Safe drivers can earn lower premiums by using QBE’s Insurance Box product, Australia’s first insurance use of telematics technology for cars.

The plug-in device uses sensors to identify habits such as speeding or harsh braking. The data is used to calculate a driver safety score, which influences the insurance premium.

“Individual drivers will hopefully be pleasantly surprised… [at] how much they can save on their premiums with good driving behaviours,” QBE Australia EGM Corporate Partners and Specialty Tim Plant told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“Our experience has been that younger drivers have a worse claims experience than older drivers. We are hoping that with this product, good young drivers can get the benefit of lower premiums and also improve their driving behaviours.”

He declined to say how much good drivers could save.

Since QBE launched Insurance Box last week, “we have had a lot of requests for quotations and have already written a number of policies. The interest has been staggering.”

The rollout is initially in the private motor vehicle market but it could be extended to commercial fleets.

The joint venture between QBE and NIA Underwriting follows the success of in-car telematics in the US and the UK.

“The executive team at Insurance Box has been working on this for about three or four years, so it’s taken quite a while to build the technology and really gain a good understanding of what has and has not worked overseas,” Mr Plant said.

UK policies impose curfews and include journey data as part of monitoring and reporting services, but QBE has not included these for privacy reasons.

The data can help a claim by providing an accurate account of what happened in a collision, and GPS functionality can help locate stolen vehicles.

Users can receive driving insights and advice via an online portal and SMS.