Archive for the ‘Car Insurance’ Category

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Jamaican gold athlete receives record payout!

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Love them or hate them, sometimes our insurance companies never seem to be in a rush to pay out on our claims! According to the article “Mr Usain Bolt record breaking-insurance settlement” they did themselves proud when honouring the Olympic athlete’s claim following an accident, which damaged his prized 2009 BMW M3 Coupe.

The gold medallist’s wrecked car, a birthday present from his sponsor PUMA, was valued at about 160 000 US dollars by the insurers Advantage General Insurance Company. The company were fast to respond settling the Jamaican sprinter’s claim within eight working days.

Ever since taking the Beijing Olympics by storm, Usain Bolt has become a leading role model in the sports world as well as star and role model to anyone he comes in contact with. With this in mind it is simple to see that the insurers Advantage General Insurance Company are merely following good business practices by settling so quickly for the superstar. The publicity achieved from the simple act of going against character and paying so rapidly it practically made Mr Bolt’s head spin is priceless.

On a serious level, the insurance company are quick to point out there was not exactly a question of ‘favouritism’ going on in order to pay out on Mr Bolt’s insurance claim. The accident involving his car received a considerable amount of publicity and so much of the info found its way into the public domain whereas in the majority of cases a considerable amount of time is put into the investigation procedure of an accident.

Good for you Usain Bolt but when all is said and done, we are all paying customers and will all be expecting a much speedier return on our motor insurance claims and we know you can do it!

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Posted in Car Insurance, Car Insurance For Women | No Comments »

Sidestep burglary – move to Dudley!

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

The credit crunch is forcing people to consider economising by making cuts to their insurance. Conclusions drawn, however, from a recent Virgin Money survey were that people living in certain areas should not hastily cancel their policies. Research has revealed certain geographical regions are worse for burglary, criminal damage and flooding than others and the results (in some cases) are surprising.

According to the article “The most likeliest places to be burgled” if you live in Doncaster, Nottingham, Sheffield and Middlesborough you really ought to be shopping for home insurance. Recent findings have revealed a burglary concentration in these towns compared with England and Wales maintaining that residents of these places should think twice before cancelling their insurance policies.

Do you live in a safe part of England?

The safest areas in England and Wales are (in order of the safest first) Kensington and Chelsea, Dudley, Poole, Brighton and Hove, Wandsworth, Lewisham, City of Westminster, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Southend. These towns and boroughs scored highly in terms of safety by taking into consideration the criteria of ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ presence, levels of police officers on patrol in an area as well as data held at the National Office of Statistics, the Home Office, the Association of Police Authorities and the Environment Agency.

To say that the Kensington and Chelsea borough was a burglar free zone would be an untruth! This is an area of considerable wealth and so a magnet for any thief with ambitious tendencies. The findings of this Virgin Money survey can prove somewhat confusing, with Kensington and Chelsea (regarded the safest place to live) regarded as less of a flood risk and criminal damage target experiencing high levels of burglary. Overall however, insurers regard this particular borough as ‘low risk’ therefore keeping premiums low for the residents.

Where the location of your home hugely affects your insurance premiums, in order to economise you need to ask yourself if you live in a safe area.

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Posted in Bike Insurance, Car Insurance, General, Home & Contents Insurance | No Comments »

How to weather those wintry hazards

Monday, February 16th, 2009

It is no wonder that we want to escape to the sun at the first sign of winter what with all the hazards that suddenly hit us immediately the temperature slides south. A month or two into the colder season and the insurance company phones become alive to the tune of bells whether its claims on car insurance, house insurance or holiday insurance, it never gets busier for an insurance company than over the winter.

According to the article “Q & A: Insurance cover in the snow” there are ways to prepare ourselves for the onslaught of potential wintry disasters citing a few examples along the way.

In the event of pipes bursting, your home insurance should cover the expense of damage unless you have been absent from your property for over thirty days. Usually, burst water pipes are covered by contents and building insurance, while tanks with frozen water is covered by buildings insurance. Check your insurance policy for a breakdown of specific cover.

The roads are icy and you like many others this season, have struggled to drive your car and collided with another. You can claim on your fully comprehensive insurance although insurance companies urge drivers not to go out in difficult driving conditions unless absolutely necessary. If you have third party insurance and you collide with another car, your insurance won’t cover it.

A common winter complaint is that cars won’t start in the morning but can they claim on their insurance? If this happens to you, you cannot claim on your insurance however you can get assistance on your breakdown cover.

Frosty nights present problems galore for insurance companies thanks to the crime of “frosting”. People leave the car running while de-icing it in the morning allowing 15,000 opportunistic thieves a year to take advantage and steal your car in a crime recognised as “frosting”.

Bad weather has caused you to miss your flight because you couldn’t travel to the airport. Your travel insurance will cover you as long as you prove there was no way you could get to the airport on time and you will need to have checked in too.

There are many problems caused by the wintry weather, in addition to the ones just mentioned, there is the matter of a cancelled flight, snow damage to your home and cars skidding into your car to name but a few. If in any doubt, check with your insurer immediately!

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Posted in Car Insurance, Car Insurance For Women, General, Home & Contents Insurance, Travel Insurance, Van Insurance, breakdown insurance | No Comments »

Biting off more than you can ‘ATCHOO!’

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

Do not drive when ill with a cold or influenza because this could lead to dire consequences, warn the insurance people at Lloyds TSB.

According to the article “350 million pounds bill for driving under the influenza” in excess of one hundred and twenty five thousand motorists were involved in accidents that were caused by the effects of flu.

When incidences of flu are at their peak as they were just before Christmas, the occurrence of road traffic accidents can be rife. Many accidents are caused by slower reactions and by sneezing at the wheel. A recent study revealed that a driver’s road awareness can be impaired by as much as eleven per cent when under the influence of a cold virus. This kind of reduced attention compares with the effects of drinking a double whisky before setting off for the road.

In the event of suffering with a cold you could put yourself and others at risk if driving under the influence of flu symptoms. All motorists should therefore bear in mind the increase of driving accidents and to ensure all the more urgently they have car insurance not only to cover accidents they are responsible for, but those caused by others too.

Flu symptoms are not the only cause of impaired judgement affecting a driver’s motoring skills, tests proved driving with PMS, high stress levels or a headache will negatively affect your driving ability. Flu symptoms however did come off the worst in the research.

The report has helped to conclude that during 2008 one in ten of all road accidents can be attributed to the driver’s flu symptoms. This is a trend that produced an insurance bill totalling a cool three hundred and fifty million pounds!

The painful truth is that people are not aware of the damaging effects of the flu virus on a driver. With the occurrence of flu pandemics becoming a growing concern, it is all the more vital that motorists are made aware of this destructive and growing problem. The question of shall I or shan’t I drive is answered plainly on single rule of thumb that it is not safe to go out if in doubt.

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You are now entering Slough, please drive carefully!

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

Drivers who live in a town need to beware when it comes to driving. According to research, drivers who live in more built up areas are more likely to have a road accident than anyone else.

One town in Great Britain stands out to be crowned the worst road accident location – Slough. According to the article “Slough named as the riskiest place in the UK for road accidents” the drivers in the Berkshire town have made more claims on their motor insurance than any other. More claims were made in Slough than high accident spots of Ilford (east London) and Birmingham according to recent statistics recorded by the people at Endsleigh Insurance.

To contrast Slough, the best places to drive include Belfast, Aberdeen and Swansea. These cities outside of England have a lower frequency of insurance claims for motoring accidents.

According to the report, Belfast in Northern Ireland reported the lowest case of accident claims at 44% below average while Slough totalled 49% above the average.
These statistics serve as a warning to drivers during the most hazardous season of the year, that of the festive one! Extreme cold weather conditions can only add to the speedy last minute Christmas shopping trips and Christmas party excesses. Endsleigh claim that if you live in a town or city, you are at more risk of being involved in a road accident than if you live anywhere else largely because of the extra volume of traffic on the roads at this time of year. Calls are made from the company for extra vigilance throughout the season.

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Posted in Car Insurance, Car Insurance For Women | 1 Comment »

Shopping for the best insurance deals

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

In the article “Insurance – how to get the best deal” people considering cancelling their insurance should think again! The article mentions there is a tendency to consider insurance a luxury when they should be seeing it as a necessity. Now that we are all feeling the pinch during these financially trying times, the last thing we should be thinking about is cancelling our insurance.

These are uncertain times, and now is the time to have a safety net in place and hang on to our insurance policies. And if we don’t have any, we ought to look at getting some! We need our jobs more than ever, so what happens if we fall sick or our house gets flooded. Keep the insurance going but look at ways to save money on your policy, is the message conveyed by the consumer expert Dominic Littlewood off the telly!
Dominic has never paid full asking price for his insurance! We need, he says, to pay attention to our policies and when they approach expiration, not to blindly sign the renewal. We ought to shop around for a better deal and he believes there is always a better deal to be had somewhere.

By shopping around for another insurance company, you could be saving as much as twenty per cent off your current cover. He suggest beginning with checking out an insurance comparison website, the easiest way to acquire quotes from a number of companies in one fell swoop. He offers other tips for getting cheaper insurance quotes as well but insists you should never lie about your circumstances to achieve reductions and discounts. With these top tips in mind, he brings our attention to his checklist of top tips on how to get cheaper insurance.

Ready? Fasten your seatbelts for Dominic Littlewood’s money saving masterclass!
Comparison sites to check out before you make your first move include the moneysupermarket website. Next, get ready to do some bartering! Using these website as a starting point, the next thing to do is to ring up the insurance companies and get them to improve on their quotes.

All you need to rehearse saying is the following “Your company has quoted a price on my car insurance online, but I’m unhappy with it. What is your best price?”
After giving you a quote, announce you will give them a ring tomorrow. Remember this top tip, you should never accept a quote immediately! And last but not least, take this best quote to another company and ask them to better it.

Try out these top tips from one of Britain’s much loved consumer experts and you ought to never look back again!

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Vandals with a feminine touch!

Thursday, September 25th, 2008

A recent article highlights the increasing incidence of motor vehicle crime committed by females.

As a reaction to rising vandalism offences, the insurance company Direct Line did a bit of digging. The results that were revealed were somewhat surprising.

Recent studies have shown that women are the culprits of vandalism to a greater extent than most would think. Women owning up to acts of vandalism upon a motor vehicle recently totalled about 1.5 million women. Direct Line actively encourages car owners to consider acts of vandalism in their insurance policies.

Why are women climbing the charts all of a sudden? Why are they suddenly turning into yobs? Probable causes include alcohol and sheer boredom. The Direct Line report on vandalism revealed there is a fifty per cent increase in the amount of 11-17 year old females doing damage to cars. Popular yob-like activities these girls are taking to include scratching paintwork, window smashing and tyre slashing. While 10% claimed their actions were the result of being drunk, twenty three per cent offered the reason of having nothing whatsoever better to do. Eight per cent of female vandals blame peer pressure for their wrecking sprees while most claim it was a last minute thing.

This female vandal crime agenda accounts for up to sixty thousand criminal offences annually across the last five years. They tend to gravitate towards the acts of public property damaging, messing around with road signs, interfering with personal property of a third party and graffiti.

Direct Line’s UK Vandalism Report revealed an overall accumulation of offences caused by females. Results revealed that car vandal victims had increased by thirty per cent. Something of a girls in gangs culture was revealed to be the cause of a substantial increase in car vandalism. As a result, Direct Line car insurance became the first motor insurance product to offer protection of no claims bonus in cases of vandalism.

Now that people are tightening their belts throughout this season of credit-crunching, it helps a lot to know that random acts of vandalism cannot affect your No Claims Bonus.

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Cash penalties for bad drivers

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

The article “Careless drivers hit by long-term financial penalties” observes how we have to pay up in the long run for driving without due care.

The UK comparison site for car insurance, Confused.com warns that anyone with a licence stacked up with penalty points will have to pay up to £370 more for their car insurance than a driver with a clean licence. This is an increase of about 60%. If you are a young driver, you can expect to be severely penalised for gaining penalty points.

The article observes that a 21 year old woman in Manchester who has a 1.3 Fiesta could have her car insurance premium increased by a horrendous 92% due to receiving 6 penalty points on her licence. In monetary terms, this could be as much as £895. If she were to get herself further weighted down with another three points, her insurance could increase by 210%.

But it is not just the young drivers who are penalised, women aged fifty and above suffer higher insurance premiums than men when they get penalty points. A 55 year old woman with a 3 litre BMW M5 receiving 6 points on her licence would expect her insurance to rise by 81%, while a man with similar credentials would expect to get only an 49% rise in his insurance payments.

Insurance companies are additionally interested in whether you have received points on your licence in the previous five years. This means that your premiums could be affected long after your points have expired.

It doesn’t appear as though tough premiums are much of a deterrent for bad driving with over 3.2 million motoring convictions levied in the last year. Despite this, the insurance companies are keen to remind us that our premiums will be affected if we continue to make bad decisions while on the roads.

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Car Thieves Will Take Anything

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

According to the article “Car thieves getting away with everything” nothing is sacred from those nasty little car criminals!

Isn’t it surprising the lengths some people will go to for a set of furry dice or a stick of celery?! Admiral recently compiled a list of the stolen property claims they had received in the last twelve months. The results were surprising. People were getting the most unusual and mundane items stolen from their cars!

Out of the 8,000 or so items that people have reported stolen, some of the most unusual included a Power Rangers costume for a 6ft person, a pair of pants, some furry dice, £10,000, some school homework, a stick of celery and a pair of leather shorts. All these things were left lying around in people’s cars before they were stolen.

Similarly a list was drawn up of the most common items that were illegally removed from people’s cars. These articles include Sat-Nav systems, cameras, handbags, laptops, CDs and car stereos.

Hard to imagine, the average family is likely to have goods to the value of about £2,800 lying around in their cars. This is amounts to a juicy £28 billion treasure trove for the slippery fingered car criminal.

If we’re ever going to force car insurance premiums down to sensible levels then we’ve got to all wise up and stop leaving things lying around in the car! While we are at it, we should invest in our car’s security with things like steering wheel locks, immobilisers, getting locks for our glove boxes, shutting our sun roofs and removing the suction mark giveaway sign that you have a Sat-Nav sitting around somewhere (probably in your unlocked glove box). Last but not least, never leave anything on display in your car.

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Check Your Policies Before Driving In Europe

Monday, July 28th, 2008

In his article, “Caught short in Europe”, Ali Hussain urges motorists to check their insurance cover before they set off for Europe.

Check your fully comprehensive driving insurance before you go, it may not be as fully comprehensive as you would like it to be! Many travellers find themselves abroad with less cover than they need or worse, without cover at all!

Do not assume anything! Many companies including the RAC, Norwich Union Direct and Direct Line provide third party cover ONLY once you leave the UK. An additional premium is necessary in most cases while some companies require you to inform them prior to your trip.

Sheila’s Wheels’ research revealed that out of the 4.3 million British motorists who are set to drive in Europe this year 15% ASSUME they have full cover from their insurance company. This is frightening! Always ring up your insurance provider informing them of your trip and that you will need to extend your cover.

Do not assume anything! The market analyst, Defaqto revealed that 61% of comprehensive policies do not actually cover breakdown in Europe. Those offering cover for Europe as a standard feature account for only 11%. Third party cover is only standard thanks to EU law, where damage is paid only to another motorist when involved in an accident. This type of cover does not protect you against accidental damage, theft and personal injury.

While comprehensive insurance can be provided as an extension, how much insurance companies charge for it can vary considerably.

Direct Line, Admiral and Diamond offer differing rates that depend on the length of cover required. Barclays charge about £21.90 for 90 days of cover. Diamond will sell annual cover for an extra £34.50. Admiral will charge £9 for four days and £17 for thirty days. Marks and Spencer, Churchill and Endsleigh offer free comprehensive cover for up to 90 days per year.

Free annual cover is available from Ecar and SAGA. Don’t rely on price comparison websites because they can be deceiving. The insurance companies featured can often provide different versions of their policies so they stand out on the tables. For example, the Norwich Union Direct charge £26 extra for 90 day cover abroad although via a broker, the whole trip cover is standard with no extra charge. The cost for normal cover is more likely to be more expensive overall however. While you are at it, check there are no restrictive clauses concerning numbers of consecutive days you can drive abroad.

A couple of other things mentioned in the article, that we should all be aware of when driving abroad include alcohol levels, speed limits and general safety.

Europe is much tougher on alcohol levels than the UK, that everyone has to wear a seatbelt and that speed is monitored regularly. If caught driving 25 kilometres per hour more than the speed limit, you could face an on-the-spot confiscation of licence and you’ll certainly get an on the spot fine (yes, they do take credit cards). Do yourself a favour and read up on the European Highway Code before you go.

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