Telematics car insurance

Telematics car insurance is when your insurer uses driving data to better understand risk. With Zego Sense, that data comes through the Sense app, rather than relying on a traditional fitted “black box” device.

Telematics car insurance pricing starts with the same underwriting factors as standard cover, your age, vehicle, postcode, and driving history set your initial quote. Your car's insurance group feeds into that, and you can check it with our free insurance group checker. The difference is what happens next: your driving data adjusts that price at renewal.

The savings depend on your driving score across six metrics: acceleration, braking, cornering, speeding, rest and phone distractions.

There is no fixed discount amount – the system is granular. A driver rating of ‘Excellent’ receives a different renewal price to a rating of ‘Good’, even though both fall within the safe range. Consistent safe driving across the full policy year produces the strongest renewal savings.

Breakdown cover is not automatically included. You can add breakdown cover as an extra for £34.99 per year during the quote journey.

Telematics insurance could lower your premium. It focuses on how you drive – not just how long you’ve held your licence.

Telematics works well for low-mileage drivers too. If you don’t drive much, your premium reflects that.

Safe drivers benefit most. Smooth braking, steady speeds and smart cornering all help bring your renewal down.

Sense app-based telematics cover is built for confident, careful drivers. Before you start, check you tick the boxes below.

It can help you work towards a more personalised renewal price especially if you consistently show safer driving habits. It’s not a magic “instantly cheaper” switch, but it’s a way to let your real driving do some of the talking rather than being priced purely on broad averages.

Your Sense driver rating is calculated using five key factors:

These five factors work together to give you a clear view of how safely you're driving, and where you could improve.

To generate your initial driver rating, you’ll need to complete at least five trips and cover a minimum of 65 miles. This only needs to be done once, when you first start using Sense.

If your driving improves, your premium can too; on 30-day policies, your price could change each month, and on annual policies, it’ll update at renewal.

Want to learn more and improve your driver rating? Check out our Safe Driving Behaviours Coaching Guide for simple, actionable tips.

When you take out a policy with us, you’ll only be insured to drive the vehicle registration shown on your policy documents. So, you won’t automatically be insured to drive other cars.

You can still drive other vehicles while your main car is insured with us. You’ll just need to make sure you have the right cover for the vehicle you plan to drive.

Yes, you can pay in monthly instalments. This is a bit like a loan for the full amount of your annual policy, which you repay to your insurer each month over the course of the year.

While it does allow you to spread the cost, it’s good to know that it can cost you more over the long run. That’s because your monthly repayments include interest, which is added to your overall insurance costs across the year.

You can find out more about paying for your insurance annually or monthly on our blog.

Sense is designed to reward better driving. Whether you're on an annual or 30-day policy, earn an Excellent driver rating, and you could get a discount off your renewal price.

We'll let you know how much you've saved in your renewal email.

Please note: your Sense saving is based on the renewal price without the discount. It doesn’t compare against your current or previous policy.

We already use advanced tech to assess your driving, and we’re able to tell when you’re driving versus being a passenger.
But if you weren’t behind the wheel, you can tell the app whether you were the driver or a passenger for each trip. This extra detail helps us keep your trips organised.

The Sense app uses your phone’s motion and location sensors to understand how you drive. It tracks things like harsh braking, quick acceleration and sharp cornering. This data is then used to calculate your driver rating.

We take data privacy seriously. Your information is kept secure and is only ever used to build your driver rating – nothing else.

If we can’t access your driving data, or if your app permissions aren’t set up correctly, it could affect your premium. In some cases, it may even result in your policy being cancelled.

If you need any help setting permissions in the app, check out our step-by-step guide here.

Your phone needs to have certain sensors (like an accelerometer, compass and gyroscope) for us to measure your driving and give you a driver rating. You can check this list to see if your smartphone is compatible with Sense.

Only once you’ve taken out a Sense policy.

We’ll prompt you to download the app via email, or you can download it directly from the Apple or Google Play app stores on your phone – just search for ‘Zego Sense’.

Once you’ve downloaded the app, open it up and enter your email address to request a login link. That will log you into the app, and we’ll automatically link it to your Zego policy.

Not exactly. A black box usually means a physical device installed in your car. Zego Sense is telematics insurance without the box, because your driving insights come from the Zego Sense app.

So:

Some policies do, some don’t. Even without a strict curfew, many insurers still consider time of day (for example, frequent late-night driving can be higher risk).

To cancel your car insurance policy you'll need to speak with our team over the phone or by starting a Live Chat. You’ll find all our contact details on our Help page.