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| Per-mile cover 'to cut accidents' | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A scheme to charge motorists by the mile for their car insurance has been welcomed by a road safety group. | |
| AA Motoring Trust said Norwich Union's pay-as-you-drive car insurance policy for drivers could reduce accidents. | |
| Under the scheme, an in-car "black box" device calculates premiums based on when, and how often, the car is used. | |
| The AA said charging people more for driving late night when many accidents occur could change driver behaviour, particularly amongst the young. | |
| "During the early hours of the morning you are seventeen times more likely to be involved in an accident if you are a young driver," said Andrew Howard, head of road safety at the AA Motoring Trust. | |
| "Anything which makes young people think again about taking to the roads during these hours - such as having to pay high insurance costs - is likely to have an effect on accidents." | |
| Pilot success | |
| The nationwide roll-out of Norwich Union's pay-as-you-drive cover follows a successful pilot scheme, during which 5,000 drivers who were fitted with in-car devices to monitor when, how often and on which roads they drove. | |
| The company will offer policies for motorists with a sliding scale of charges in two different age groups. | The company will offer policies for motorists with a sliding scale of charges in two different age groups. |
| Charges for drivers aged 24 to 65 go as low as 1p a mile for off-peak motorway driving while under-23s will be charged up to £1 a mile when driving at night. | Charges for drivers aged 24 to 65 go as low as 1p a mile for off-peak motorway driving while under-23s will be charged up to £1 a mile when driving at night. |
| The company has said the latter charge will discourage young drivers from taking to the road between 11pm and 6am, which is seen as a high-risk time for accidents involving inexperienced motorists. | |
| Low-mileage reward | Low-mileage reward |
| Data collected from the GPS-based devices installed by Norwich Union will be used to work out how much drivers need to pay on a monthly basis. | |
| HOW IT WORKS A "black box" device is fitted to the carIt uses Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology to record the journeys of the carThis information is then transmitted securely to Norwich Union via a mobile phone network | |
| The time of the day, type of road and mileage of the drive is taken into consideration when working out the monthly charge to customer. | The time of the day, type of road and mileage of the drive is taken into consideration when working out the monthly charge to customer. |
| Norwich Union's Iain Napier said the scheme had the potential to reward low-mileage drivers with cheaper premiums. | Norwich Union's Iain Napier said the scheme had the potential to reward low-mileage drivers with cheaper premiums. |
| "The launch of pay-as-you-drive insurance will give motorists access to insurance that is specifically tailored to them and their driving habits," he said. | "The launch of pay-as-you-drive insurance will give motorists access to insurance that is specifically tailored to them and their driving habits," he said. |
| Norwich Union's scheme is voluntary at present - but if such schemes were to become compulsory, the AA Motoring Trust said it would like to see safeguards. | |
| "Ultimately, it maybe something parliament has to get involved in," Mr Howard told BBC News. | |
| "How would the information about people's travelling patterns be used, and who would have access to it?" |