Good insurance company for young drivers!
Really good company and cheapest insurance you’ll find for young drivers, tag is mostly good and very lenient except from when it comes to harsh acceleration and harsh braking, mostly the acceleration as if you are sat stationary on a hill and then go to set off it’s hard to not accelerate to 7mph in 2 seconds and it gives you a bad mark, also with the braking if someone was to jump out on you and you have to brake harshly it will mark you which I think is unfair as you have no choice but to brake so you technically get the blame even though it was the other drivers fault, none the less don’t let this put you off as they are better then most insurance companies out there and you will get a cheap quote!
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Dodgy GPS but ok overall
Installed in my car so my daughter (recently passed test) can have her own insurance.
Cost wise at just over £100 a month, I’ll live with it as she’s gaining her own no claims.
Also like the fact that it scores your journey and shows you where you lose marks.
However, we regularly drive along A-road that is undergoing major roadworks. For 20 miles, the route of the road changes regularly as carriageways are laid or broken up. Roundabouts spring up or sharp corners are added.
The GPS regularly shows us as doing odd things for which we lose stars, for example going the wrong way around a roundabout at 50mph where a section new duel carriageway is now open and there isn’t actually a roundabout there anymore or suggesting we were speeding when it hasn’t factored a new flyover (flyover 50mph limit, old road below 40mph limit). Yesterday I apparently made a 90 degree turn too fast when in fact I went around broad, sweeping new roundabout that doesn’t have any other traffic entering or exiting.
It’s fortunately not affecting my daughter too much as she doesn’t drive this route often but it shows on my record and would be a problem for others being scored on it.
Basically, it works well about town and on established, wide roads. Less accurate on country roads where you need to brake or in roadworks.
Cost wise at just over £100 a month, I’ll live with it as she’s gaining her own no claims.
Also like the fact that it scores your journey and shows you where you lose marks.
However, we regularly drive along A-road that is undergoing major roadworks. For 20 miles, the route of the road changes regularly as carriageways are laid or broken up. Roundabouts spring up or sharp corners are added.
The GPS regularly shows us as doing odd things for which we lose stars, for example going the wrong way around a roundabout at 50mph where a section new duel carriageway is now open and there isn’t actually a roundabout there anymore or suggesting we were speeding when it hasn’t factored a new flyover (flyover 50mph limit, old road below 40mph limit). Yesterday I apparently made a 90 degree turn too fast when in fact I went around broad, sweeping new roundabout that doesn’t have any other traffic entering or exiting.
It’s fortunately not affecting my daughter too much as she doesn’t drive this route often but it shows on my record and would be a problem for others being scored on it.
Basically, it works well about town and on established, wide roads. Less accurate on country roads where you need to brake or in roadworks.
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Terrible at working out who is driving
Today the app logged 4 trips driven by me (the parent) when my daughter (who the insurance is intended for) was miles away. This is probably down to having the same app on my phone (for tracking my daughter’s drives) as she does. There’s clearly a bug here.
I’ve absolutely no idea why the app on my phone, whose sole purpose is to track may daughter’s driving, has to have Bluetooth on (when it shouldn’t be paired to the black box from my phone) or why it has to have GPS tracking (when it isn’t tracking my driving). I’ve switched off GPS for it, enabling it only when I want to check my daughter’s score for her last trip. Pretty sure there’s a GDPR violation here, collecting GPS information on me whenever and wherever I am, all the time, whether or not I am in the car.
The app also doesn’t track the number of journeys correctly. It’s a requirement that less than 50% of journeys are made by my daughter, but is currently showing as 60% in the app because the trips my wife makes to drive to work every day are not logged. I do hope we aren’t contacted about this.
Why not just supply a separate app for parents? Why are you tracking me? Are you tracking my daughter 100% of the time, even when not driving? It’s an easy fix, when she’s connected to the black box via bluetooth, switch on tracking.
I’ve absolutely no idea why the app on my phone, whose sole purpose is to track may daughter’s driving, has to have Bluetooth on (when it shouldn’t be paired to the black box from my phone) or why it has to have GPS tracking (when it isn’t tracking my driving). I’ve switched off GPS for it, enabling it only when I want to check my daughter’s score for her last trip. Pretty sure there’s a GDPR violation here, collecting GPS information on me whenever and wherever I am, all the time, whether or not I am in the car.
The app also doesn’t track the number of journeys correctly. It’s a requirement that less than 50% of journeys are made by my daughter, but is currently showing as 60% in the app because the trips my wife makes to drive to work every day are not logged. I do hope we aren’t contacted about this.
Why not just supply a separate app for parents? Why are you tracking me? Are you tracking my daughter 100% of the time, even when not driving? It’s an easy fix, when she’s connected to the black box via bluetooth, switch on tracking.
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Great safety app
Always worrying when your young teenager passes there test and hits the road for the first time, but with this little app it gives you reassurance that he/she is sticking to speeds and driving responsibly. Definitely a big thumbs up to Marmalade insurance for having the foresight to keep insurance prices down for considerate drivers, who have a good app track record. Well done 👏
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Decent
Marmalade is a decent app was not sure whether to get it due to some reviews being negative however after a couple months it has been fine, slightly annoying when going around a roundabout at 15mph is classed as harsh cornering however this has never resulted in a red journey so it doesn’t really matter, having a black box is much less stressful than I thought it would be so would overall recommend.
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Not the worst but not the best
Marmalade is decent for young drivers and is one of the cheapest out there, even though it is still quite pricey. There is no curfew for black box, which is brilliant, cannot complain about this.
The complaints I do have about this, however, are the false ratings and markings. For example, I’ve noticed that whenever I pull out into a roundabout, it’ll mark me down for acceleration; or if I use my phone for directions (which I put on before I start driving - I also do not have sat nav in my car) it’ll put me down for phone use.
Overall, not the worst, but not the best. Probably one of the best insurance companies to go with under 25
The complaints I do have about this, however, are the false ratings and markings. For example, I’ve noticed that whenever I pull out into a roundabout, it’ll mark me down for acceleration; or if I use my phone for directions (which I put on before I start driving - I also do not have sat nav in my car) it’ll put me down for phone use.
Overall, not the worst, but not the best. Probably one of the best insurance companies to go with under 25
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Amazing black box
This is genuinely the best black box I’ve ever heard of, compared to my friends black boxes mine is so much better. There is no curfew, reports are available straight away after you finish driving and the areas that you’re assessed on in your drive make sense. If you drive well you can very easily get 5 stars on all drives and it does not punish you for things like where or when you drive!
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Absolutely useless
This app is a good idea for young drivers but the implementation is absolutely totally hopeless. I’m registered as the parent (I think) but it seems to erroneously pick me up as the driver 90% of the time. I could perhaps understand the error when I’m at home as maybe my phone is near the car and it thinks I’m driving. However when my daughter reaches her destination (I’m at home at this point) it still picks me up as the driver for the return trip. It’s the most unreliable thing I’ve ever seen…well to be fair anything Bluetooth is pretty unreliable at the best of times. Just useless and the people who answer the phones at Marmalade don’t have much of a clue either.
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Parisian Sparkle
Excellent app showing map of car journeys by the owner & their young driver along with little ‘blips’ - eg. excessive braking, cornering too quickly etc. The stats are linked on 2 phones - so every journey the driver gets a rating of 1- 5 stars & a total out of 100.
it’s inherently making me a better driver as the car owner (& I’ve been driving for over 30 years!) & encouraging me to be slower & more controlled with the car in traffic jams, queuing at traffic lights so passengers have a more relaxed journey.
it’s inherently making me a better driver as the car owner (& I’ve been driving for over 30 years!) & encouraging me to be slower & more controlled with the car in traffic jams, queuing at traffic lights so passengers have a more relaxed journey.
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Response from developer
Good morning, Thanks for your feedback - we're pleased to hear you are happy with the app and that it has even helped a more experienced driver hone their skills! Happy Driving! Alex
love!
honestly it really makes me acknowledge being safe on the road. it forces you to drive well as you want a good score. however, it does encourage me to look at my speedometer more than the road lol. Also, i bit annoying when it detects hard breaking from my driving lessons, when i have to do emergency stops. other than that, really like the app
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Response from developer
Good morning, Thanks for your feedback - we're glad you're happy with the app and it's helping you develop your driving skills. We hope the driving lessons are going well and wish you the very best of luck for when your test comes. The app will pick up instances of braking, but as they are likely to be isolated in a lesson, we're not concerned so we hope you won't be too concerned seeing them (it shows the app is working!). It is only where there are repeated incidents on a driver's journey that it is a cause for concern and would flag as a dangerous journey. Sounds like you're already on track to be a great driver. Happy driving! Alex
