“106mph” during a 30 limit
Emily D wrote to us after her recorder provider E-mailed, claiming that she had spent an extended period driving at 106mph during a 30mph limit. also as being a speed Emily said she would “never dream” of reaching, true of the alleged incident meant she would have had to travel 120 miles from her home in but a flash. Her recorder also deemed a part road with a 60mph limit to be a 30mph zone.
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Emily contacted her insurer, and it admitted that the results were “bogus”, although the company assured her false readings like this were “very rare”. “I wasn’t impressed to say the littlest amount,” Emily said. “Is it really worth having a recorder if they’re this faulty? It seems insurers have to be compelled to update or upgrade them, or just stop using them altogether.”
Case study: Ian L’s daughter
Because telematics insurance is typically purchased by new drivers who otherwise struggle to urge affordable cover, many of those with malfunctioning black boxes are young, and may not be experienced in handling complex complaints. So when Ian L’s daughter received an e-mail telling her that her insurance would be cancelled within seven days because of her allegedly poor driving, Ian contacted the company on her behalf. From day one, Ian’s daughter had complained about the accuracy of the recorder, which rarely marked her acceleration and braking above 0 out of 100. Ian said his daughter drove sensibly and appropriately and had even been given discounts for
her driving with previous telematics policies.
Rising recorder complaints
The FOS doesn’t track what percentage complaints it receives over recorder insurance. The organisation does, however, log the complete number of complaints it receives for car and motorcycle insurance, and this almost doubled from 7,190 within the 2013/14 twelvemonth, to 12,977 in 2018/19.
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The Association of British Insurers said that black-box insurance was of “particular benefit” to young drivers, and advised: “Where a motorist is unhappy with their device and believes the knowledge recorded is inaccurate, they should speak to their insurer, who should investigate.” A spokesperson from the FOS said drivers should complain to their insurer if they feel that their recorder device has malfunctioned. If this does not solve the problem, they should contact the FOS, which could “decide if the insurer has treated you fairly and [has] the ability to position things right if they haven’t”.
Reader’s complaint highlighted box issues
In May 2018, we investigated the case of student Cydney Crean, who had been accused by her insurer of speeding on three separate occasions, despite timestamped home CCTV footage clearly showing her Fiat 500 parked on her driveway when the alleged offences happened.