Review: WiseDriving car insurance

By Digby Bodenham 10th February 2016

Key information

• WiseDriving installs a black box in your car to measure your driving
• It uses telematics to give customers a driving score, which can cause premiums to rise or fall
• Most customer feedback is negative, with people reporting erratic pricing and difficulties getting through to customer service

Summary

WiseDriving car insurance policies use telematics, also known as black box insurance, to measure the policyholder’s driving. The idea is that your premium may be lower because an insurer can see how you are driving and if your performance on the road is good then will you be rewarded with discounts.

WiseDriving is targeted at young drivers, who traditionally face high car insurance costs.

Find out how WiseDriving compares to the best insurers for young drivers. We've also written a guide to the best black box car insurance providers, see if WiseDriving makes the cut.

Its comprehensive policy offers third party fire and theft, windscreen cover, a courtesy car and personal belongings cover. Optional extras include RAC breakdown cover, £50,000 legal cover, excess cover and key cover.

If you're interested in standalone breakdown cover check out our list of the 13 best providers.

Premiums can be made monthly in instalments and instant cover is available. All policy holders benefit from a free theft tracker as well as a 24-hour claim line.

The WiseDriving customer service team is based in Peterborough and are available Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm and Bank Holidays 10am to 4pm.

You can get a quote on its website or by calling 0800 652 4134. If you already have a policy the WiseDriving customer service number is 0333 043 7255.

WiseDriving is a trading name of insurance firm iGO4 Limited.

You can find out about the top 10 car insurance companies here.

How much does cover cost?

The cost of car insurance depends on a number of factors, including the type of car you drive, your age, where you live and in the case of telematics insurers how you drive.

Quotes from WiseDriving Car Insurance were found to be slightly higher than average.

Some notable differences in quotes we found were:

• Lower premiums for 20 year olds at £976 vs £2606.5 on average, take a look here to review our list of best policies for young drivers

• Higher premiums for 40 year old range at £1,177 vs £769 on average

What do WiseDriving customer reviews say?

There is a lot of animosity towards WiseDriving from customers online.

On customer review site Reviews.co.uk it has an average score of 2.08 out of 5 from 78 reviews, and 60% of reviewers gave it 1 star.

Many customers complain they are being charged more than expected, telematics data is used inconsistently, reaching customer services is difficult and there are often administrative errors.

Here are some example reviews and feedback we found:

“Seemed good when i initially applied, but less than 2 weeks in was told that the person who fitted the box didn't upload my information and documents to the system, and had LOST them, and was told that they would cancel my policy with no refund (bearing in mind that i had paid the year upfront) unless i sent them the documents again. The "time and place" system is ridiculous as well, their explanation is "most accidents happen between 7pm and 7am" so they bring your score down for driving during those hours, which, for anybody who works normal hours, this is the time when the car is in most use. in short, I would recommend everybody to avoid this. yes, they are cheap on the comparison websites, but there are so many hidden snares and costs, that it ends up being one of the most expensive.”

just wondering how @WiseDriving get away with robbing people 💸

— andie (@asbradleyx) January 20, 2016

@WiseDriving Claire at your company is a credit to you. Went beyond the extra mile with her customer service. #happy customer

— Zoe Liptrott (@zoeliptrott) January 21, 2016

Customers of WiseDriving’s parent company iGO4 also seem to be dissatisfied with its offer, it has an average score of 1.4 out of 5 from reviews on its Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/iGO4Insurance?sk=reviews

What do the experts say?

Independent financial researcher Defaqto has rated WiseDriving's Intelligent Car Insurance as 2 Star.

A Star Rating indicates where a product or proposition sits in the market based on the quality and comprehensiveness of the features it offers.

A 2 Star rated policy “has a below average level of features and benefits”.