A telematics car insurance product (Zego’s is called sense) collects driving data from your smartphone's sensors or a vehicle-mounted device, scores your behaviour across 6 metrics, and uses that score to adjust your premium at renewal [1][2]. The insurer measures how you actually drive, acceleration, braking, cornering, speed, rest, and phone distraction – rather than relying solely on your age, postcode, and claims history to set the price.
The technology operates in three stages. Sensors in your phone or device record raw driving data during every journey. An algorithm processes that data into a driver rating on a 28-day rolling average (for Sense). That rating feeds into the insurer's pricing model at renewal – lowering the premium for safe drivers, maintaining or increasing it for risky ones.
This feedback loop is what separates telematics from standard car insurance. Traditional policies set a price at quote stage and hold it for 12 months. Your behaviour on the road? Irrelevant. Telematics treats the initial quote as a starting point – your actual driving data rewrites the number.
What Data Does Telematics Car Insurance Collect?
Telematics car insurance collects continuous sensor data from your smartphone or a fitted device throughout every journey [1][2]. The system captures precise measurements of your acceleration, braking, cornering, speed, rest patterns, and phone interaction – 6 distinct metrics that together build a complete picture of your driving behaviour.
The collection begins automatically when you start driving above a threshold speed. Your smartphone's accelerometer measures the rate of speed change in all directions. The gyroscope captures rotational movement as you turn. The GPS chip records your position and speed at regular intervals. The compass establishes your direction of travel. No manual input required.
These raw sensor readings are not stored as journey maps or route histories. The data is processed into behavioural metrics – how harshly you braked, how fast you cornered, whether you exceeded the speed limit – then aggregated into a score. Zego Sense processes this data in real time, feeding it to the platform as you drive.
The 6 metrics work as follows. Acceleration data measures how quickly and smoothly you increase speed. Braking data captures deceleration force, distinguishing between gentle stops and harsh emergency stops. Cornering data analyses your speed through turns relative to road geometry. Speeding data tracks every instance where you exceed the posted limit. Rest data monitors the gaps between journeys to identify fatigue patterns. Phone distraction data – the newest metric, introduced by Zego in March 2026 – detects when your phone is being held or used while driving.
How Does Telematics Track Your Driving?
Telematics tracking operates through a smartphone app that runs in the background whenever your phone is in the vehicle [1][2]. The app detects automatically whether you are driving or riding as a passenger based on motion patterns, so only your own driving behaviour is scored.
The tracking is continuous and passive. Each acceleration event is timestamped and measured for intensity. Each braking incident is logged with force data. Each corner is recorded with your speed relative to the road. The system builds a trip-by-trip profile of your driving without requiring you to open the app or press any buttons.
Your telematics driving score updates on a 28-day rolling window. The most recent 28 days of driving data determine your current rating. As new days arrive, the oldest day drops out. This structure rewards improvement – poor driving from three weeks ago gradually disappears as safer behaviour replaces it.
Zego Sense requires a minimum of 5 trips covering 65 miles before calculating your initial rating. This threshold prevents a single journey from producing a statistically meaningless score. Most drivers reach it within 7–10 days of normal commuting.
Data encryption protects your information during transmission. The raw data – specific GPS coordinates, acceleration vectors, exact routes – is processed into an aggregated score. The insurer's underwriting team sees the score. They do not see where you drove or how each individual journey went.
How Does Your Driving Data Affect Your Premium?
Your driving score directly determines your premium at renewal through a transparent link between your behaviour and your price [1][2]. Better driving across the 6 metrics – smoother acceleration, controlled braking, safe cornering, speed compliance, adequate rest, and no phone distraction – produces a higher score, which produces a lower premium.
Telematics insurers set your initial premium using standard underwriting factors: age, vehicle type, postcode, and driving history. Your baseline risk places you in a starting price bracket. Your driving score then adjusts that baseline based on real performance.
The adjustment is granular, not binary. A driver scoring 95 receives a different premium from one scoring 75, even though both fall within the safe range. This precision means your cost reflects genuine behaviour rather than broad risk categories. The system distinguishes between a cautious driver who occasionally brakes hard and a consistently reckless one.
At renewal, Zego reports that 96% of Sense customers paid less than their initial premium, based on data from June to August 2025. The savings reflect a population of drivers who improved once they received direct feedback on their habits.
The financial incentive is sharpest for younger and higher-risk drivers. Our guide to how much telematics car insurance costs breaks down the pricing across age groups. A 22-year-old can reduce their premium by 30% or more through consistent safe scores – savings that would take years to build through a traditional no-claims bonus.
What Is the Difference Between App-Based and Black Box Telematics?
App-based telematics collects driving data using your existing smartphone, while black box telematics requires a dedicated hardware device physically installed in your vehicle [1][2]. Zego Sense operates as a pure app-based system – the smartphone sensors do all the work.
Black box devices plug into the OBD-II diagnostic port beneath your steering column or wire directly into the vehicle's electrics. The device has its own sensors, GPS chip, and cellular connection. It operates independently of your phone – useful if your battery dies mid-journey – but requires professional installation costing £50–£100, with additional removal fees when you switch vehicle or cancel [2].
App-based systems remove that friction entirely. Download the app during onboarding, grant the sensor permissions, and recording starts from your first drive. Change cars and the app moves with your phone. No engineer appointments. No hardware to return.
Data accuracy between the two is comparable for the metrics that affect scoring. Modern smartphone accelerometers and gyroscopes measure braking force, acceleration intensity, and cornering angle with sufficient precision for insurance purposes. Black boxes hold marginal advantages in GPS accuracy and power independence, but the gap has narrowed significantly since 2020.
The cost difference sits in operational overhead – installation, removal, and vehicle switching – not the insurance pricing itself. A deeper comparison is available in our guide to telematics vs black box insurance.
How Does the Renewal Process Work With Telematics?
Telematics renewal uses your actual driving data from the policy year to recalculate your premium, replacing the demographic estimates that standard insurance relies on [1][2]. As your renewal date approaches, the pricing algorithm analyses your complete score history – whether your driving improved, held steady, or declined.
The calculation weights your 28-day rolling score at the point of renewal alongside your overall trajectory across the year. A driver whose score improved steadily from 60 to 85 receives a more favourable adjustment than one who remained flat at 75. The upward trend signals genuine behaviour change and lower projected risk.
Renewal discounts are not automatic. If your score deteriorated through increased speeding or harsh braking, your renewal premium reflects that reality – maintaining the current price with no discount, or increasing it where the data justifies higher risk.
The 28-day rolling average smooths short-term fluctuations. What matters is sustained pattern, not isolated incidents. The system incentivises consistent safe driving across 12 months rather than a last-minute sprint before renewal.
You can still shop around. The data you accumulated stays with your current insurer and does not transfer to a new provider. But drivers with consistently strong scores often find their telematics renewal quote beats alternative offers, because the insurer has real evidence of low risk rather than pricing them as an unknown quantity.
How Does Zego Sense Track Driving Behaviour?
The Zego telematics insurance app called Sense tracks driving behaviour through a smartphone interface that measures 6 metrics in real time: acceleration, braking, cornering, speeding, rest, and phone distraction. The app runs passively in the background, detecting automatically whether you are driving or a passenger through motion pattern analysis. Zego Sense is available to drivers aged 25–60, with no previous claims or motoring convictions, driving vehicles under £30,000.
Acceleration measurement captures how smoothly you build speed from rest or in traffic. Harsh acceleration reduces your score. Smooth, gradual inputs score well.
Braking assessment distinguishes between gentle, anticipatory stops and sudden emergency stops. Hard braking suggests the driver failed to read the road ahead. Controlled deceleration reflects defensive driving.
Cornering analysis evaluates your speed through bends relative to road geometry. Fast cornering generates lateral forces that increase loss-of-control risk. Slowing before the bend and holding a steady line through it scores highest.
Speeding detection compares your GPS-measured speed against the posted limit for each road segment. Consistent compliance scores best. Every violation is recorded.
Rest monitoring tracks gaps between journeys. Extended driving without breaks increases fatigue risk. Drivers who stop regularly score better than those who push through long sessions without rest.
Phone distraction detection uses motion sensors to identify hand-held phone use during driving. Phones held at screen-interaction angles trigger distraction events. Hands-free operation – phone mounted or in a pocket – does not affect this metric. This feature was introduced in March 2026.
The 6 metrics combine into a single driver rating on a 28-day rolling average. The score updates daily once you complete at least 5 trips covering 65 miles. The Sense app displays your current score, individual metric breakdowns, and a prediction of your likely renewal price – clear visibility into exactly which behaviours affect your cost.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Telematics Insurance Companies See Everywhere You Drive?
Telematics insurers receive your aggregated driving score and trip statistics, but your individual GPS coordinates and specific journey routes are not visible to the insurance company [2]. The system processes raw location data into behavioural metrics and discards the underlying route information. Your underwriter sees that you took 47 trips this month with an average score of 78. They do not see where those trips went.
What Happens If You Use Your Phone While Driving?
Phone distraction is one of the 6 scored metrics in Zego Sense. Hand-held phone use during driving reduces your score. The system detects this through accelerometer and gyroscope patterns – your phone identifies when it is being actively held during vehicle motion. Hands-free operation with the phone mounted or in a pocket does not trigger distraction scoring.
How Quickly Can You Improve Your Telematics Driving Score?
Your driving score operates on a 28-day rolling window, so behaviour changes begin affecting your score within 4 weeks [2]. Smoother acceleration, earlier braking, and appropriate cornering speeds produce visible improvement within 2 weeks as better data enters the rolling calculation. Most drivers see meaningful progress within 4–8 weeks of focused change.
References
[1] Association of British Insurers, "Three Straight Quarters of Falling Motor Premiums", November 2025. abi.org.uk (https://www.abi.org.uk/news/news-articles/2025/11/three-straight-quarters-of-falling-motor-premiums/)
[2] Confused.com, "Telematics Insurance Explained", 2026. confused.com (https://www.confused.com/compare-car-insurance/black-box/telematics-explained)
[3] WeCovr, "Telematics UK Insurance Costs 2026", March 2026. wecovr.com (https://wecovr.com/guides/telematics-uk-insurance-costs/)