Van drivers miss out on telematics benefits

8th January 2015

More than four out of ten van drivers admit they are unfamiliar with the concept of telematics and how it works.

The research, by Direct Line for Business, found that around 90,400 van drivers are using telematics in their vehicles today.  But the vast majority of around 3.35 million LCV drivers in the UK are missing out on the benefits of potentially lower insurance premiums and beneficial feedback from the technology on how to improve their driving.

Some 42% of van drivers said they were unfamiliar with the telematics concept.  And more than half (55%) of those who don’t use telematics said that one of the reasons was simply because it had not been offered it to them.  It seems that once they are made aware of it, drivers are more open to using it.

“Whether plumbers, bakers or road trippers, we understand that running a van can be an expensive operation,” said the head of Direct Line for Business, Jazz Gakhal.  “Telematics provides a great opportunity for van drivers to save money on insurance and maintenance costs through promoting responsible driving.  More than half of van drivers in our research said they would be more likely to try telematics if they could make a saving on their insurance.”