Car insurance: Young drivers 'benefit from new tech'

New technology is helping to cut car insurance premiums for young drivers while older motorists are seeing costs rise, research suggests.

Drivers aged under 25 have seen the average premium fall by 5.5% in the year to August, according to researcher Consumer Intelligence.

They have been helped by black box technology, which reduces premiums by monitoring driving patterns.

In contrast, motorists aged over 50 have seen their premiums rise by 8.6%.

Risk levels

Black box technology, or telematics, records the speeds and driving patterns of young drivers and the time of day that they are on the road.

This allows young drivers to prove to insurance companies that they are low risk, and so their premiums should drop as a result.

Ian Hughes, chief executive of Consumer Intelligence, said this innovation was reversing the "massive increases" in premiums for young drivers seen at the turn of the decade.

"Older drivers are to an extent helping fund premium reductions for younger motorists and need to ensure they are receiving the best value for money from their insurer," he said.

Young drivers still face the highest costs, despite the shift in prices. The average cheapest annual premium for all motorists was £696 in August, but it was £1,680 for drivers aged under 25 and £258 for motorists aged over 50.