RAC Black Box Insurance FAQs

Yes, if you have a mobile device that runs iOS or Windows, you can now download our RAC Black Box driver app. This is a quick and easy way for you to monitor your driving score, check your car’s health and current location, view journey details and set date reminders for your next car tax, MOT and service.

The app uses the same login details as the portal and is only available to RAC Black Box Car Insurance customers.
Download iOS app
Download Android app
Download Windows app

You can review your Driver Score and how to save money on your fuel bills online via your personalised Black Box Insurance Portal, or if you have a mobile device you can download our free Black Box driver app (available on iOS, Android and Windows devices).

No. Box and fitting costs are covered by us, so there are no hidden extras for taking out a policy like some alternative providers.

No. You are able to drive where and when you like.

It is not general practice to share telematics data with the authorities. We will only disclose information collected by the RAC Black Box to any third party if we are required to do so by law.

If your car is stolen, always report this to the police in the first instance. If we are able, we will assist in providing you with the last known location of the RAC Black Box.

Yes. The Driver Score is calculated on the journeys your car makes regardless of who is driving. You will need to let any additional driver know that their driving behaviour will also be monitored and will contribute to your overall Score.

Our telematics technology uses a matchbox size telematics device to collect data about the way your car has been driven. This includes your speed, acceleration and braking, where and when you drive. The data is then sent to us securely over a wireless network so we can build a picture of how you drive. Based on this data we will give you a Driver Score which you can access online via your personalised RAC Black Box Portal, or if you have a mobile device you can download our free Black Box driver app.

Inside the box:

• GPS chip which tells us when and where the car is driven
• G-force sensor which monitors how the car is driven
• SIM card which is used to send the data back to us
• Back-up battery in case the box is tampered with or your vehicle loses power

We’ll calculate your Driver Score 7 days after your black box has been installed, providing you’ve driven at least 200 miles during this time. If you do not drive 200 miles in a 7 day period, your score will be calculated after a further 7 days and so on until you have covered 200 miles.

Your Driver Score is based on your speed, acceleration and braking, as well as when and where you drive, and will be updated every 7 days providing you have driven 200 miles since your last Driver Score calculation.

You can review your Driver Score and how to save money on your fuel bill online, by downloading our free Black Box driver app or via your RAC Black Box Portal. Your Driver Score is what will trigger the driving alerts you may receive and is scored on a scale of 1 - 100. The higher your score, the safer we perceive your driving to be.

Yes. You are insured to drive your car from the policy start date. You must get your box fitted within 14 days of this date or your policy will be cancelled and you will be charged a cancellation fee.

The Driver Score is calculated on the journeys your car makes regardless of who is driving. You will need to let any additional driver know that their driving behaviour will also be monitored and will contribute to your overall Score but this will have no impact on their own insurance.

When you take out an RAC Black Box Car Insurance policy and add RAC Breakdown cover (or already hold an RAC Breakdown membership) you'll automatically benefit from our connected breakdown service.

Our black box technology will perform more than 15,000 real-time checks on your car, alerting you to potential faults that could lead to a breakdown or other issues later on.

If a fault is found, we'll tell you what the fault is, in language you can understand. We may recommend (via the RAC Black Box Driver app) that you monitor the issue or take your car to a garage to get it checked. If we think the issue could lead to a breakdown, we'll attempt to call you and advise what course of action to take.

Yes, our Black Box can be fitted in any car to allow you to monitor your own driving. However, in a small number of cases the black box device may need to be installed in a slightly different way, depending on car year, make and model. 

Our Black Box plugs into the OBD (On-Board Diagnostic) port in your vehicle, which is normally located under the dashboard. If you have any other device currently plugged into this port, our Installation Team can either remove this device (you will keep it, of course) or install the black box in a different way. 

Some specific vehicles are not compatible with OBD plug in devices, on these rare occasions we can either make a software change to our black box or install the box with an alternative power source. There is no additional cost to have your black box fitted this way, and it can be done on the spot by our Installation Team.

If you have added ‘connected RAC Breakdown’ to your policy: The ‘connected’ part of our Breakdown service enables the black box to read fault codes from your vehicle and allows RAC then to diagnose any issues. Our Connected Team will contact you by phone or email should a serious issue be detected. To do this, the black box needs to be connected to your vehicle’s OBD (On-Board Diagnostic) port. 

Please note: If your vehicle is not compatible or our Installation Team install the black box device with an alternative power supply, we will not be able to provide you with vehicle fault information. However, all other elements of your policy, including using the Black Box App to monitor your driving, will still be available to you.

It’s fine for your local garage or mechanic to unplug the black box as part of a service or check-up – just make sure you ask them to plug it back in afterwards! The best thing to do is let them know you have a black box when you first take your vehicle to them.

The same applies if you are performing your own diagnostic: just remember to plug the black box back in afterwards before you start driving again.

If the black box is not plugged back in, our RAC Black Box team will call you to remind you to reconnect it. As you’d expect, the black box needs to remain connected to your vehicle when you’re driving in order to work, and is a condition of your insurance policy. Without it, your policy may be cancelled.

The classification is based upon the road speed limit. Urban driving is classed as roads with a 50mph road limit or less. Rural driving is classed as roads with greater than a 50mph road limit.

Our Black Box identifies where you are driving and applies the posted speed limits for that specific road. Urban areas tend to be more congested in terms of road users and pedestrians, so a lower speed limit is normally applied to reduce the risk or severity of an incident. In rural or less build up areas within a controlled environment i.e. dual carriageways/motorways, the risk of an incident is reduced and therefore the impact on the driver score is also reduced.

Our driver scoring applies an appropriate weighting that represents the number of miles driven in each of those areas.