10 ways to save money with a dash camera

In the above video it shows a ‘crash for cash’ scam, the driver in the blue car slams on their brakes hoping the vehicle behind doesn’t have time to react and crashes into the rear of their car. Unfortunately, in this example the lorry stopped in time however the car behind it didn’t, so these scammers ruined two peoples lives that day. Insurance companies always state that the car driving behind is at fault (unless you can prove otherwise, hence the importance of this post).

Another example that happened to one of our girlfriends, that has caused her/us lots of hassle, upset, financial loss and most annoyingly it all could have been avoided by this simple cheap £40-£200 device.

This might sound like a big sales pitch like an eager Currys employee but honestly the amount of crap we’ve had to go through recently is almost enough for us go out and buy one of these for everyone on here and go bankrupt.

Imagine this, you’re driving down a very narrow country lane, it’s a sunny day with great visibility, high banks either side of the road with tall grass on both sides. It’s obviously a slow road (around 20MPH max), you’re doing around 15MPH and you slow for a corner, then some d*ckhead wannabe Colin McRae (RIP dude) rally driver comes around the corner at 40MPH, you come to a stop but he smashes into the front of your car. There are no witnesses just you, who is at fault?

Both insurance companies will come back to say both drivers are to blame…50/50… but wait a minute you were going 15MPH and he was going 40MPH… he was clearly to blame. Prove it…. You can’t, it’s his words against yours and because he’s a d*ckhead he isn’t saying it wasn’t his fault and is actually blaming you. He reports you to the Police, gets accident management companies & debt collection agencies chasing you.

You spend months sorting it all out and in the end your insurance premium goes up, you have to pay your excess and now you worry about driving down country lanes in case it happens again. 9 months later your insurance company says they won’t insure you due to pending Police action, you have to go through it all again to clear your name.

Then months and even years later you’re still being hassled by companies who get sold your accident information who then resell this information on to more companies and so on.

Annoyingly/in hindsight all of this could have been stopped with a device costing £10-£150, considering your excess is probably around £300 and an insurance renewal with a 50/50 £600 claim added can add £300-£1000+ to your yearly bill…. £150 is starting to sound like a great saving.

tl;dr: D*ckhead speeding, head on collision with GF, no proof he was speeding = 50/50 insurance claim = large cost + tons of hassle

Welcome to the world of Dash Cams (cheap HD tiny video cameras) that record footage of your driving and most importantly other peoples driving/actions etc

10 reasons to own a dash camera:

1. Can save your insurance no claims bonus
2. Can save an increase in insurance renewal prices
3. Recommended by Police forces, road charities, insurance providers, motorist groups, car providers & most importantly us 😉
4. Possible lower insurance. Be sure to ask your insurer about a reduction and if they say no then ask to speak with the manager and write a formal complaint about not getting a discount (if we all were to do this they would soon start to listen).
5. Can help send the b*stards that do ‘crash for cash’ to jail (like person in video) B*stards!
6. Can help other road users not just yourself, imagine you witnessed a fatal accident where the other driver drove off
7. Seen a dangerous driver on the road, if your camera captured it you could in theory send it to the Police. One driver recently got 12 months disqualification from a video submitted by a member of the public!
8. Spot a meteorite in the sky? Don’t worry your dash cam has got it > http://10ws.co/StWwX5 Boom! Easy YouTube money!
9. It’s your extra eye witness, it can pick up little things you’ve missed and most important you don’t have to worry about missing things off in your written report to the insurance company.
10. We bet if you’re ever unfortunate enough to get in a car crash you would spend twice this amount to clear your name instantly

What are the best ones to go for?

• NextBase 522GW (or newer)
  
  • Front and Rear Cameras
  • NextBase has been Voted No1 Dash Camera by Sun Motors
  • Which? Best Buy
• ThinkWare F800 Pro
  • Expensive but high quality video and pretty compact.
  • Often wired directly into the car power system so no lose cables, we had it professionally installed.
  • Superb video quality, very compact unit (ideal for hiding), comes with front and back cameras.
  • Downsides: No video screen (not really needed once you’ve setup via the Wifi app) but useful sometimes, you may need a Power Magic Pro to properly cable it in. Often will need to be professionally installed but it’s certainly possible to DIY install.
• Garmin Dash Cam Mini Key-Sized Dash Camera
  • Super compact
  • Built-in G-Sensor
  • 1080p HD

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Another great video of how a dash camera can save you:

What else do I need?

► Ensure you buy a Class 10+ memory card from a reputable company, don’t buy cheap ones from eBay/markets etc, they’re crap and not worth the risk. We normally buy memory cards from http://10ws.co/1bUXyyQ or http://amzn.to/StUXZm

► Ensure you’ve got the correct mounts to connect to your car + things like an extension cable for the charging cable might be a good buy so you can route it around your windscreen out of sight.

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What about using a mobile phone to record?

Great in principle, especially if you’ve got an old device lying around however be warned, accidentally leaving this on display in your car really is asking for trouble + you will have to remember to setup/switch on everytime you get in your car (unlike the devices above which turn on, start recording everytime you switch your engine on).

iOS (Car Camera DVR) > £2.99 > http://10ws.co/1IDa4FP
Android (AutoGuard Blackbox) > Free (or premium version) > http://10ws.co/1AYPkBU
Android (DailyRoads Voyager) > Free > http://10ws.co/1LL9RSr

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A Beginners Guide to Dashcams:

Hope this helps and hope you never have to use it. Love 10ways