Helping young drivers to save money on their insurance

Online, June 14, 2010 (Newswire.com) - A new motor insurer, believed to be the first in the world to charge all its customers solely by the number of miles and the way they drive, is targeting young, newly-qualified motorists and their parents. As well as promising cheaper car insurance for many drivers, insurethebox aims to influence behaviour by incentivising good drivers through the way it charges.

insurethebox can be accessed via www.moneysupermarket.com - the first time the web comparison site has launched a new motor insurer.

Insurethebox.com has calculated, after analysing tens of thousands of quotes on moneysupermarket.com, that it offers the cheapest premiums to 20% of motorists in these target segments. Savings for young drivers average at least £200 per year.

In addition, its technology makes it possible to respond rapidly to accidents, reducing the time it takes to get help and potentially saving many lives.
"The benefits of insurethebox are clear and I believe this insurer could really help keep motoring costs down and successfully promote safer driving," commented

Steve Sweeney, head of car insurance at moneysupermarket.com.
"The new age of austerity we've been told to expect is bound to hit young people, who are at a stage when forking out for motor insurance can be really difficult.

We're giving them the chance to control their premium spend through the amount of driving they do and by earning bonus miles through careful driving. If that means they drive a bit less and share lifts more often, then so much the better. The environment will benefit as well," said joint chief executive Mike Brockman.

The company has also singled out low-mileage drivers as likely to benefit from their proposition.

At the heart of its system is a small 'ClearBox', which is installed by insurethebox at their cost at a location of the motorist's choice and monitors exactly when and where the car goes and how it is driven. Customers can visit their own password-protected portal on the insurethebox website to see how well they are driving compared to their peer group.

Drivers pay for a fixed number of miles, typically 6,000. When the allocation is about to run out they receive email reminders. They can then choose to buy additional miles automatically through their credit cards or bank accounts or opt instead to use top-up principles similar to mobile phones.
If they have driven well, however, this may not be necessary. Every month the policy will be awarded up to 100 free miles. The better the driving, the bigger the bonus.

"Any parent whose teenage child has just passed their driving test will know the anxiety they feel whenever their son or daughter takes the car out, especially at night," says Brockman.

"A seventeen year old man is 17 times the insurance risk of a 45-year-old, since they have more accidents with a significantly higher cost of claims. By encouraging good behaviour we can't promise to make him or her drive like a middle aged person, but if we can just make a seventeen year old lad behave like an 18-year-old then we are reducing the risk of an accident by 40%."

In addition, the box alerts the insurethebox service centre whenever there has been an incident recording a g-force of 2.5 or more, indicating that it might be an accident. The insurethebox service centre will then contact the customer and organise help if needed.

Where the box registers a g-force of 8 or more, and serious injury is likely, emergency services may be called to attend the location in cases where the customer cannot be contacted.

"insurethebox is one of the most innovative car insurance propositions we have seen for a long time. The industry has been crying out for a new concept that really works and while 'ClearBox' technology certainly isn't new, insurethebox is more sophisticated in its design, making it a more sustainable scheme. It caters for low-mileage drivers by only charging them for the miles they drive, which is a great way to keep costs down. Similarly, it will suit younger drivers who struggle to find competitive insurance quotes. For parents, who often pay for their children's car insurance, insurethebox will also relieve their concerns as they will be able to keep an eye on where their children are driving and how safely too," said Steve Sweeney of moneysupermarket.com.

insurethebox offers one more incentive through their on-line ShoppingBox, which has more than 35 well-known high street brands and is available only to policyholders. Anyone buying through their portal has 2.5% of the cash value spent converted into additional miles on their insurance policy.

As well as moneysupermarket.com you can go to the insurethebox website direct, www.insurethebox.com

For further information, contact: Parm Evans (InsuretheBox), 05603 128853 or 07501 462045, [email protected] Mark Baylis, 023 8065 1473, 07775 693994, [email protected]
Lucy Banks (Lansons, for moneysupermarket.com) 020 7924 3689, [email protected]

Note to editors: insurethebox's joint chief executives are Mike Brockman and Andy Haynes. Brockman was a co-founder of EMB in 1993, which has grown to become the world's largest non-life actuarial consultancy and has won two Queen's awards for Enterprise. Andy Haynes is a highly experienced insurance professional who has specialised in private car insurance throughout his career. His most recent position was as Group Chief Executive of Guardian Holdings Limited (Europe).

Although other insurers have operated on a mileage basis, insurethebox is thought to be the first in the world to do so for all its customers and to positively incentivise good driving.

The boxes are supplied by Octo Telematics SpA, the world leader in the application of telematics to the insurance industry. Founded in Rome in 2002, it has over 90% share of the automotive insurance telematics market in Europe, USA, South America and Asia. www.octotelematics.com