Trustpilot
Show More

Ask an Expert

Can you trick a black box? - Money Expert

A black box quietly observes your driving habits and rewards you with lower insurance premiums if you drive safely. It records your speed, acceleration, how quickly and sharply you take turns, and the time of day you’re driving, among other things.

Some motorists may wonder if they can trick their black box, making it overlook things like habitual speeding or regular late-night driving which may drive up their premiums. Some people suggest tampering with the device or temporarily unplugging it in order to maintain their driving records and discounts.

But there’s no way to “trick” a telematics device that doesn’t invalidate your insurance. It’s also insurance fraud, which is a crime.

If you unplug the black box, it will stop sending data to your insurer, alerting them almost instantly that it’s not working as intended.

Because having a functioning black box is a condition of your insurance, you won’t be covered while the box is deliberately switched off. That means if you get into an accident during that time, your claims could be rejected and you’ll be left to shoulder the costs yourself.

If your insurer discovers you’ve tampered with or unplugged the device, they may also cancel your insurance policy entirely. This will make it more difficult and expensive for you to obtain car insurance in the future.

*51% of consumers could save £518.14 on their Car Insurance. The saving was calculated by comparing the cheapest price found with the average of the next five cheapest prices quoted by insurance providers on Seopa Ltd’s insurance comparison website. This is based on representative cost savings from June 2025 data. The savings you could achieve are dependent on your individual circumstances and how you selected your current insurance supplier.

Related guides

What Does Commuting Mean on Car Insurance?

Did you know that the way you use your car affects both the price of your premiums and the validity of your car insurance policy? When you take out a policy, you'll be asked to declare the most accurate class of use that reflects your driving habits. With around 68% of all commutes in the UK made by car, commuting is one of the most common driving purposes, and it carries different insurance implications compared to social, domestic, and pleasure use. If you drive regularly to and from a fixed location, such as a workplace or even a railway station, this is classed as commuting. Declaring this on your insurance cover is essential for your policy to remain valid and for any claims you make to be followed through.In this article, we'll take a closer look at what commuting means for your car insurance and the importance of declaring it.

What's Checked on an MOT?

Your vehicle is due for an MOT once a year, and while many of us just drop it off with our nearest garage, you might want to know exactly what they're going to be looking for. We've put together a list of everything that's checked, according to the government's own guidelines.It's important to note that many of these are covered if you find the right car insurance policy, or can be fixed quite cheaply yourself, so it pays to run through a pre-MOT checklist to get yourself ready for your test.

Does my car insurance let me drive other vehicles?

Comprehensive car insurance used to cover driving other cars (DOC) as standard, but that is no longer the case. If you want to be able to drive another car, you'll likely need to take out a temporary policy, or become a named driver. We'll go over your options in this guide.