UK motorists have embraced dash cams after realising their money saving benefits not only directly through insurance discounts such as swiftcover.com (12.5% discount on an annual insurance policy, for those with a Nextbase), but also for split liability claims where fault isn’t determined between drivers.

If you, as a motorist, is involved in such an incident, it means that 50% of the cost of the claim is down to you. This can affect future motor insurance quotes, well in to the thousands of pounds. If you had a dash cam, however, you’ve got an independent witness which can show that you may not have been at fault.

We’re always asked similar questions but those who are thinking about buying a dash cam. So here’s our [very] quick guide:

1) Why should I have a dash cam, or in car camera?

It’s an independent witness when you are driving. It can show exactly what happened if involved in an incident and potentially, clear your name as the driver not at fault. That could save an innocent individual thousands of pounds, but simply having a dash cam can save every motorists an average of £45 on their annual motor insurance premium.

If you are a Nextbase dash cam owner, and you buy your insurance through swiftcover.com, you will receive 12.5% off.

2) Who are dash cams for?

Dash cams are for every motorist – whether you’re doing short journeys to and from school, or you’re up and down the motorway every day. Incidents can happen anywhere, at any time of the day so it’s important to have a dash cam to record what’s going on around you as you drive.

3) Where is the best place to buy one?

As you can imagine, there are thousands of makes and models out there but you have to remember that this market was born out of Russia and the Far East where the reason for having a dash cam was very different. It means that not all devices are built for the UK, and will either have lots of techie stuff that you don’t need, or it just doesn’t carry the quality demanded by UK insurers who may need to review your footage.

Nextbase dash cams have been specifically designed and built for the UK market. There are many retailers who stock our product, including Maplin, Currys and Halfords.

4) How do I fit it?

This is a very common question, despite the very large use of sat navs. We have previously written about this in more depth, so have a read on how to install a dash cam if you’d like to know more. As a mini overview, location is very simple. Don’t put it in the way of your line of vision – your sat nav may have been – but instead, place it behind the rear view mirror and tuck the wire around the windscreen. If instead of recording the inside of your car you want to record the road ahead when driving, our mirror dash cam is the perfect fit.

All our dash cams can run off the 12 volt power supply (or cigarette lighter to you and I), but there are other ways. Check out the product spec page to find out more about this.

If you’re still a little unsure, or you’d prefer a professional to install it – whether to your cigarette lighter or hardwired to your cars power supply – you can always buy your dash cam from Halfords whose WeFit service will do it for you. Speak to them in store about it for more info.

5) Are dash cams very techie?

No! As we say quite a lot around our website, all Nextbase dash cams are designed and built for the UK motorist. There’s no need to buy one that may have been built for the Japanese market, or indeed the Russian roads as they are very different products, designed and built for their environment and challenges.

We’re always asking UK motorists and Nextbase dash cam owners how they find it and what we could improve. The most important things for us is ease of use, and quality. Nextbase in car cameras have many awards against them for providing the best quality products, and in turn making them as simple as possible to set up and use.

Nextbase dash cams are now at the stage whereby you can slot the memory card in, fit the dash cams to a windscreen, plug it in and away you go. It’s doing a job for you, without bothering you one bit.

If you have any other questions please do get in touch, we’d be happy to help.

Our contact details can be found here.