car insurance
Telematics tariffs – how monitoring helps novice drivers collect efficient discounts
Novice drivers can make their high premiums noticeably cheaper with telematics fares.
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Continuous monitoring at the wheel – that sounds like Chinese methods. You can save a third of the premium for this – at least in theory. “Finanztest” looked at the tariffs.
A telematics tariff in motor vehicle insurance, what is that actually? With every journey, an app – often in conjunction with a sensor – monitors the driving style. Defensive driving is rewarded, aggressive driving is punished. The app doesn’t like sharp braking, rapid acceleration and fast cornering. If you always drive carefully, you get a good “score” and a considerable discount on your car tariff.
Interesting at high premiums
These tariffs are exciting when a high premium is due, for example for novice drivers. They are classified in the expensive no-claims classes 0 or ½. Here, the discount percentages also lead to high discounts in euros. On the other hand, anyone who has driven accident-free for 30 years (SF30) only pays a fifth of the basic premium anyway. In an older issue of “Finanztest”, an editor with a good no-claims class took on the telematics challenge. He drove deliberately defensively and was always happy regarding a high score. However, he currently only paid 329 euros for his car insurance. That might drop to 291 euros, which is a saving of less than four euros a month.
real example
“Finanztest” has now checked the benefits of the insurance companies and also a living example from their own ranks. At the age of 23, editor Ulrike Schulz opted for the Huk24 telematics tariff. In five years she was able to save several hundred euros. With the Huk24, a sensor is glued to the pane, which records the data. But it doesn’t work on its own, it also has to be paired with the smartphone via Bluetooth. The app runs there during the entire journey and also constantly retrieves the GPS data. Ulrike Schulz achieves a discount of around 15 percent.
Depending on the insurance company, the percentage of the discount varies. Up to 30 or even 40 percent discount is possible. However, it is not clear how the score is calculated exactly. In principle, not everyone should assume that they can achieve the top value. Too many factors are recorded that the driver cannot influence. Driving at night, for example, has a negative effect, but can hardly be avoided in shift work. The same applies to inner-city locations or journeys in rush-hour traffic. With an occasionally used second car in the country, on the other hand, you can certainly achieve discounts of 25 percent and more.
Complicated calculation
When choosing a tariff, you should make sure that the data is not only collected by the mobile phone, but that a sensor is also installed in the vehicle. Otherwise it can happen that the app also evaluates journeys in other vehicles as a passenger. Incidentally, even with telematics tariffs you are not limited to just one driver. Additional drivers must install the app and be “invited”. When it comes to data protection, “Finanztest” is not aware of any abuses, but data protection declarations are not transparent. No insurer clearly says what the data will be used for.
It is difficult to calculate how cheap the telematics tariffs really are. “Finanztest” explains this using a model customer. At Huk24, a good liability and partially comprehensive tariff costs you 620 euros a year – with the telematics option you can achieve further discounts. With a “demanding but realistically achievable score” of 85 points, she would save 23 percent. That is at least 7 percentage points more than editor Schulz manages. This results in an annual premium of 477 euros. But you might also take out insurance with CosmosDirekt. At 587 euros per year in the basic tariff, it would also be cheaper than that of Huk24. She saves 100 euros with the challenging score, but she has to achieve that first.
Individual consideration
Everyone has to decide for themselves whether a telematics tariff is worthwhile. If you already have a lot of penalty factors from the basic conditions – such as shift work – you will hardly achieve any significant discounts. The same applies to people with a very good no-claims class. The picture is different for novice drivers or vehicles that are only moved occasionally. The disciplining effect of surveillance will be perceived by some as patronizing. However, telematics can also be viewed as an extended driving lesson. The permanent admonition to a defensive driving style will also lead to the driver being safer on the road. As a result, fewer accidents occur and no other road users are endangered with a careless driving style.
The “Finanztest” recommends the particularly favorable offer of Huk24.
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