No Nonsense smart driver?

car.kar

Hi all,

Just wondering, has anyone used the Smart Driver scheme from No Nonsense? They put a device in your car to see how safe a driver you are, and give you money back on your insurance if you're good.

I would consider myself an above average driver, so realistically this should work out for me, but I'm wondering are their standards above and beyond for what constitutes a 'safe' driver? As in, only driving instructors themselves would be likely to benefit?

Apparently this device is on over half of insurance companies in the UK, so I'd anyone has any experience with it is greatly appreciate the feedback! Being under 25 is a pain in the hole for insurance ;-)

car.kar

Oh and mods feel free to move... wasn't sure if I'd be better here or over at insurance

kirving

They could just as easilty use the information to increase your premium in future. Not saying you're wrong, but the vast majority of people consider themselves better than average, when that cannot be the case.

Does 51kph constitute speeding, etc, etc?

lway

According to their radio ads it records when you drive and how you drive, so I guess you could be the safest driver on the road but if you are driving late at night it would count against you.

Eric Cartman

insurance without a tracker would be higher to buy initially, but you would only be penalized for accidents and penalty points offences accrued,

with this you would be penalized for going a bit over the speed limit, driving a lot through bad areas, parking in bad areas, driving at night, parking at pubs etc.. in my view its not worth it, as it just gives insurance companies ammunition to increase future premiums that would otherwise have gone down, nobody is a perfect driver , so this suits nobody.

car.kar

Kevin Irving wrote: »

not saying you're wrong, but the vast majority of people consider themselves better than average, when that cannot be the case.

Does 51kph constitute speeding, etc, etc?

I had a full time job driving a promotional vehicle for two years.. I'd say I'm a pretty good driver. But yeah your point about speeding is what would worry me, if the device monitors speed... I'm no boy racer, but we're all guilty of a few km's over the limit!

car.kar

lway wrote: »

According to their radio ads it records when you drive and how you drive, so I guess you could be the safest driver on the road but if you are driving late at night it would count against you.

Ahh.. I didn't take where you drive into account. I'll often drive to the pub and not drink, but I suppose if it marked me as parked outside a pub that's all that would matter!

fullstop

Kevin Irving wrote: »

They could just as easilty use the information to increase your premium in future. Not saying you're wrong, but the vast majority of people consider themselves better than average, when that cannot be the case.

Does 51kph constitute speeding, etc, etc?

They can't use it to increase your premium...according to them.

visual

Keep shopping around for cheaper price
Put your mother on insurance see how much it drops.

Trackers are just a gimmick to sucker you in.
Never known any insurance company not to look for a angle to increase premiums.

Del2005

fullstop wrote: »

They can't use it to increase your premium...according to them.

They can't increase your premium for the current year, but it will affect your renewal upwards or downwards.

They say on the FAQ page that if the car is going for a service to remove it. What's to stop you removing it for a bit of fun and then reinstalling?

annoymos

I've had the smart driver in my car now for exactly 3 months. It records things such as how much you accelerate, cornering quickly and braking harsly. For.the initial week or two the data will not be displayed to review your score. After this data displays in the smart driver portal.

There are 2 sections in the portal -

1. A brief summary of harsh braking, cornering and acceleration.
In my case all 3 say no recorded records of any of the above followed by well done.

2. Second tab shows a chart with a score for each week out of 100. Following the end of the 3 month period the system displays your average score. I have just completed my 3 months and have an aaverage score of 90.

For reference i only passed my driving test in july 2012 so would not be a good driver due to lack of experience. I have now to await communication from No Nonsense on if i receive a 30% reduction. Hope this helps.

djimi

I wouldnt let an insurer put a tracker in my car even if they were offering me the policy for free...

annoymos

I'm not a mechanic but the smart driver device connects to either your battery or OBM port(used for car diagnostics) depending on your car. Each to their own opinion on insurance choice. Personally i'm not in a financial position to be paying approx 1K euro on insurance.

If a company was tracking my location without my knowledge that would be a violation of privacy laws unless i'm mistaken. I also believe it's a good idea to give each individual an opportunity to prove their abilities rather than throw everyone within age categories into the same group rates.

With the increasing costs for mandatory driving lessons, fuel, motor tax etc paying extra on insurance doesn't really make sense if it can be avoided.

littlejp

annoymos wrote: »

I've had the smart driver in my car now for exactly 3 months. It records things such as how much you accelerate, cornering quickly and braking harsly. For.the initial week or two the data will not be displayed to review your score. After this data displays in the smart driver portal.

There are 2 sections in the portal -

1. A brief summary of harsh braking, cornering and acceleration.
In my case all 3 say no recorded records of any of the above followed by well done.

2. Second tab shows a chart with a score for each week out of 100. Following the end of the 3 month period the system displays your average score. I have just completed my 3 months and have an aaverage score of 90.

For reference i only passed my driving test in july 2012 so would not be a good driver due to lack of experience. I have now to await communication from No Nonsense on if i receive a 30% reduction. Hope this helps.

Any word from them yet? My insurance is up next month and am considering this if it would save me a fair bit.

madarekrap

I just renewed my insurance with No Nonsense, and the Sales-guy was pitching this system to me. He said it doesn't monitor your speed, but harsh breaking, cornering force etc. He also said driving late at night will negatively impact you. He also said that it could potentially put my premium up next year. I'd consider myself to be a very good driver but at the same time I don't like the idea of them monitoring me, and then maybe saying in a year that the premium has gone up.... just went with normal cover, to be fair they are by far the cheapest.

Shakti

Driving per the parameters of some invasive Orwellian parasitic battery sucking bug instead of driving to the conditions that the road/traffic in front of you presents is dangerous IMO.

_Kaiser_

madarekrap wrote: »

He also said driving late at night will negatively impact you.

I must be missing something obvious as late at night to me means less traffic/less pedestrians and bikers so therefore the roads are quieter and thus safer?

ironclaw

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

I must be missing something obvious as late at night to me means less traffic/less pedestrians and bikers so therefore the roads are quieter and thus safer?

Statistically most fatal accidents occur in hours approaching before, during and after darkness. But I get what your saying in terms of number of people on the roads. Kinda a false positive.

Don't believe in trackers. Too much data for a company to crunch and use to their benefit.

jimgoose

Never. They may go to buggery.

Golf GTI + insurance tracker........ I wonder how that would work out

As said by another poster, I wouldn't let them install it if they gave me the insurance for free.

mikehammer67

Kevin Irving wrote: »

They could just as easilty use the information to increase your premium in future. Not saying you're wrong, but the vast majority of people consider themselves better than average, when that cannot be the case.

Does 51kph constitute speeding, etc, etc?

that the way it usually work

they pretend good drivers can save

in reality they prob just penalize bad drivers

carzony

Tatiana Breezy Seaport wrote: »

I wouldn't let them install it if they gave me the insurance for free.

Same here, Axa made me a similar offer when my renewal was due and they were one of the cheapest but I didn't like the idea of them knowing where I am and how I'm driving :mad:

As an aside are they installed in a way as to make them difficult/impossible to just remove when you know you might be pushing on and put them in for normal journeys?

goz83

ironclaw wrote: »

Statistically most fatal accidents occur in hours approaching before, during and after darkness. But I get what your saying in terms of number of people on the roads. Kinda a false positive.

Don't believe in trackers. Too much data for a company to crunch and use to their benefit.

Wouldn't that be all the time? Which, would be correct too.

ironclaw

goz83 wrote: »

Wouldn't that be all the time? Which, would be correct too.

hours approaching before, during and after darkness.

If you want to be smart at least read the entire sentence. Its fairly obvious what I was trying to say i.e Dusk to Dawn :rolleyes: