Due to the sky-high hikes in the car insurance industry, young motorists are gradually being forced off the road as they are the one’s who are greatly affected by these hikes. In lieu with this, car insurance companies have been looking at the promise of the black box revolution to bring these young drivers back on the roads.

Often referred to as the black or smart box, this advantageous innovation has the capability to reduce car insurance costs for young drivers. How is this so? Well, the smart box contains telematics technology which has the power to record, store and communicate data from the vehicle to the car insurance providers. Once the car insurance companies have analyzed the data sent by the smart box, they will then charge the driver accordingly to the way he or she drives.

There are quite a few car insurance companies who have been looking at the smart box as a way to provide cheaper rates to young motorists. In fact, some insurers even state that the safest of motorists can take off 1/5 on their car insurance premiums within the span of one year. Some of the car insurance companies about to embrace the telematics technology are AA Insurance and Direct Line Insurance. Hopefully, more car insurance companies will view this technology as a way to keep motorists on the road.

For drivers between the ages 17-23, car insurance costs have been seen to increase by almost 40 %. And male driver’s ages 17-20 pay almost twice as female drivers of the same age do. These figures are in accordance with the statistics revealed by the British Insurance Premium Index last week.

A lot of motorists are seeing their future transport as buses and trains. With the never ending increases in car insurance costs and in petrol prices, a lot of motorists are thinking of giving up their vehicles. Insurers, on another note, are hoping that the new trend of the smart box will remove this dire situation from motorist’s minds. With the help of the smart box technology, policy holders only need to pay for the way they are driving.

According to a certain car insurance expert, “The smart box technology can allow a car insurance company to charge you more accurately because of the data being sent by the smart box. So, if you are a good driver, the insurer will be able to reward you accordingly.”

A recent study will be released within this week. According to the car insurance company that conducted the poll, around £ 1000 are being paid annually in accordance with motor insurance premiums.

A lot of motorists prefer getting a comprehensive insurance coverage because of its broader scope. However, as revealed in the survey, comprehensive insurance packages have increased by almost 16 % during the previous year alone. Because of this 15.3 % increase, comprehensive insurance coverage polices cost almost £ 1000 annually. This increase is the highest ever recorded increase since 1994. All figures and statements have been taken from AA Car Insurance’s British Insurance Premium Index.

The £ 971 figure has been based on the average of the three cheapest rates available on the market for a comprehensive coverage policy. Last week, the Transport Select Committee has stated that the most plausible cause for these increases is the rise in whiplash insurance claims in the country.

In addition to this, certain members of parliament have stated that it is hard to diagnose what exactly are the causes of continuous increases in car insurance premiums. However, the report also revealed that ‘askew practices’ like passing on customer details to other parties is another reason for insurance increases.

Late last year, the MP of Blackburn released scathing facts regarding the payment of personal injury lawyers for customer details. However, with the release of this information, a ban was also released to stop this perverse practice.

As stated in the recent survey, “Car insurance providers, solicitors and insurance claim management companies have all taken part in increasing the cost of car insurance premiums. This is because they have encouraged people caught up in car accidents to immediately make a claim despite the fact that they were just in small-scale accidents.”

“Motorists should not be forced into making legal actions by personal injury lawyers.”

According to the survey, whiplash claims must be given tougher criteria by the Government for approval. If this is done, reducing car insurance costs just might be taken into effect.

Nick Starling of the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said that, “The main reason for these increases in ca insurance costs are the rising personal injury claims. This is why referral fees of personal injury lawyers must be placed under a total ban. If referral payments are finally made illegal, motorists just might see a reduction in their car insurance costs.”

“Motorists are tired of getting numerous text messages, voice mails and calls from personal injury lawyers forcing them to take legal action. Also, they are fed up with enduring exorbitant car insurance premiums just because of these ambulance-chasers and claim management firms.”

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is going to start looking into the excessive increases in car insurance premiums. This is due to the 9 % increase in insurance coverage costs within the first 9 months of this year (2011).

Back in 2010, there was a noticed increase of 12 % throughout the whole year which has already rendered car insurance policy holders strapped for cash. Car insurance providers have stated that the main reason why premiums have risen in the said year is due to the increase in personal injury claims. It is these personal injury costs that have been driving motorists to darker roads.

The investigation of the Office of Fair Trading will focus on third party claims which include car repairs, parts replacement, provisions for alternative transportation yet do not include injuries.

Liberal democrat MP, David Ward, has initiated a campaign that will focus on high car insurance costs and their disadvantages to policy holders. With the investigation of the OFT finally commenced, he promised that a House of Commons Transportation committee will soon follow.

There were more than one thousand respondents who took part in the recent survey initiated by MP David Ward. It was through this survey that annual car insurance premiums were compared. Through this survey, it was disclosed that an average of 63 % was increased on their car insurance premium.

Having seen this staggering percentage in increases MP David Ward decided to commence an online petition which will hopefully urge the Parliament to make an action in creating more affordable car insurance rates. Also, a call for stricter penalties involving uninsured drivers is also prioritized.

InBradford, the premiums are excessively high because this is one of the hotspots for bogus accidents. Due to this, insurance experts fear thatYorkshiremight become a place full of uninsured drivers. In between the months of April and June alone of this year, there has been an increase of 3 % in premiums.

The MP forBradfordhas expressed his delight in the OFT and their commitment to help solve this social issue. As he has mentioned, “This here is a difficult situation and every factor needs to be taken into consideration. If not, it might be possible thatYorkshirewill never see cheaper car insurance rates. In relation to this, the Office of Fair Trading needs to make sure that this kind of behavior is permanently removed. This is to ensure that motorists will be able to get a fair price for their car insurance coverage.”

The British Office of Fair Trading has recently accepted six formal commitments from six established car insurance companies within theUnited Kingdom. Apart from these car insurance providers, there are also two technological companies that have committed themselves to the OFT in regards with lessening the pricing data that is exchanged between the two. With these commitments, the investigation being led by the OFT and other auto insurance associations has been put to an end. This investigation was focused on the possibility of insurance companies fixing the price of car insurance premiums.

The commitment of both industries has been a result of an earlier investigation that was launched by the Office of Fair Trading. The OFT wanted to look into the possibility of exchanges of price data that infringes certain laws in terms of competition.

Clive Maxwell, OFT Executive Director, was caught saying, “An exchange of future pricing information between particular car insurance companies could ruin the competition between the other providers. Thus, customers will not be receiving the best possible value.”

“We have been able to accept commitments from different insurers to make sure that our concerns will be addresses. This commitment will ensure that car insurance companies will not share pertinent data among other companies. Hopefully, this will enable a healthier competition within the car insurance industry.”

These 6 insurance companies are as follows; AvivaUK, AXA Insurance, Ageas,LiverpoolVictoria,ZurichInsurance-UKand RBS Insurance. SSP Limited and Experian, on the other hand, are the two IT software companies that have joined this campaign.

During the previous, year the OFT saw that there would possibly be a price coordination within the car insurance industry. This is because of the market analysis tool which allowed insurers to view the different pricing details of other car insurance companies. This special marketing tool was launched by Experian.

According to the Office of Fair Trading, “The fact that insurance companies were able to see the future pricing details of other insurance providers would clearly raise the laws of competition and it could also be used to coordinate their respective prices. This way, policy holders are not able to seek for the best deal.”

The OFT has not concluded if they will infringe the ‘Competition Act’ for good. Yet with six of the most revered insurance companies in theUKwho are willing to stand by their commitments, the OFT is willing to stop their investigation after almost 12 months.

With young drivers drawing in high car insurance rates, it is no wonder if some of them would work hard in order to lower their insurance costs. In this case, four students from a top university inIrelandhave come up with a brilliant invention in order to lower their car insurance premiums. This certain invention is in the form of a smart-phone application. With the popularity of smart-phones in this current market, it would not come as a surprise if every student would acquire one.

This award winning smart-phone application has the capability of monitoring the driving skills of a driver. It also gives out driving points for following driving rules like sticking to the speed limit and stopping appropriately during the red light. This simple application has the possibility of lowering a car insurance premium by £ 30 and it can also help prevent accidents from happening.

This recent invention was created by four students from the ‘Sligo Institute of Technology’. The main aim of this smart-phone application is by grazing off some of the aggressiveness that most motorists have. Once motorists realize that following street rules is way better than speeding above the allotted limit, the possibility of accidents occurring will most likely decrease.

Since this driving application has the capacity of monitoring your driving skills and techniques, it also has the capacity of reporting your progress for the day. It will record all of your driving techniques, analyze your actions while driving and the road conditions and will eventually report back the results of your driving through a ‘report card’.

On a more technical note, the application will record your engine revs, your speed while driving, your throttle positioning and any G-forces that your vehicle may be under. Hence, it will know exactly when you have gone a little too far with your driving.

The driving monitor application also includes an online leader-board. The leader-board is the part of the application that has the capacity to curb down the aggressiveness of young drivers by providing them with a healthy competition of driving carefully. Car insurance providers can also jump into the loop and provide a discount to the driver with the best ‘report card’.

If all of this actually takes off, these four students may be looking at more than just a lowered car insurance rate. They may be looking at a developer who is willing to take their invention to another level.