantastic rate of RAC Breakdown cover for your car. In my wifes case, full insurance cover & RAC Breakdown & Recovery came to less than £200- !!
{She only does an average of 1500 miles a year}

Now the Interesting bit.

• Installation & deinstallation at the moment is totally Free
• When fitting, they also fit a SmartNav navigation button which you can use for free for the 1st Month
• Speed camera & road alert warnings are also free for the 1st month
• Your car now has a tracker system built in if it is ever stolen
• If you break down, you just push the button to get through to an accident / breakdown manager who already knows your location

For my initial review of the SmartNav system Click HERE

[jords]

Not something I would ever be interested in. I hope this doesn't come to Australia.

Just think about it. They have all your driving habits in the database, so if you tend to floor it a bit, or are not one for sticking to 70mph on the motorway, the computer will analyze your data and flag you as a high risk driver and increase your premium as a result.

Who knows, in the future, they may even pass on the details of speeding offenses to the police, who will be more than happy issue you with a speeding ticket to help fund their Christmas party.

Watch out, big brother WILL be watching you.

[Bacnka]

I think it's just contributing to a big brother society. Who has access to this information? I don't like the idea of someone being able to know exactly where I am when driving.

[Restyle]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bacnka (original)

Who has access to this information? I don't like the idea of someone being able to know exactly where I am when driving.

All the gathered info is subject to the data protection act .... which basically means that anyone in a hat can get hold of it
But there again, anyone who carries a mobile phone on them can be tracked in a similar way whether they`re driving, walking, or sleeping.
How to track a mobile
Build your own tracker system

[Restyle]

Just received the first itemised bill for the Pay As You Drive insurance covering the first month, & was quite impressed by the figures.

The Total Journey Usage premium came to a Grand Total of .... £2.26
{The car did just under 300 miles in that period}
The Flat rate monthly premium @ £0.45p per day comes to £13.95

Giving a Total monthly {fully comp} charge of £16.21

So although you`ve got Big Brother watching you on every journey, I think thats more than compensated by the cheap premiums.

[bissellc]

Though this system looks really appealing in terms of price and as a young driver it would probably be a lot cheaper for me than normal i still cant get to grips with it.
It just really does sound like your being watched, i mean its alarming the statistics that show on average how many times a day we are caught on camera, so being in your car (the sense of freedom) and being watched just feels like there is always someone sitting in the seat behind you.
The Government has already proven that they can lose all child benefit records, imagine the out cry if all the personal data insurance companies hold was sunddenly lost, cars can be tracked down etc etc.

Good idea but definantly outweighed by the bad for me.

[Nath316]

Quote: Originally Posted by Restyle (original)

Just received the first itemised bill for the Pay As You Drive insurance covering the first month, & was quite impressed by the figures.

The Total Journey Usage premium came to a Grand Total of .... £2.26
{The car did just under 300 miles in that period}
The Flat rate monthly premium @ £0.45p per day comes to £13.95

Giving a Total monthly {fully comp} charge of £16.21

So although you`ve got Big Brother watching you on every journey, I think thats more than compensated by the cheap premiums.

Yes that does look good and the numbers do add up

My question is if it is that cheap then why are insurance premiums so damn high!!!!!!

[Restyle]

Quote: Originally Posted by Nath316 (original)

My question is if it is that cheap then why are insurance premiums so damn high!!!!!!

This is exactly what this type of plan tries to address as it is primarily based on the risks involved in driving your car at particular times of day & on the types road used.
I just put my details & typical milage {6500pa }into their calculator for my MCS & got a monthly estimate of £25- {several hundred pounds below what I currently pay}

>> Test out the Pay as you Drive Calculator <<

[CTurbinado]

Very interesting!

[CTurbinado]

Quote: Originally Posted by Restyle (original)

This is exactly what this type of plan tries to address as it is primarily based on the risks involved in driving your car at particular times of day & on the types road used.
I just put my details & typical milage {6500pa }into their calculator for my MCS & got a monthly estimate of £25- {several hundred pounds below what I currently pay}

>> Test out the Pay as you Drive Calculator <<

There is no Mini on the calculator...

[CTurbinado]

it gave me £9,560 for 11 months for a BMW 118d...

[Restyle]

Quote: Originally Posted by CTurbinado (original)

There is no Mini on the calculator...

When you put in your registration number it looks it up on the UK registrations database & brings up your model of car .
Is your car UK registered?

[Johal87]

see this shows ur millage extra, and the computor they have put in most record some data, this is a bit far feteced, but surely some how they would know if you have speeded etc, and this in the wrong hands! could cause alot of problems??

bit far fetced i know but still

[Restyle]

Quote: Originally Posted by Johal87 (original)

... but surely somehow they would know if you have speeded etc, and this in the wrong hands! could cause alot of problems??

The Official Smallprint :-
From the First Installation Date, we will use the In-Car Device to capture data from your vehicle relating to the date, time, speed, location and direction of travel.
We, and those acting on our behalf, will use the data captured by the In-Car Device for the purposes of:
1. Calculating and charging insurance premiums based upon actual vehicle usage;
2. Disclosing your personal data to Smartnav who as our supplier of the In-Car Device will separately control your personal data for the purpose of providing you with the Accident, Emergency and Breakdown Service .... etc

Their obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 :-
If approached, we shall only provide information about you to those legally entitled to it, and where we are obliged to release it.

So, although your Journey Speed is not specified anywhere on the monthly bill, & you are not charged at a higher rate if you ever exceeded the speed limit on a particular road, I would think it possible the insurance company may analyse your speed data just prior to any accident you may be claiming on.
{But not sure if in doing so they would be in breach of DP act ... Interesting point}

Information is also anonymously passed on to Trafficmaster for Vehicle flow analysis.

Trafficmaster incidentlly, will be using data from drivers mobile phones to monitor traffic flow & pass that data back to others to help them avoid holdups & accidents.
See >> Now there&rsquo;s no need to be spooked by phantom jams - Times Online

So, even if you havnt got one of these devices fitted, anyones movements can be checked on if neccessary, by way of your mobiles standby signal.

And for anyone who isn`t paranoid yet:-
"Trafficmaster relies on data from some 7,500 roadside cameras and sensors fixed to bridges, which monitor traffic speed then send out alerts whenever it drops below 30mph"
This data is also recorded & can be requested by the relevant authorities, as has been witnessed many times in non-speeding related court cases - such as to provide or disprove alibi`s in murder enquiries etc.

[Restyle]

Seems not enough people were taking advantage of this PAYD scheme as Norwich Union have announced today that they are "putting the scheme on pause".
Surveillance fears force Norwich to scrap 'pay as you drive' car policies - Business News, Business - The Independent

This is a pity as we found it offered real value for money, with the monthly driving part of the premium never exceeding £2.50 per month.
We were informed by letter that from mid-july we only have to pay the fixed rate part of the premium {£9- per month}, & the telemetric device can still be used to contact the RAC if we ever need to, and a special rate of insurance will be offered when the current policy expires.

Full marks to NU for giving it a brave try - although I doubt its the last we`ll hear about it