A new way of paying for your car insurance has hit the Internet in the form of Coverbox. The company have on board a panel of 4 insurers at present who will provide a quotation specific to how much you use your vehicle and when you use it. They will fit a tracker to your vehicle which will then track you and charge you based on your usage of the vehicle.

There are the obvious problems with this scheme which is that a vehicle must be fitted with a tracker. The website claims this is free but we all know that, at best, the cost of this has to be factored into the insurance policy. You have then got to have the tracker fitted. I assume it won’t take long but this is still an inconvenience to our busy lifestyles. I’m sure that the little tracker needs some power so that is going to be a little extra on your annual fuel cost (although this is probably insignificant).

Okay, negatives over, what is so good about this scheme? Well, this is a company built on statistics so if you are statistically a lower risk driver in terms of when you drive then this could save you some money. Obvious “peak” times are rush hours for most of us, but if you are a younger driver there is a “super peak” time which is after 10pm at night. Driving at these times will cost a lot more but if you avoid them then the cost is significantly lower.

Personally I think that your everyday driver is not going to benefit. Rush hour is rush hour because it’s when most people are driving. This is therefore aimed towards the minority. The people who work unusual hours (possibly shifts) or maybe retired people who you would assume try to avoid driving at these busier times.

The biggest problem of all is the quote. It is really a quote based on a specific amount of miles at a specific time of the day. Unless you have a fixed routine for 7 days of the week that is military timed then this quote will never be accurate. Even a traffic jam or breakdown could delay a journey, pushing you into a peak time and thus changing the price.

I think that most people will be reluctant to jump on board unless the saving is pretty much guaranteed. I certainly would rather know what I’m paying for rather than think I’m paying one figure then be told I’ve gone over my original estimate and owe them more money!