Drivers will effectively be forced to install black box tracking devices in their cars within the next decade or face sky-high insurance premiums, experts have warned.
Black box systems are already present in many cars, particularly those driven by younger motorists, as a means of recording the number of journeys made, the mileage covered and driving behaviour, such as speed and braking.
However, from October next year the technology will be fitted as standard to all new cars under EU regulations to help emergency services find crashed vehicles. As a result of this, it's predicted that by 2020, half of all the cars on the road will be fitted with the tech.
Andy Watson, chief insurer of the Ageas Group, said: "The ability to have telematics will become mainstream because the technology will be in the car. It means the amount of data available to insurers increases dramatically."
Tom Ellis, from insurance comparison website Gocompare, said: "In ten years' time there will still be customers who prefer not to have a telematics device installed but it will be an opt out situation rather than an opt in.
"There will be reasons for people opting out -- perhaps because they are bad drivers, or unhappy with the privacy element or have an old car but they will have to accept a higher premium to insure their car."
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