New app rewards safe driving

The phone application market is continually expanding and thanks to a new app you can now get cheaper car insurance if your phone says you’re a safe driver.

The free Octo U app uses telematics and GPS to track your movements and invites motorists to notch up 100 hours of safe driving, over the space of at least one month. If they can do that, they will be offered personalised quotes from a range of insurers, which the app says will be up to 30 per cent cheaper.

In the past motorists have looked to combat high premiums with black boxes, which like the Octo U app use telematics to monitor how you drive.

However, these boxes are not always free, and have to be fitted by your insure r- more hassle than downloading an app.

They also just tie you to one insurer rather than letting you compare deals.

Created by Italian firm Octo Telematics, the Octo U app uses technology to monitor and score driver behaviour.

Aviva currently offers a similar app, called ‘Drive’ – but it only promotes tie-in deals with its own car insurance. The Octo U app currently has three insurers on board, and it says a fourth is about to sign up.

Fabio Sbianchi, chief executive of Octo Telematics said, ‘We are putting control back into the hands of drivers. We hope that by better understanding what makes a good driver and with the incentive of a cheaper insurance quote, app users will be safer on the roads.’