Why Insurers Are Consulting on Making Black Boxes Mandatory for Every Newly Qualified Driver

The Chartered Insurance Institute has launched a formal consultation on whether telematics devices should be made mandatory for all newly qualified drivers in the UK, a development that would represent the most significant change to young driver insurance policy in a decade. The four-month consultation, which runs until June 2026 with final guidance expected by the end of the year, was directly triggered by a coroner’s report into the deaths of two young people killed by a 17-year-old driver who had passed his test just months before the collision.

The proposal would require newly qualified drivers to have a telematics device fitted to their vehicle as a condition of obtaining insurance, with the device monitoring speed, braking, acceleration, and cornering behaviour in real time. Supporters say it would reduce collisions, lower premiums for safe young drivers, and provide a clear data trail where a dispute arises. Critics raise questions about cost, consent, and whether mandatory monitoring would deter young people from driving altogether. The consultation will attempt to find whether a workable policy can satisfy both camps.

The Accident That Triggered a National Consultation

Harry Purcell and Matilda Seccombe, known to her family as Tilly, were killed in a collision involving a 17-year-old driver who was subsequently convicted of causing death by careless driving. The coroner presiding over the inquest into their deaths produced a report that made specific recommendations about young driver safety, and the CII’s consultation is a direct response to that report.

The coroner’s recommendations focused on the heightened risk that newly qualified drivers pose in the months immediately following passing their test, a period when the training disciplines and examiner-awareness of the test itself no longer apply but full driving experience has not yet been built. The report called on the insurance industry to use the tools available to it, specifically telematics, to change the risk profile of this cohort before more young people are killed.

Matthew Hill, chief executive of the CII, has spoken about the deaths of Harry Purcell and Tilly Seccombe in the context of the consultation’s purpose. The CII’s position is that the insurance industry has a responsibility to move beyond voluntary telematics products and consider whether a mandatory framework would produce better road safety outcomes. The consultation is asking that question openly and inviting evidence from insurers, consumer groups, road safety organisations, and the public before drawing conclusions.

The CII is not a regulator and cannot compel insurers to change their products, but guidance issued by the institute carries significant weight in the industry. Final guidance published at the end of 2026 could create strong expectations about what a responsible underwriting approach looks like for newly qualified driver policies, with commercial and reputational consequences for insurers that choose not to follow it.

What the CII Consultation Is Specifically Asking

The consultation covers several distinct questions. The first is whether newly qualified drivers should be required to have telematics as a condition of motor insurance, with no opt-out available. The second is what period of mandatory monitoring would be appropriate, with proposals ranging from six months to two years post-qualification. The third is what data should be collected and how it should be used, including whether insurers should be able to cancel or modify cover mid-policy based on telematics data showing high-risk behaviour.

A fourth question concerns the form that telematics should take. The current market offers two main product types: physical black box devices that are fitted to the vehicle by a technician, and app-based telematics that use the driver’s smartphone to collect data. Black box devices are generally considered more accurate and harder to circumvent but carry a fitting cost. App-based products are cheaper and more flexible but depend on the driver running the app consistently, which younger drivers do not always do.

The consultation is also examining whether mandatory telematics should be accompanied by a cap on the premiums that insurers can charge newly qualified drivers during the monitoring period. This addresses a concern that compulsory telematics could become a mechanism for insurers to charge higher initial premiums, with discounts only offered to drivers whose data proves safe behaviour, rather than a genuine tool for improving road safety across the board.

What the Data Shows About New Driver Risk

The risk profile of newly qualified drivers is well documented. One in five new drivers is involved in a collision during their first year on the road. That statistic has been consistent across multiple surveys and decades of road safety research, and it reflects both the inexperience of new drivers and the overconfidence that research consistently finds in the months immediately after passing a test.

Telematics adoption among young drivers has risen sharply in recent years. According to GlobalData analysis published in 2024, 68 per cent of drivers aged 18 to 25 had a telematics-based insurance policy. Of that group, 40.2 per cent were on a black box product and 27.9 per cent were using an app-based alternative. This means the majority of young drivers are already subject to some form of monitoring, and the question raised by the CII consultation is whether that should apply to all of them, including the 32 per cent who currently choose not to use telematics.

The evidence from existing telematics programmes consistently shows that drivers on monitored policies have lower collision rates than those on standard products. The mechanism is partly selection, as safer drivers are more likely to choose telematics voluntarily, but research also shows a genuine behavioural effect from knowing that driving is being recorded. Speed compliance improves, late-night driving reduces, and harsh braking events are less frequent among drivers who know their insurer is watching.

How Graduated Driving Licences Connect to the Telematics Push

The CII consultation does not exist in isolation. It sits alongside a broader shift in government thinking about how to reduce young driver casualties. The government’s Road Safety Strategy, published in February 2026, includes a proposal for a minimum six-month learning period before a practical test can be taken, which would represent the first structural change to driver training requirements in many years.

Scotland is planning to introduce Graduated Driving Licences, a system that places restrictions on newly qualified drivers for a set period after passing their test. Common GDL restrictions include limits on carrying passengers under a certain age, a lower drink-drive limit than the general limit, and curfews on night driving. Northern Ireland has already moved to implement a Graduated Driving Licence framework, effective from October 2026, making it the first UK nation to do so formally.

Telematics and GDL are complementary rather than competing approaches. Where a GDL places restrictions on what a newly qualified driver is permitted to do, telematics provides a mechanism to monitor compliance with those restrictions. The combination of GDL and mandatory telematics would create a framework where new drivers are both legally restricted and electronically monitored during the highest-risk period of their driving career. Road safety organisations that have campaigned for GDL for years have broadly welcomed the CII consultation as reinforcing the same principle through the insurance route.

What Young Drivers and Their Parents Need to Know Now

The consultation is open until June 2026, and the CII is encouraging submissions from individuals as well as organisations. Young drivers, parents of young drivers, and anyone with a view on how the insurance industry should handle this issue can submit evidence to the process. The final guidance is expected before the end of 2026, which means any changes to product requirements are unlikely to affect policies purchased before early 2027 at the earliest.

For new drivers shopping for insurance now, voluntary telematics policies already offer genuine advantages. The premium discount available for safe monitored driving can be substantial, often reducing the cost of cover by several hundred pounds compared with a standard policy for the same driver and vehicle. The data from the monitoring period can also be used to demonstrate a clean driving record when moving to a different insurer at renewal, in the same way that a no-claims discount works for older drivers.

Parents who are added as named drivers on a young person’s policy should be aware that telematics data covers all journeys made in the vehicle, not just those made by the primary named driver. If a parent uses the car and drives in a way that generates high-risk data, that can affect the young driver’s policy score and potentially their premium. Some telematics policies allow different drivers to be identified separately. Checking the product terms before taking a policy is advisable.

Whether or not the CII consultation leads to mandatory telematics, the trend in the young driver insurance market is clear. Monitoring is becoming the default, not the exception. The deaths of Harry Purcell and Tilly Seccombe have given the industry a reason to ask whether the voluntary default is still acceptable, and the answer the consultation produces will shape what newly qualified drivers are asked to accept as the cost of getting on the road.

Sources: Chartered Insurance Institute (May 2026); GB News (28 May 2026); Insurance Age (May 2026); GlobalData motor insurance report (2024); UK Road Safety Strategy (February 2026); Northern Ireland Graduated Driving Licence framework (2026).