What is black box insurance and how does it work?
A black box policy uses a small box in the car, or an app on your phone, to record how and when the car is driven. The insurer turns that into a score. The score affects your price at renewal, and on some policies during the year too.
It isn't always cheaper. On Consumer Intelligence's prices from November 2025, a black box policy was the cheapest quote about four times in ten. For drivers aged 17 to 24 it was about three times in four.
Careful driving can bring the price down. Risky driving can push it up, and in the most serious cases the insurer can cancel the policy.
Some policies limit when you can drive. Most of the big ones in the table below score night driving instead.
What does the box record, and who sees it?
Insurers call this telematics. Depending on the policy, the device might be:
- a box fitted out of sight behind the dashboard by a technician
- a plug-in unit that goes into the 12V socket or the car's diagnostic port
- a tag stuck to the windscreen that works with an app on your phone
Most policies look at things such as the miles you drive, the types of road, the time of day, and your speed and braking. Harsh braking, fast acceleration and sharp cornering count on most of the big policies. On app-based ones, such as Hastings' and Admiral's LittleBox Pod, so does using your phone while driving, even if a passenger is using it.
On most policies, including Admiral's, anyone else insured on your policy counts towards your score.
The insurer uses the data to decide whether to keep insuring you, to adjust monthly premiums and to set a renewal price.
All the policies in the table below show your score as you go, in an app, a weekly email or an online dashboard.
Admiral shares the data only with the companies it needs to run the policy, such as the box provider, and doesn't sell it.
Is there a curfew or a mileage limit?
Some policies limit where or when you can drive, and some charge a fixed amount for driving outside set hours. Hard curfews are less common than they used to be. Most of the big policies in the table score night driving instead.
Admiral says the score gets averaged out over time, so you don't need to be a perfect driver to get a good score. Hastings says one small mistake won't have a huge impact over time.
If your quote's for one of these policies, find it here:
| Policy | Night driving | Mileage |
|---|---|---|
| Admiral LittleBox | No curfew. Regularly driving between 10pm and 4am lowers your score. Admiral says it may not be the best option if you need to drive overnight. | Declared yearly miles, minimum 1,000. Tell Admiral if you need more and it raises the figure. |
| Hastings Direct YouDrive | No curfew: you can drive at any time of day or night. It scores phone use, speed, braking, acceleration and cornering. | No mileage limit. You give an honest estimate at the start and raise it in the app if you drive more. |
| Carrot | It scores the time of day you drive. After midnight to the early hours is its highest-risk time and may lower your score. | A declared allowance, 30,000 miles a year at most. Buy top-up miles if you'll go over. Go over without buying more within 7 days and the policy is cancelled. |
| RAC Black Box (Ticker) | No curfew and no fee for night driving. Regular night driving affects your score, so could affect your renewal price. | Declared, 1,000 to 18,000 miles a year to be eligible. |
| Adrian Flux FluxScore | No curfew, and it says it won't penalise you for driving at night. | Its app tracks your miles. |
Terms as each insurer published them in November 2026.
Admiral and Hastings take a declared figure you can raise; Carrot sets an allowance you must top up. Our guide to how mileage affects car insurance covers what to declare.
What happens if your score drops?
Admiral could cancel the policy if you drive unsafely or your score stays very low, but it says it'll never do that without warning. If your score drops, it tells you by email or in the app. If it stays poor, you get 7 days' notice before it cancels.
Hastings may cancel if your score falls to 30 or below. If that happens, it gives you the option of cancelling the policy yourself, so you don't pay cancellation fees or have to declare it to a new insurer. It may also cancel if you break the speed limit by 30mph more than once.
If the insurer suspects you've tampered with the box, it can cancel without notice. In October 2024 Haven cancelled a policy without notice after the box company suspected a GPS blocker. Haven didn't ask the driver or arrange an inspection; his score was 92% and he'd reported a suspected fault himself. The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) upheld his complaint, because Haven should have tried to find out the cause, and ordered £350 for distress and inconvenience.
So never unplug, move or block the box. Blocking the signal can get the policy cancelled straight away. If it seems faulty, report it yourself. If the insurer tells you data is missing, reply.
Is black box insurance worth it?
It's popular with young and new drivers, often sold on the idea that you save by driving safely. If you do lots of journeys through the day, or regularly drive at night, Admiral says it may not work for you.
If you work nights, read what the quote says about night driving and take a warning seriously. One driver who worked nights told the FOS his policy was mis-sold; it disagreed, because the online sale had warned against buying if you drive regularly at night.
Ask what it costs to cancel early, change car or miss a fitting. When the policy ends, most providers switch the box off remotely rather than asking you to remove it.
Your score generally stays with that insurer. Admiral and Hastings both say they don't share your data with other insurers.
Putting a parent down as the main driver to make it cheaper is fronting, and it risks voiding the cover entirely.
There's more in our guide to lowering car insurance for young drivers, and across our insurance advice.
What can you do if you think your score is wrong?
Complain to the insurer first. It usually answers for the box and its data, even when another company runs it. If there's no final response within eight weeks, or you're unhappy with the answer, you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free. You have six months from the date on the insurer's final response to go to it.
The FOS asks the insurer to explain how it checked the data was accurate. For speeding, it asks whether the system used the right speed limit for the road. It might also ask the insurer to check you weren't on a nearby road with a higher limit.
On a cancellation for low scores, it checks you were given chances and advice to improve, and any warnings the terms require. If the terms allow it, it'll usually say cancelling was fair when you had a reasonable chance to improve and there's no problem with the data.
It might ask the insurer to wipe any record of the cancellation, refund cancellation fees or charges, or pay any extra you've had to pay for new insurance. For a premium rise, it might ask for a refund of what you've paid.
Keep your policy documents, screenshots of the quote pages you were shown, and your app scores.
Black box insurance: common questions
Does Admiral's LittleBox have a curfew?
No. You can drive at any time of day or night. But regularly driving between 10pm and 4am lowers your score. Admiral says it may not be the best option if you need to drive overnight.
Does black box insurance have a curfew?
Some policies do, and some charge a fixed amount for driving outside set hours. Hard curfews are less common than they used to be. Most of the big policies on this page score night driving instead. Search the policy wording for "curfew" and "hours" before you buy.
What happens if my black box score is bad?
It depends on the insurer. Some raise the premium, some charge a one-off fee, and in the most serious cases the policy is cancelled. You'd usually get warnings or a notice first. If the insurer suspects you've tampered with the box, it can cancel without notice.
Can my insurer put the price up mid-policy?
It can, if the policy terms allow it. If you complain, the FOS checks the rules were explained when you bought the policy. It also checks you were warned about your score and given a chance to improve. Keep screenshots of the quote pages, so you can show what you were told.
What happens to the black box when the policy ends?
Usually it's switched off remotely, and most providers don't ask you to take it out. There could be a charge if you'd rather have it removed. A box you fitted yourself may need sending back. Ask about these fees before you buy, along with the cost of changing car.
Is black box insurance worth it for a new driver?
Often, but not always. Using November 2025 prices, a black box policy was the cheapest quote for drivers aged 17 to 24 about three times in four. It's less likely to pay off if you drive at night a lot, because that lowers your score on most of the big policies. Compare the black box quote with an ordinary one before you decide.