Co-op Insurance has launched a new policy that could help young people who drive safely save more than £1,000 in insurance premiums.
The organisation already offers a Young Driver telematics policy aimed at younger drivers (although it is available to older drivers too), through which a black box is installed in the vehicle and information is gathered on speed; how corners are taken; how hard the driver brakes and accelerates; and the time of day they drive.
Through the new Graduated Young Driver policy, qualifying drivers who have proven to drive safely consistently for two years can have their black box switched off. They will save around an additional £322 just by ‘graduating’ from a monitored to an unmonitored policy in their third year.
As part of the policy, graduated drivers will continue to benefit from discounted rates, not available to other customers, for up to eight years. These discounts will be in addition to any no claims discounts (NCD) they may have acquired.
A subsidiary of the Co-op Group, Co-op Insurance says it has developed the graduated product in response to the positive impact its telematics policy has had on driving behaviour over the years. In 2011 the insurer was the first to reward young drivers for safe driving. Telematics, also known as black box insurance, rewards responsible driving behaviours while equipping cars with small boxes that measure individual driving styles.
Since the launch of its telematics policy, Co-op Insurance has given back over £13m for good driving. The insurer aims to bridge the gap between monitored and unmonitored policies so that young drivers can continue to drive safely and be rewarded even without a telematics device.
While young drivers have a casualty rate three times higher than all other drivers in England, Co-op Insurance hopes the product will make a difference in encouraging young drivers to take responsibility in improving their driving and making roads safer. In the next year around 2,500 young motorists are expected to ‘graduate’ to the new product, which is the first of its kind in the UK young driver market.
Nick Ansley, head of Motor Insurance at Co-op said: “Safer driving means safer roads and safer communities, which is high on our agenda at the Co-op.
“We’ve seen just how impactful black box devices are on the driving behaviour of young people. From our data, we can see that it’s a great way of improving the safety of young drivers on the roads and we believe that responsible driving should be rewarded.
“Through our new Graduated Young Driver product, we want to show drivers who have proven track record of good driving that we trust them to continue driving safely, not only through ‘unboxing’ them, but through a premium that reflects their quality of driving.”
