Black box insurance
A black box policy prices you on how you actually drive rather than on your age, using a device or a phone app that measures speed, braking, cornering and often the time of day. For a careful young driver it is usually the largest single saving available.
What it actually measures
A telematics policy fits a box to the car, plugs into the OBD port, or uses an app on your phone. It records some combination of:
- Speed against the limit for the road you are on
- Harsh braking and harsh acceleration
- Cornering force
- Time of day, because late-night driving carries a much higher risk
- Distance driven
Your score adjusts your premium, either at renewal or month to month.
What to check before you agree to one
The restrictions vary a lot and they are where people get caught out.
Curfews. Some policies charge more for driving between certain hours, and a few restrict it outright. If you work shifts, ask before you buy. The RAC makes a point on its own page that its learner cover has no telematics curfew on your own car, which tells you the curfew is common enough to be worth advertising against.
What happens if you score badly. Some insurers warn, some load the premium, and some can cancel the policy. A cancelled policy is a serious thing to have to declare for years afterwards. Ask what the consequence is before you need to know.
Who installs it and who pays. Fitting and removal charges are sometimes separate.
When it is worth it, and when it is not
Worth it if you drive carefully, mostly in daylight, and the alternative quote is the standard young driver premium. This is the single biggest lever most young drivers have.
Think harder if you regularly drive late at night, if your mileage is high and motorway-heavy, or if you would find being scored stressful enough to change how you feel about driving. A policy you resent is not a saving.
Learners and telematics
Most learner-specific cover is not telematics-based, because the supervising driver is the control. Where it matters is what happens after you pass, when a black box is often the difference between an affordable first year and an unaffordable one.
If you are choosing a learner policy now, it is worth knowing which providers also write telematics cover for new drivers, so the handover is one conversation rather than two.
What happens the day you pass · Compare the learner providers
Every learner provider, on the same columns
From each provider's own published material, read on 18 September 2026. Nobody paid to be here.
| Provider | Ages | Cover lengths | Own car | Their car | Owner's NCB | Your NCB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AdmiralInsurer, routes to Veygosame product as Veygo | not published | not published | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| Adrian FluxSpecialist broker | 16 and over | Daily, monthly or annual, including 1 week policies | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| AvivaInsurer, resoldsame product as Dayinsure | not published | 1 day to 5 months | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| CollingwoodLearner specialist | 17 and over | 2 days to 12 months | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CuvvaApp-based hourly cover | 17 to 50 | 1 to 3 hours at a time | No | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| DayinsureTemporary cover specialist | 17 to 50 | 1 hour to 30 days, and learner policies up to 5 months | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| GoShortyTemporary cover specialist | 17 to 75 | 1 hour to 24 weeks | Not published | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| Hastings DirectInsurer | not published | not published | Yes | Yes | Not published | Not published |
| Insure Learner DriverLearner specialist | not published | not published | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| MarmaladeYoung driver specialist | 17 to 34 | 30, 60, 90, 120, 180 or 240 days | No | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| RACMotoring brand, resoldsame product as Dayinsure | 17 and over | 1 day to 5 months | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sterling InsuranceBroker | not published | 30 days, 90 days or longer, to suit how long the test takes | Not published | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| TempcoverTemporary cover specialist | 17 to 75 | 1 hour to 28 days | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not published |
| VeygoLearner specialistsame product as Admiral | not published | By the hour, week or month, or a rolling monthly subscription | Not published | Yes | Yes | Not published |
coverednot coveredthe provider does not publish it
Risk figures are from the Department for Transport's younger driver factsheet. Premium figures are from the ABI (paid) and published price indices (quoted), and we say which is which every time. Provider facts come from each provider's own pages. How we check.