Black box insurance without the box
Love cheaper car insurance? Hate black boxes? Get this: so do we. That's why we've created Smart Pricing, a way to save money based on your driving without relying on black boxes and their nasty fees.
Cheaper insurance for good drivers
If you’re trawling through black box insurance quotes, looking for flexible options or are a young driver hoping to save money, Smart Pricing could save you up to a third.
With Smart Pricing, your monthly premium is based on how well you drive. But unlike a lot of telematics policies that restrict drivers trying to save money, it comes without any installation costs, deposits, cancellation fees, or curfews. You don’t like that stuff and neither do we.
FCA Authorised and regulated
9am to 9pm support
Introducing Smart Pricing
Month by month insurance where the better you drive, the less you pay.
Your own fully comprehensive policy
Without nasty deposit fees or tie-ins. And you’ll still be able to earn a no claims bonus in the usual way. You can manage it all 9am to 9pm in the app.
Rolling monthly subscription
Not sure how long you need to be insured? Don't worry. With Cuvva you aren't locked into any annual contracts, and there aren't any cancellation fees.
Good drivers can save up to a third
No black box required. All you need to do is activate your phone’s permissions. Easy! In exchange, you get a personalised driving score, which could give you insurance discounts of up to a third.
What is black box insurance?
- Traditional black boxes are clunky pieces of hardware that often must be fitted to your car by an engineer. It tracks you on the road to see how safely you’re driving. They are often popular with young drivers hoping to reduce pricey car bills.
- Unfortunately, driving with a black box comes with lots of restrictions and unexpected costs. Getting them set up takes time and can be expensive. Some insurance providers penalise drivers by reducing their discounts if they exceed a driving mileage limit or hit the road late at night.
- There can also be fees for installing and removing the boxes, and for signing up to or cancelling the policies. Some insurers require engineers to install their black boxes - with penalty charges if you decide to change or cancel your appointment.
- Black boxes are often literal boxes fitted behind the dashboard. However, some black box car insurance providers use a ‘plug-and-drive’ device, which fits into your car’s lighter socket, or an on-board device, which goes in the OBD port. These usually don’t require an engineer to install them.
What is a black box?
- A black box is a piece of hardware that is installed in your car.
- A black box for cars tracks how safely you drive, resulting in insurance discounts for good drivers.
What are the 3 different types of black boxes?
- Some black boxes are clunky and need to be installed into your car’s machinery by an engineer.
- Others are more subtle and can be plugged into your dashboard without an engineer. These are called on-board devices (OBDs).
- And others are even easier and can be run through your phone! Cuvva’s Smart Pricing, for example, is a type of telematics device that uses technology that’s already on your phone to give you a driving score and reward good drivers.
What are common black box insurance rules?
- Some insurers have restrictions and rules for your driving when you’re using their black boxes.
- Some black box car insurance policies have restrictions on how far or often you can drive.
- Others have rules against driving at night.
- Cuvva’s Smart Pricing has no restrictions - you can drive as much or as little as you want.
How long do you have to have a black box for?
- It makes sense for younger people to have a black box, as premiums are often higher for them because they’re seen as more of a risk.
- But the older you get, the more your prices go down - and you could actually pay more by getting a black box.
- Cuvva crunched the numbers in November 2022 to find out more.
- Using a price comparison website, we found that a fair representative price for our 18-year-old and 22-year-old personas were cheaper with a black box.
- But we saw that for a 25-year-old, the price actually went up when using telematics.
- It’s always worth checking whether you can get a cheaper price with telematics, but it doesn’t always work - so make sure you check for a quote without, too.
What happens to your black box after insurance ends?
- If you renew, the black box will stay in your car and you’ll continue as usual.
- If you want to remove the black box, however, you might need to pay a fee. Here’s some examples, as of December 2022:
- RAC: £45
- Co-op: £90
- Tesco: £80 (in event of cancellation)
- MyPolicy: £50 (in event of cancellation)
- wearemarmalade: £100 (in event of cancellation)
- As you can just turn it off on your phone, there is no penalty or fee for cancelling your Smart Pricing with Cuvva.
What are black box jammers, and do they work?
- GPS jammers are illegal devices designed to block satellite signals from reaching your black box.
- These satellite signals help locate your car, so blocking them can interfere with how the black box works.
- However, while the black box might not be able to tell where a car is, it can still tell how well the car is driving.
- It can interfere with other communication devices nearby, which could be very dangerous.
- Because of this, they are illegal and can result in a fine of up to £5,000 or imprisonment for up to two years.
How to get Smart Pricing
The hassle free alternative to black box insurance. Get a quote or download the app.
1
Download the app
It just takes a few clicks to get started, and it's free.
2
Drive 125 miles
Start driving to get your score.
3
Get your Smart Pricing discount
Alongside tips to help improve your driving.
Fully comprehensive. And then some
Here's what you're covered for with our monthly subscription.
You and your stuff
Accident, theft, attempted theft, or fire
Loss or damage cover for permanently fitted audio equipment
£100 for your stuff
Personal accident benefits
Other people
Your legal liability to other people arising from an accident
Third party property damage up to £20m and £5m for associated legal costs and expenses
60 days of comprehensive cover in Europe (and minimum third-party cover after that)
Damage to the car
£40,000 maximum payout
Windscreen replacement
Adjustable excess
Replacement locks up to £400
Common Smart Pricing questions
How is my driving monitored without black box technology?
- It’s nice and simple. Your phone’s motion sensors and machine learning helps us understand your driving behaviour. Your speed, braking, cornering, acceleration and focus on the road gives us your unique driving DNA.
Can I get a driving score without an insurance subscription?
- Only want to see your driving score without committing to a policy? That’s fine. You don’t need to sign up to a subscription to get your score - just make sure you’ve driven 125 miles first. We’ll give you tips on how to improve your driving too.
Do I need to install a telematics box?
- Nope! All you need to do is to turn on your phone permissions for Smart Pricing to work. After 125 miles of driving we’ll be able to give you your driving score and a new price.
You’ll get 10% off as soon as you sign up
Smart Pricing pulls all your driving DNA together to give you a driving score out of 100. We need you to drive 125 miles to make sure your score is reliable - but to tide you over, we'll give you 10% off as soon as you sign up. Even better, there are no joining fees or deposits, either.
Just keep in mind, if your score is low, your insurance price could go up or stop you from using Cuvva.
Even the experts agree
Adam Kent, Cuvva’s Senior Underwriting Lead and Insurance Expert, said: 'Black box insurance is outdated, inconvenient and restrictive. Insurers who offer it claim to reward good drivers but they can also limit when and how we hit the road. Smart Pricing puts the driver back in control, with no nasty sign-up fees, curfews or clunky equipment. It’s telematics insurance without the headache.'
Have questions?
What phone permissions do we need?
See our guide on how we keep your information secure and private.
How Smart Pricing works
Manage it all from your app. Here’s how to sign up, use it and cancel.
Will it drain my battery?
Smart Pricing usually uses less than 1% of your battery. Here's the nitty gritty.
Watch how Driving Scores are calculated
Any questions?
Forget automated replies and chatbots! Our customer support team is made up of real people - get a response in minutes. We’re on hand between 9am to 9pm every single day. Let’s have a chat.
FAQs on Smart Pricing and Black Box Insurance
Do you need to pay to get your Cuvva driving score?
- No - it’s all free! Just activate the ‘insights’ tab in the app and start driving. You’ll get your personalised driving score within 125 miles.
How do you know if I’m driving and not a passenger?
- We use a combination of GPS and the motion sensors in your phone. The app permissions allow the phone to feel movements and G-force, which register differently if you’re a driver or passenger. Our passenger detection is around 91% accurate, and transport method detection is around 97% (for example, if you’re on a train or bus rather than a car).
- Plus, over time our algorithm will detect your driver DNA, which helps accuracy.
We don’t use ‘Red Journey processes'
- Some telematics and black box policies have something called ‘red journey processes’. This is when drivers are flagged for errors on the road. If the driver is flagged multiple times, they could be put on probation by their insurer, with higher prices also likely.
What are the cancellation fees?
- Many car insurance providers slap drivers with a fee if they want to remove their black box. We think that isn't fair - so we’ve made it completely free to turn off Smart Pricing.
- Cuvva - £0
- RAC - £125
- Co-Op - £90
- Tesco - £80
- MyPolicy - £50