Lower insurance for low-use riders

Norwich Union is experimenting with a system which could save you up to 50 per cent on your insurance bill.

It benefits low-mileage riders and, since most owners are clocking up less than 5000 miles a year on their bikes, it sounds like a benefit many could take advantage of.

Norwich Union is conducting trials of a new black box that monitors your journeys and allows the insurers to calculate your premium at the end of each month – just like your mobile phone bill. The system uses GPS to monitor how often you ride, what sorts of roads you use and what times you are riding.

” Shorter journeys during quieter periods will be rewarded with lower premiums at the end of the month, ” said a Norwich Union spokesman, ” It’s a much fairer way of paying your insurance, as it’s tailor-made to each driver. ”

Of course, if the black box can constantly monitor your position, can it measure your speed?

” The equipment might be able to monitor that sort of thing, but we certainly aren’t interested in that, ” said the spokesman.

But this does beg the question, if most riders are going to save, who is going to make up the shortfall in company profits. Those who clock up high mileages could end up the victims yet these are often the people who, thanks to their experience, ride safest.

Got a view? Make a posting on our Talk News bulletin board.