Author: Catriona Singfield

As winter draws near, around 10,000 of the UK’s motorcyclists begin to make plans for storing their bikes away for the cold season. Snow, ice and biting winds make riding a motorbike a less attractive prospect, so many savvy bikers pack their machines up and save on the tax and insurance until biking season comes around again. Unfortunately, thieves know this too and every month around 600 motorcycles are stolen from their garages.

This could be a problem if you are the unlucky victim of such a theft when you are temporarily uninsured. A useful compromise is to reduce the cover to the minimum needed, usually just fire and theft.

Compared to car insurance, motorcycle insurance has some unusual features. That old favourite, the no claims bonus, is almost unheard of for bikes and it’s only a select few insurers who offer any comparable discount.

So how does a typical motorbike policy work? As with cars, there are a variety to choose from, such as third party, specified rider policy and specified bike policy. Specified bike policies cover the machine, not the rider, which means that several riders can be insured for the same bike.

Specified rider policies apply the other way around, to a specified rider on any bike of a size agreed by the policy.

Comprehensive insurance is the most expensive type, but like the familiar car version it covers you for the repair costs for accidental damage, and may or may not include breakdown cover. If you need to make a claim, you pay a specified excess and the rest will be paid for by your insurance company.

Third party insurance covers you for the legal minimum, and is thus the least expensive. It includes any damage you may cause to property, or injury to people. It doesn’t cover you for damage to your bike or repair costs, and still includes an excess payment.

Unfortunately, the exhilaration of getting a new bike is tempered for many young riders by much higher premiums on all types of insurance. This is because the chances of a new rider being involved in an accident are so much higher, due in part to lack of experience on the road. Motorbikes are also notorious for offering little protection in the event of a crash, and such accidents can have tragic consequences.

Premiums are also calculated on how long the rider spends travelling, for example a daily journey to work, or touring. This is because the longer a biker spends on the road, the greater the likelihood of an accident occurring. If you have had the misfortune to make a claim for a driving-related accident recently, this will also affect the rate you will be offered.

So what else goes in to the complex mix of tailored bike insurance? Well, the size of the engine and the make of the machine will be factors, so owning a vintage Harley is likely to be a costly affair! Any previous convictions for speeding, dangerous driving or even a disqualification will affect it adversely too.

It seems sensible to do what you can to reduce these fees. A security device, especially an immobiliser, steering lock or alarm should also secure a discount, as may completion of a specialised motorbike training course.

With so many things to take into account, it may seem tempting to be economical with the truth to save costs. This will certainly invalidate your insurance, leaving you with an expensive payout and no claim. It’s also illegal to drive without insurance, so honesty is definitely best for your policy!

Naturally, you’ll want to find the best deal, so try an online insurance broker. They can find you a policy to suit your specific requirements, and shop around for the best quotes to match your budget. Not only do they have the experience to help out, but they often have access to special discounts only available online.

So shop around, make sure you get the right insurance for your needs and have a safe drive!

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Author: Emma Mayo

Have you taken the car across to France recently – perhaps you took the short journey from Dover to Calais to pick up some wine for Christmas? Did you think to check to see if you were insured before you left? One third of UK motorists do, the other two thirds don’t. And with an estimated 8 million UK holidaymakers, a figure that is growing rapidly, taking their car over the channel every year, that’s a staggering statistic.

It’s not that you won’t be insured at all if you go to Europe, but you can’t automatically expect the same level of cover that you receive in the UK. Your insurer is legally obliged to insure you either at the minimum requirement in the particular EU country, or at third party level – whichever offers the most cover. If you are fully comprehensive in the UK, you may well be third party only in the country you’re visiting. This means you’re not covered for fire or theft, and if your car is damaged in an accident and you’re the one at fault, you will have to pay for the repairs.

As Ian Crowder from AA Insurance has said: “Roughly a quarter of a million comprehensive policies do not automatically or freely extend comprehensive cover to foreign climes.” So in many cases you can have your cover extended to Europe for free, but you have to ring up and ask for it – it doesn’t happen automatically.

A number of insurers will extend your cover to the EU, but there will be an extra charge. This is something that you could choose as an optional extra when you first buy the policy, especially if you intend to drive abroad quite regularly.

If you’re insured with the AA, Axa, Budget, Churchill or Marks & Spencer then you’re in luck - they range from 60 days to 90 days included for no extra charge. Direct Line and Esure offer just 3 days included, and then charge thereafter. Tesco and More Than need a phone call to set up the extended cover, and charges vary.

You also need to think about where you will be travelling in Europe. Only EU countries are generally covered however Switzerland, Croatia, Gibraltar, Norway, Monaco, Iceland, San Marino and Liechtenstein are all allowed in on the deal. Countries further east like Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria may not be covered, so it’s essential to make a phone call before driving through.

You also need to consider getting breakdown cover, because you could find yourself in a sticky situation if you break down in a remote area, especially if you don’t know the language. Some car insurers like Direct Line can add it on to the insurance – they charge £50 for a 2-week holiday for a family of four in France. The AA’s charges start at £10.90 for a day, and with RAC prices start at £13.50 for two days on the other side of the channel.

Finally, a few words of advice on other precautions you need to take when driving abroad:

§ Have the paper and the card part of your driving licence, your insurance certificate, the vehicle registration document and your passport with you at all times when driving.
§ If your car doesn’t have a number plate with ‘GB’ on it, buy a GB sticker for the back of your car.
§ Check out the rules of the country on headlights. You will need to adjust your headlights so they don’t dazzle road users. Also, you have to drive with dipped headlights at all times in Scandinavia, Italy and Spain.
§ Some European countries demand you to carry some or all of the following: a spare set of light bulbs, high visibility jackets, a reflective warning triangle, a first aid kit.

So now you are prepared for driving on the continent, have a great holiday!

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Author: Dot Piper

Beware, we have modern-day “Dick Turpins’” at work on our roads. Not quite “Stand and deliver” at gun point, but there’s a striking similarity.

Innocent drivers are being targeted in this frightening new crime which appears to spreading across the country. Effectively, we have an ambush situation.

This is what can happen:

· You may be following a vehicle, generally an ageing car or van, onto a roundabout or slip road. This vehicle, which often has no brake lights, brakes hard and you cannot avoid slamming into it.
· There may be two cars involved. One is in front of you and another one may veer into its path, the car in front of you brakes hard and you crash into it.

These “set up” crashes commonly occur at really busy roundabouts or motorway slip roads. The instigators of these incidents are skilled at pinning the blame on the innocent motorist. These modern day highwaymen work in teams, owning and managing repair garages and car hire companies. These firms present falsely inflated invoices for work carried out, hire of a car whilst the car is off the road and so on. They then make a bogus claim on the blameless motorist’s insurers, often inflating it for maximum pay-out and claiming for compensation for so-called injuries to the driver and passengers. Often the vehicle which they use is an old banger, which will probably contain the maximum number of passengers, all claiming to have been injured in some way and seeking compensation for this and probably loss of earning too. In this way a minor accident claim can escalate into a claim of £20,000 or more.

Insurers are quite rightly extremely concerned about the scale of these so called “accidents” and believe there could be as many as 10,000 of them occurring per year. A single insurance company may not easily pick up on the organised fraud but working with other insurers will give benefits. With this in mind the Association of British Insurers have created an Insurance Fraud Bureau. They will monitor details of suspect claims and scrutinize millions of them to find patterns or links. It is intended that the bureau will liaise with police and hopefully will take civil prosecutions against these fraudsters to recover money which has already been paid out.

There was a case of insurers linking 400 “staged accidents” to one particular gang, involving other crimes in addition to the insurance fraud, where the police would only get involved if the investigation was funded by the insurers. Insurance fraud may be low on the priorities list as far as the police are concerned but in view of the danger to drivers as a result of these unpleasant incidents their reluctance to get involved will have to change.

A Home Office fraud review is due out in the summer of 2006 and hopefully the Association of British Insurers concerns will be addressed in this.

In the meantime, some advice from Norwich Union’s head of fraud, Chris Hill, who says “Keep your distance from the car in front at roundabouts and slip roads and cut your speed. Keep an eye on the vehicle in front. The occupants may turn to look at you or may even make a gesture just before the trap is sprung.”

If a crash does happen, remember to get as much information as you can. Note how many occupants were in the other car, their sex and as much detail as you can about how they were dressed. Make a note of these details and make sure your insurer is aware of them.

These gangs are putting innocent drivers and their passengers at risk. It is vitally important that insurers and drivers work together in a concerted effort to stop this crime.

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Author: Tom Warden

Have you injured yourself at work or on the roads? Had an accident that wasn’t your fault? Then why not claim the compensation you deserve? Well, there may be plenty of reasons to keep away from claims companies, beside the fact that they are likely to hit you with hidden costs and represent you poorly. Their get rich quick options have led to a lawsuit society, much like in the USA when, as soon as somebody has an accident, whether it be their fault or not, their first though is likely to be ‘can I claim?’

You might think that, as long as you steer clear of accidents with people, you don’t have to worry about what these companies are doing, but their effects stretch wider than just the careless and unfortunate, they will have an effect on even the most careful drivers. The cost of accidental damage has risen by 5% per year in the last few years, and claims for personal injury have also increased, with the cost of them being settled rising by a massive 12%. These factors mean that insurance companies, or at least most high street ones, are raising the price of their premiums, some by up to 10% per year. Most customers accept these rises, despite the fact that they have come though no fault of their own. Neither do they question why most new, money saving offers are only offered to new customers and are not even made available to existing ones.

So is there any way of avoiding the price rises? Thankfully, yes. Online insurance companies tend to offer deals which are a lot more flexible and some offer multi car and pay as you go policies.

The advent of the internet as a selling tool has meant that many more new insurance companies are cropping up as well as the more established ones. This has brought about a healthy competition in the market which was much needed, and competition has kept rises to a minimum.

So if you find yourself as an indirect victim of the ‘where there’s a blame, there’s a claim’ society, don’t lie down and take it on the chin - turn on you computer and buy online!

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Author: Emma Mayo

Never mind getting on the property ladder – two in five 18-25-year-olds haven’t got a driving licence, in many cases because they can’t afford to even get onto the car owning ladder.

There are many costs related to running a car, and it’s all too expensive for many young people. To get a driving licence, they have to take driving lessons, which now cost around £15 per hour. Although some drivers pick it up quickly and pass first time, many go on to take a second test, and maybe a third, and so on.

Once you have your licence, you need to buy a car. Cars aren’t cheap, and even second-hand cars mean expense as they are more likely to need to be repaired and fixed regularly. Then there’s the road tax, and car insurance always costs more for young drivers. The average cost for buying a car and running it in the first year is a whopping £5,700 – that could be a sizeable proportion of a young person’s yearly wages.

A quarter of young people with a driving licence don’t have their own vehicle – so it’s clear that there’s a serious problem with young people getting their own wheels.

It’s understandable that so many young people are choosing to go with public transport for the time being. Statistics like this one from Pass Plus, which offers training schemes for drivers, say that in the first year of driving one driver in five is involved in an accident – so that’s even more potential expense, especially as many young drivers can only afford third party insurance.

There are other forces at work too. The general cost of being a young person such as university costs and a lack of income, debts, and low wages – all combine to make it almost impossible to afford buying a car.

So what are young people doing about it? A survey from Direct Line has shown that many rely on borrowing their parents’ cars. Others are thinking about sharing a car with friends, so the costs are easier to deal with.

There are also other implications, namely on road safety. A spokeswoman from Direct Line said: “With fewer first-time drivers owning their own car there can be increased pressure on those with one to drive all their friends around”. The survey showed that 17% of young drivers feel pressurised by their friends to do the driving, 18% feel pressurised into taking more people into the car than it can legally hold, and 41% find it hard to concentrate on driving with passengers distracting them.

The car insurance industry has a few tricks up its sleeve to help young drivers get on the road. For example, Norwich Union has come up with a new scheme which allows young people to use a pay-as-you-drive scheme, see www.norwichunion.com/pay-as-you-drive for more information.

Insurance companies also offer incentives of up to 35% off for new drivers who have taken Pass Plus lessons, or who have taken a driving course with the Institute of Advanced Motorists. Lessons cost between £15 and £30 per hour but could save you hundreds on your car insurance.

For the cheapest car insurance deals, search on the Internet – car insurance is invariably cheaper and many of the mainstream insurers offer online discounts – making it a little bit easier to get on the road!

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In this day and age, it’s hard to live cheaply, but if you really try, then two people can live side by side for the cost of one person. So it comes as a surprise that with car insurance, it’s possible for two people to be cheaper than just one person.

Insurance companies all have their criteria based on where you live, how long you’ve been driving, your gender, and how many accidents you’ve had. Every insurer is different and that’s why, when you get a quote, the premiums can vary wildly.

Some car insurers put safety first, and the insurer ‘Privilege’ is one of them. They have an ‘insured and partner policy’ which rewards safer drivers in long-term relationships with lower premiums. Managing Director of Privilege, Ian Parker, describes the ethos behind it, saying: “The responsibility of being in a long-term relationship translates into safer driving”.

These examples illustrate the savings to be made from having your partner on the policy:

Example 1 - A 38-year-old living in London SW2 with 5 years no claims looking for fully comprehensive cover on a 2001 Citroen Picasso would pay a yearly figure of £531.30. With his 37-year-old partner on the policy, the premium drops by £47.25 to £484.05.

Example 2 – A 37-year-old with the same car and other details but living in Tonbridge, Kent would be offered a premium of £270.90 for the year. With the addition of a 38-year-old man on the policy, the premiums falls by £21 to £249.90.

It’s not just Privilege that offers this policy, many of the big name insurers do – although they don’t publicise it that well.

So what do you need to do to qualify for an insured and partner policy?

§ You both need to live at the same address. And there’s no use pretending, the insurer will check the electoral register.
§ You need to live together as if you were married. It can be an opposite or same sex relationship. It’s not necessary to be in a civil partnership or married. You can’t do it with someone who’s related, for example your mother or sister, even if you do live with them.
§ You must both be aged over 25, and have good driving records. The best prices are reserved for couples that are of a similar age, and have a similar number of years driving without having made a claim.

Incidentally, it doesn’t matter how many miles you drive, that won’t make a difference to the premiums.

The policy will benefit both drivers when it comes to no claims – as you will both build up your no claims further while on an insured and partner policy. So if you do split up or one of you becomes unable to drive, you don’t need to worry about losing any of your no claims.

If you live with your partner and fit the criteria discussed in this article, then try getting quotes for an insured and partner policy next time. You could save considerably compared on two separate policies, or one as a named driver. With the extra benefits relating to the no claims discount, it really is worth looking into.

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Brace yourself for the surge of new-style car insurance policies about to hit the high street. Leading the charge is supermarket giant Tesco, with its new low-cost “no frills” option. And where one company leads, you can be sure the others will rush to follow with their own “bargain basement” policies.

So how do other insurers rate the new policy? According to Norwich Union, Tesco have found a gap in the market for simple, nuts-and-bolts cover with no added extras. Applying the results of their own two-year study of 5000 motorists, they are hoping that their new policies are just what car drivers are looking for. The AA are less enthusiastic about the new version: shop around, they say, and the traditional fully comprehensive can be found for same price, but without the high excess.

With both insurers keen to gain new clients and keep their places at the top of the “Best Buy” league, the resulting competition will be one to watch.

So, how do these policies compare to traditional insurance?

Tesco have brought out a “hybrid” insurance giving more cover than a basic third party policy, but less than the more common fully comprehensive. Let’s take a closer look: no courtesy car if your own is off the road, young drivers are not eligible, and the excess is a whopping £475. There is no protection for your no-claims discount, and any repairs your car might need have to be carried out at designated garages only. Unlike the normal three year guarantee, there’s a limit of only 12 months on any work they carry out. Cover can only be bought online. But, if you don’t mind the restrictions on the pared-down policy, it comes in at 12% less than Tesco’s standard cover.

Spotting a gap in the market, Norwich Union are offering a policy specifically designed for young drivers. Existing customers’ driving patterns are monitored and charges scaled to fit. Each time a client drives between 11pm and 6am, they incur a £1 charge – research shows that young drivers are more likely to be involved in an accident at night. At present, the policy cannot be provided for new customers.

Keen not to be left behind, Direct Line are bringing out their own low-cost range, and It will only be a matter of time before all the major companies follow the trend.

Confusing? Consider what the new policies don’t cover, as well as the lower prices. Simply put, you can have cheaper fully comprehensive cover, if you don’t mind losing some of the added benefits of traditional policies such as a lower excess. Look around online, and it’s easy to find a car insurance broker who will be able to offer a tailor-made policy suited to exactly what you require. If you know what you want, finding a bargain is easy, and the company will even research the cheapest deal for you free of charge.

Older drivers are still at a disadvantage when it comes to insurance costs. With Government plans to introduce regular eye tests, along with other medical checks to be carried out three-yearly, driving in your older years could become prohibitively expensive. Charity Age Concern wants tests of driving fitness to be based on ability, not age, but the Association of British Insurers want mandatory tests based on a set period. Old age, they say, can slow the reflexes and eyesight can deteriorate, meaning that elderly drivers are at higher risk of accidents. According to the Association, the rate of serious or fatal accidents rises after middle age, with more accidents of all kinds per mile driven. Passengers and other road users are also all at higher risk.

After the age of 60, car insurance premiums start to get higher again as underwriters become wary of taking on new clients. Here’s a typical scenario from the AA: a 21 year old woman, paying £326 as a new driver, will qualify for a much reduced cost of £197at 60. Should she choose to drive at 80, however, the premium will have risen sharply to a sky-high £460.

But all is not lost; there are specific policies tailored for the older driver. With the retirement age set to rise and people expecting to enjoy a more active old age, there is clearly a need for better insurance for the elderly. Age Concern, Saga and Help the Aged all offer their own specially designed policies. In fact, there are more options every day – contact an online broker and they should be able to give you all the most up-to-date information you need.

It’s your policy – shop around, and make sure it’s giving you what you want as well as what you pay for!

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Would you buy the first car you saw in the first showroom you stumbled upon? No, most of us look at car magazines, compare prices at dealerships, car supermarkets and even the Internet! We only pause to buy when we’re sure we’ve found the best car for the lowest possible price package.

But when it comes to car insurance, all that inbred nous flies out the door. It seems that many simply hate haggling for car insurance! Research shows that 23% of us just sit with our feet up and automatically stay with our previous insurer.

The cost of failing to engage our money saving instincts costs us dear. If the renewal premium comes in at 5% or even10% higher than last year, many just accept it. Bad move! By shopping around the average motorist would save £55 – and that’s without the additional online discount!

Insurance companies frequently offer their less competitive pricing to existing clients. Awful isn’t it? They’re relying on your apathy to improve their profit margins.

There are now around 100 car insurers in the UK all eager for your business. Competition is so strong that for the last 2 or 3 years premiums have been static. That very much falls into line with the boom in car insurance on the Internet. Over 2.25 million motorists buy their car insurance online and that too has hotted up the competitive fervour in the marketplace.

Internet sales are growing rapidly, reports this week suggest 10% of retail sales - and it’s not surprising. In fact it’s share of the insurance market will be even bigger. That’s because the Net’s quick and generally easy to use. Surfers can check out specific insurers or go to comparison web sites or use web sites, like ours, that recommend specific insurers for specific categories of driver. It doesn’t half beat a morning down the high street or trolling through yellow pages. And it’s certainly better than fending off Indian call centres!

New insurance products such as pay-as-you-go, a multi-car policy and the appearance of new niche market insurers such as Sheila’s Wheels all point to a further stiffening up of competition within the market. And this indicates that now’s a good time to go car insurance shopping.

But there are warning clouds for consumers. Pips are beginning to squeak at the insurers as a result of accelerating claims, placing doubts over their ability continue to hold down prices much longer. The cost of settling personal injury claims is rocketing at 12% per year whilst accident damage is costing around 5% more per year. The increase in the average cost of repair has far outstripped the savings from decreases in the number of accidents.

Says Ian Crowder of the AA, “If we don’t start to see modest price increases, then there could well be an unpleasant and sudden price hike. That will not be good for the industry’s reputation or for customers”.

We say, let’s take our chance. We’ll continue buying online!

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George, our freelance web site designer doesn’t take kindly to people driving into his car. It’s not as if he’s into road rage or uses his fourteen stone of gym honed muscle to exact retribution. No, he’s really got it covered another way.

He’s got legal insurance included in his car insurance. This allows him to claim for losses and costs not normally covered. So three months ago when his car was hit from behind at the traffic lights, the legal profession rallied round! Not for free you understand, after all who’s ever heard of a solicitor toiling for free? No, but it was free to George – his insurer paid all the legal costs.

Whilst his insurer got his beloved MX5 repaid, it doesn’t normally cover claims for personal injury or loss of earnings. So the extra £2 per month George paid for legal expense cover, proved money well spent. He’s already received compensation for the broken arm he suffered and negotiations for his loss of income are well advanced.

Legal expense insurance assists victims to claim back losses and compensation where the accident was not their fault. The losses can include the cost of hiring a replacement car whilst yours is off the road and, if you’re not comprehensively insured, the costs of having your car repaired. As in George’s case, legal expense cover will fund claims for personal injury and loss of earnings.

Legal expense cover is one of those things that’s under rated until it’s used. The insurer runs the claims on your behalf and sends you the settlement cheque at the end of the process. All you have to do is fill out the legal expense claim forms, speak to the solicitor nominated by the insurer, possibly answer a few more questions, and sit back.

You’ll find that on the Internet, most of the policies offer legal expense cover as an optional extra. That’s because as price competition is so fierce, the insurers chose to keep their headline premiums as low as possible.

The optional cost does however vary from company to company. For example, Budget charges £24 per year, Churchill £21, Direct Line £19.95, and More Than comes in at £17.85. Just a few such as Admiral, include some legal expense cover for free.

Make sure you check it out when you buy. Remember, complicated claims can drag on your years especially is severe injury is sustained, and settlements can end up in £ millions.

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Have you ever totted up how much you spend on insurance? Home and Contents insurance, life insurance, critical illness insurance, medical insurance, income protection insurance, travel insurance, mobile phone insurance and car insurance but to name a few.

Try adding up your premiums now – we think you’ll be shocked at how much you spend.

You’ll be even more surprised to learn there’s also a likelihood that you’ve duplicated some of the cover you’re paying for. Cut the duplication out and you’ll save precious money.

Many people have insurance cover for theft, legal expenses, loss of income, even death without even realising it. This arises because lots of people don’t fully appreciate what’s covered by the policies they have, especially if the policies had been arranged for them by brokers and financial advisers.

In a recent survey, The Financial Services Authority (FSA) found that optional extras such as legal expense cover and breakdown recovery, were often added to car insurance policies without checking whether the policyholder already had cover elsewhere. It is also quite common to find that people with Income Protection policies have duplicated their cover via their payment protection policies taken out to cover monthly mortgage, loan and credit card payments. The issue here is that if they claim on their Income Protection policy, their payout will be reduced because part of their claim is already covered by their other payment protection policies – so that’s a waste of money.

The Financial Ombudsman confirms our view saying, “People often contact us when they find themselves over-insured. They often do not realise until they make a claim that they have been paying for a policy that provides very little, if any, benefit”.

There is also plenty of evidence that some people simply don’t understand what they are actually insured for. Take the situation of Amanda Lariviere from West Yorkshire. The mother of two is recovering from ovarian cancer and had an allergic reaction to chemotherapy which was still keeping her off work. She decided to visit her building society to enquire if she could raise some cash by re-mortgaging to pay an unwelcome tax bill. The Society’s adviser wisely asked her to bring in all her life insurance policies so that they could be used in her re-mortgage application. So imagine her surprise when the adviser told her that the policies with Scottish Provident and Norwich Union which had been costing her £80 per month, were not life insurance policies at all – they were in fact critical illness policies with a combined insured value of £100,000. She has now received a payout from both policies, enough to pay off some of her mortgage and her tax bill!

Some typical insurance cover to check out.

Life Insurance
Some employers provide life cover within their pension schemes. Called death-in-service benefit, it typically pays out a lump sum worth 3-4 their annual salary if the employee dies whilst employed by the company.

Critical Illness Insurance
Critical Illness cover is often sold as an optional extra on a life insurance policy. Furthermore, some employers provide critical illness cover as part of their employment package. Check out exactly what you’ve got.

Income Protection and Payment Protection Insurance
Permanent Medical Insurance (PMI) is also known by some as Income Protection Insurance. It pays out the insured monthly sum if the policyholder is off work because of illness due to a wide range of specified medical conditions - and some policies will also pay out during redundancy. The policy continues to pay out indefinitely or at least until the policy comes to the end of its term.

The point is that PMI policies eliminate the need for Payment Protection insurance – the sorts of policy frequently sold alongside credit cards, loans and mortgages to maintain monthly payments. Indeed, you cannot make claims against more than one insurance policy for the same event – only one policy will agree to pay out! (The others will reduce their payouts by the value of money you are receiving from the other policies)

Legal Expense Insurance
Cover for legal expenses concerning disputes relating to your home, will normally be included in your home and contents insurance policy. Many car insurance policies provide legal expense cover as standard or as an optional extra. Some trade unions also include automatic access to legal advice as part of their service to all their members. Check this out before you pay for more cover!

Mobile Phone Insurance
Most mobile phone policies have a hefty excess. You might be better off changing to a pay-as-you-go plan.

ID Theft Insurance
According to the consumer magazine “Which”, you’re only legally responsible for the first £50 if your identity is stolen. Is the premium worth protecting just £50?

Other Insurance cover
Most credit cards automatically insure your purchases for a specified number of days following their purchase. Take Barclaycard for example. If you use Barclaycard to buy something between £50 and £2,000, you are insured against accidental damage and theft for the next 60 days.

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If you have an accident and it is proved that the accident was due to your failure to keep your car roadworthy, your insurer may well refuse to pay up. Quite reasonable I can hear many saying. But what if it’s you that’s not roadworthy?

How many accidents occasion the comment “I didn’t see the other vehicle”? And what happens if you eyesight has deteriorated to a dangerous extent?

Well all of us know if we have a problem with eyesight and opticians are on every high street. If you need glasses or contact lenses for driving then you must wear them and if your eyesight deteriorates you must get a new prescription. If you drive, it’s your responsibility to make sure that you are safe to drive.

Only last week I saw an elderly motorist who was clearly unable to read the road signs. She was leaning forward trying to read the signs indicating towards Coventry and rolling forward at 15 mph – all this at traffic lights that by then had turned red – and she hadn’t seen those either! She was lucky that the cars coming across from the right saw her early.

The law states that a driver who cannot meet the minimum level of eyesight must not drive. They must also surrender their driving licence.

The eyesight test for drivers states that you must be able to read a number plate containing figures and letters 79mm high and 50 mm wide (the legal number plate) from 20 meters. But you are allowed to use your driving glasses.

Having said that there is no legal requirement for you to have regular eyesight tests although you are obliged to inform the DVLA if you develop any medical problem that affects your fitness to drive. If you don’t notify the DVLA it’s a criminal offence.

Older drivers of 70 and over must complete a medical form every three years confirming their fitness to drive and this includes eyesight. If they don’t, they lose their driving licence. (I wonder what that lady at the traffic lights said on hers?)

On the insurance front, if you are involved in an accident where your poor eyesight was a contributory factor, your insurer can argue that you were at fault and refuse to pay out. This could even be because you needed your driving glasses but weren’t wearing them.

Drive carefully, and keep your eyes peeled – little lady in Coventry please note!

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Technocrati Tags[car] [insurance]

What is an Excess payment?

An excess is the fixed contribution you must make towards the repair of your car when you make a claim on your car insurance policy. This payment is normally made directly to the repair garage when you collect the car. If your car is a write off, your insurance company will deduct the excess from the settlement payment it sends to you.

If the accident is proven to be the other drivers fault, you will be able to claim your excess payment back on the other person’s insurance policy. But what happens if the other driver is uninsured?
We all know that it’s a legal requirement under Section 143 of the 1988 Road Traffic Act to have insurance against third party liabilities. Reliable estimates of the incidence of uninsured driving in the UK are hard to come by and for the obvious reasons, those that are involved in breaking the law have every incentive to keep their activity as private as possible. But calculations by the Department of Transport suggest that around 5% of vehicles in the UK are being driven without valid insurance. Uninsured driving is increasingly being regarded as a major social problem since this group of people not only imposes costs on honest motorists in the form of higher premiums, but their presence on our roads also represents a serious risk to other road users.

Clearly then, driving without insurance is not a victimless crime. The costs associated with the damage to persons and property caused by uninsured drivers are largely paid for by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau which is funded in its entirety by the industry, or by your insurer. Ultimately therefore, if you are involved in an accident caused by an uninsured driver you’ll get you car repaired but you’ll not be able to reclaim your excess.

What is a compulsory Excess?

A compulsory excess is the minimum excess value your insurer will accept on your policy. Minimum excesses do vary by insurance company and according to your personal details and driving record. Whilst the average excess is around £100, younger drivers could be faced with as much as £500 whereas a mature experienced driver with a good driving record, could be asked to pay just the first £50.

What is a voluntary Excess?
In order to keep your insurance premium down, you may volunteer to pay a higher excess than that demanded by the insurance company. Your voluntary excess is the amount over and above the compulsory excess which you agree to pay in the event of a claim on the policy.

My car has now been repaired and but the garage will not release my car until I pay the policy excess to them. Is this right?

Yes, this is the normal practice but be sure to inspect the car when you collect it to satisfy yourself that the repair is perfect. Then make sure you retain their receipt for your excess payment as this will be required if you are reclaiming against a third party’s insurance. Just in case of disputes, it’s also a good idea to make sure you have a repair schedule, which lists all the repairs that were made to you car.

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Technocrati Tags[car] [insurance]

There are now over 100 car insurance companies trying to attract your business and competition is so strong that in recent years, average premiums have virtually been at a stand still. However, bargains are always available as companies cut their prices to increase their market share in the hope you’ll remain loyal and stick with them in the following years. In fact 23% of us automatically renew our motor insurance each year.

It’s the Internet that’s been the revolution for car insurance. It makes shopping around so easy without the need to make loads of phone calls and thread yourself through the automated phone systems loved by so many call centres.

But remember that the lowest premium does not always give you the best policy for your motoring needs. You need to check out whether a courtesy car is provided if your car were in for repair and what claims excess you’d need to pay. You might also want legal insurance cover and automatic windscreen replacement. The availability of an accident helpline is also very useful when you’re in the middle of an emergency. You’ll need to phone the broker or insurance company you’re proposing to deal with in order to check these points out.

The 17 Top Tips

· Concentrate your Internet shopping on car insurance brokers. Their systems will automatically search for the best quotes from 30 or more insurance companies and save you a lot of time. You can them call them and discuss the relative merits of the top quotes they get for you.
· Make sure your car is garaged at night. Insurers know that cars left on the road are more vulnerable to damage and theft. If you don’t have a garage at least keep it on your drive.
· Make sure your estimate of the mileage you do each year is updated. If you move home or change your job you may have shorter commuting journeys and your premium should drop.
· Your job can influence your premium. Journalists, landlords and footballers all pay more! Go for something a bit more boring! Civil servants and accountants pay less!
· If you’re not married, do so! Married men, particularly under 30 attract lower premiums than their single counterparts.
· If you’re under 25, try adding an older experienced driver as a named driver. But not too old – try to keep to drivers under 60. (Premiums start to rise again after 60!) An experienced driver with a good driving record may help to reduce your premium.
· Offer to pay a higher accident excess. The average is about £100, but some companies are pushing these up in an attempt to offer a lower headline premium. If you increase you claims excess, your premium could well fall significantly.
· If you have an old or cheap car, consider just getting 3rd Party Insurance. Get quotes for comprehensive and 3rd Party and weigh up the savings.
· If you’re aged between 18 and 21, consider pay as you go insurance. Norwich Union has introduced the first pay as you go policy, which charges you for the mileage driven. It charges more for the miles driven between 11pm and 6am. The system works through a GPS black box which is fitted to your car for a one off installation fee of £199. The box tells Norwich Union how far you travel and they send you an invoice every month.
· Take more driving lessons. New drivers can cut their insurance costs by up to 35% by having passed Pass Plus lessons. These provide extra training for night driving, motorway driving and driving in rush hour traffic. Lessons cost between £15 and £30 per hour. (www.passplus.org.uk). Reductions will also be available if you’ve taken a course with the Institute of Advanced Motorists (www.iam.org.uk).
· Check out the insurance group for any car you’re thinking of buying. New cars are categorised in to 20 insurance groups with 1 being the cheapest and 20 the most expensive.
· High performance and high spec cars attract thieves and are more expensive to repair so they always cost more to insure. Consider a car in a lower insurance group.
· Try very hard not to speed! Most insurers will ignore one fixed penalty fine but after that your insurance will rise.
· If you’ve got 4 years no claims discount pay the extra get it protected.
· Get a Thatcham approved engine immobiliser or alarm fitted. It could save you between 5-8%.
· Fit audio satellite navigation. Some insurance companies have found that audio satellite navigation can cut the accident rate by letting drivers concentrate on the road. Insurers will soon give insurance discounts if you have it fitted.
· Got more than one car in the family? Some insurers will give a discount for insuring them all one family policy.

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Technocrati Tags[car] [insurance]

According to the Institute of Advanced Motoring, there were 550 accidents last year where the driver was over aged 70 and where driver was either killed or seriously hurt. That represents 8% of the national total of 7,035. That’s more serious accidents per mile than any other group.

This view is backed up by the Association of British Insurers whose research has shown that over 70’s drivers are 13% more likely to make a claim than the drivers aged between 40 and 50.

Bearing in mind that the number of elderly drivers will double during the next ten years, this represents a problem for the insurance industry, police and indeed all of the emergency services. Not to mention the drivers and their families!

The response from the insurance industry is predictable. Some insurers already class drivers over 80 as high risk drivers – along with the under 25’s - and charge them premiums to match. But some companies are already progressively loading premiums once the driver reaches 60. Then at 70, you’ll find that insurance companies start to refuse cover. Esure and Norwich Union won’t quote after that age and by the time the driver reaches 80, the field has narrowed to just insurers who specialise on elderly drivers. Age Concern and Help the Aged both offer policies that have no upper age limit. Cornhill will only accept new policyholders up to age 84 but if you’re already their client, there’s no upper age limit. Saga and RIAS are also happy to consider older drivers.

As insurance is priced by risk, a 75 year old male driver can expect to pay 33% more than if he were aged 50, whilst 80 year olds pay boy-racer premiums! So if you’re in your early 50’s you may be smiling at the lowest premiums in your life - but it won’t last for ever!

And women fare even worse. Whilst younger women are safer drivers than their boy friends, men improve with age (where have we heard that before!) and women become more accident prone. Consequently, elderly women drivers pay the highest rates of insurance.

It’s a biological fact that reaction times and eyesight deteriorate as you get older. And with traffic consistently becoming heavier and road networks ever more complicated, elderly drivers can more easily become confused. Even a delay of a fraction of a second can be the difference between an accident and a miss. This now results in more insurers insisting on a medical before agreeing to insure elderly drivers. Your best plan is to build up a good no claims record and as soon as possible, get No Claims Protection. This will cost you a bit more but it’s well worth it. Then be sure not to claim for any small bumps.

But there are simple steps that older drivers can take to minimise their likelihood of accidents and make themselves more insurable. It’s often about those little things and being aware of likely problems. For example, car parks are a perennial problem. If you know that, before you get back in your car, walk round it to see how much clearance you’ve got. And then edge out carefully making sure that other drivers in the car park aren’t driving into the area you’re pulling or reversing into. Then if age has stiffened you neck all-round visibility is a bit more difficult, take extra care at junctions and when reversing. Remember not only to move you head but also swivel your shoulders, that way you’ll increase your arc of vision.

Many of the contracts for older drivers contain special provisions designed to assist them. For example, on Saga’s policy, previous company car drivers can carry over any no claims record they had and if a couple are insured and the main driver decides to give up driving, then the remaining driver can take over the no claims record. Other policies will also provide full cover for anyone who has to take over driving in an emergency and Cornhill will even make a cash payment of £250 if the DVLA stops you from driving for health reasons associated with age.

In a move to reduce the numbers of accidents involving the elderly, the problems of deteriorating health are also being considered by the Government. It’s reportedly considering the idea of mandatory health checks for elderly drivers whilst some local councils are introducing initiatives of their own. If you live in Torbay the council has launched a scheme to encourage families and Doctors to take more responsibility for encouraging elderly drivers who are not quite fit enough drive, to give up. A road safety spokesperson for Torbay said,” The problem is that the elderly can’t always see themselves when it’s really time to give up driving, so those closest to them must take responsibility for that.”

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the Institute of Advanced Motorists confirms that older motorists are aware that they cause more accidents. Apparently seven out of ten older drivers surveyed would like to take a course to refresh their driving skills on motorways and six out of ten were concerned about improving their performance at junctions and on unlit roads. In response to these concerns, the Institute is extending its advanced tests to older non-members to help them improve and build up confidence. The tests will also help identify any serious problems that really should encourage the driver to hang up their car keys.

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Technocrati Tags[elderly] [insurance] [car]

If you’re one of the one in twenty motorists who regularly drive without insurance you’d better watch out. Your car could be heading for the crusher!

New rules now enable the police to seize, impound and crush any car found being driven without insurance. Since a pilot scheme was introduced in spring last year, the police have impounded more than 1,200 cars and over 650 have been crushed into cubes. Operation Takeaway, as the pilot was called, has been so successful that police forces throughout the UK are rolling out the scheme supported by a revised database that enables them to check the insurance status of every car in the UK.

Now if you’re caught driving without insurance you must hand the car keys to the police at the roadside. This applies to everyone – it doesn’t matter whether the lack of insurance is just an inadvertent mistake or a conscious evasion.

You then have 14 days to show the police a valid insurance policy and recover your car. And other costs will mount up. You’ll have to pay the cost of the police recovering your car (circa £105) plus the secure storage that could easily cost £15 per day. So, if you recovered your car at the last minute, you could be in for a bill from the police for £315.

And if you don’t reclaim the car, it can be crushed into a metal cube and shipped off to a scrap smelter in the Far East.

During Operation Takeaway, the crushing of the cars was part funded by Direct Line. They have estimated that the scheme has prevented as many as 2,000 accidents.

And the Durham police who operated the test, found that many of the cars they impounded were not roadworthy. A spokesman for the police said, “ Uninsured drivers are often guilty of many other offences, such as having neither MOT certificate or driving licence. We are doing everything in our power to get these illegal, dangerous drivers off our roads”.

The problem of uninsured drivers is much bigger than many of us think. According to the Department of Transport 1 in 20 motorists regularly drive without insurance. Research from the Association of British Insurers also shows that it’s these drivers who are amongst the most dangerous on the roads. They are three times more likely to be convicted of driving without due care and attention and, on average, cause one accident every six months.

And who pays for the uninsured accidents? Law abiding motorists. The average car insurance premium includes an additional £30 to cover the cost of damage caused by the uninsured. That adds up to £500 million per year paid out by the UK’s law-abiding motorists!

But that’s not the end of it. If uninsured car is in collision with you, it’s still recorded on your policy as “fault claim”. This means you’ll have to pay the excess on your policy and, unless you’ve got Claims Protection on your policy, your no-claims bonus will be hit. Over a two-year period the loss of bonus could easily cost you £275 in extra premiums.

The move to crush cars has been warmly welcomed by the Association of British Insurers. They have long criticised the leniency of punishment handed out to uninsured drivers but they still want the courts to get tougher. Offenders are typically fined between £150 and £200 with time to pay and this is appreciably less than the average car insurance premium – this cannot be true justice!

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Technocrati Tags[car] [insurance]

By MICHAEL CHALLINER

Limit your Mileage
If you know reasonably accurately the mileage you are likely to drive next year, get a policy which limits the cover to just the number of miles you know you’ll need. You might find that’ll give you a good saving. But remember, if you exceed the mileage limit, you are not insured.

Make sure you protect your no-claims discount
If you’ve built up a decent no-claims discount, don’t put it at risk. Don’t risk losing it after an accident, it’s far too valuable. Add no-claims protection to your policy. It’s unlikely to cost much.

Drive slower
We know it’s hard, especially with all those roadside cameras around, but try your hardest to keep a clean licence. Persuade yourself to drive slower! Even three penalty points are taken into account when the insurance company in calculates your insurance premium.

Shop around every year
When your annual renewal notice arrives, shop around. Just because you got a cheap quote last year it doesn’t mean that the same insurer will continue to be the cheapest. Insurers are constantly changing their rates. So it’s still likely that you’ll find a lower premium. Time spent on the Internet will be well spent. Research shows that the cheapest premium could be half the price of the most expensive.

If you want to cut the hassle, go to our car insurance page where we’ve whittled down the insurers to the cheapest for each category of driver. So, if you want a general quote, or a specialist quote for a young driver, high performance car or a quote for a lady driver, mature driver or careful driver, or a classic car etc, Click Here

· Do some research about the type of car you are considering. Check out the second hand values on www.whatcar.com and look in your local press to find the prices of similar cars.

· Find out how much that car will cost to insure. That’s so easy to do on the Internet – simply get a quote or two. It’ll only take a few minutes. (High performance , Classic cars )

· Also check out the car’s other running costs in www.whatcar.com. Make sure you can afford to run the car!

· When you see the car insist that you see the documentation, including the MOT certificate if the car is more than 3 years old, and check that it all tally’s with the car. Also check that the person selling the car actually owns it.

· Ask to see the cars’ Service Record. This will also show the cars’ chassis number and details of the first owner.

· Make sure that the address on the Registration Document is the address where you are viewing the car - if not ask why. Be suspicious.

· Take a friend with you who knows’ about cars – not only to look at the car but also to act as a witness for what is said and agreed.

· Ask the seller if the car has outstanding finance and check the information out with RAC Vehicle Status Check.

· Examine the car in good daylight and at the seller’s own home. Look for signs of accident damage and repairs. The RAC vehicle status Check will notify you if the car had previously been “written off”.

· Get the car independently inspected.

· Make sure that the car hasn’t been clocked. The average mileage is between 10,000 and 12,000 per year. Look for signs that the wear on the car is greater than the mileage would suggest. The wear on the control pedals will help. Ask if the car has had new tyres and if so when. Then look at wear on the tyres.

· Look under the bonnet and find the VIN Number (it could also be on the chassis). Make sure that the number tallies with the number on the Registration Document. This will help to ensure that the car hasn’t had its identity changed.

· Check to see that the Road Tax disc is still valid and the registration on the disc matches the Registration document.

· Always test drive the car for a least 10 miles. Don’t forget to ensure you are insured. Do not automatically assume that your own insurance policy will cover you for someone else’s car. Check your insurance documents before you leave home. If the seller says his insurance will cover you, ask to see his policy – better safe than sorry.

· Don’t hand over any money until you have seen the results of the RAC Vehicle Status Check. And then don’t pay any money until the car is handed over to you with its Documents. Remember to get a written receipt for your payment that includes the sellers name and address.

· Finally, make sure you have car insurance in place from the minute you drive the car away. Remember, the Police can now impound, and ultimately destroy, your car if you are driving it without insurance or road tax. If the car has not got Road Tax, drop in at a Post Office on the way home and buy one.

Additional car insurance topics

Insurers are estimated to pay out £2 billion a year in legal costs to resolve legal battles for personal injury claims. Most of these cases chug through the courts in lengthy and costly legal actions and as a result, around £200 of the average car insurance premium goes towards the risk of having to pay out on a personal injury claim. So any move to cut these costs should result in a meaningful reduction in car insurance premiums.

In this context the recent move by the Association of British Insurers to get personal injury cases out of the courts and into an independent arbitration system, is certainly to be welcomed. A similar system was set up in Ireland last year and as a result legal costs were slashed by 75% and cases are resolved much quicker than in Britain.

Whereas today each personal injury claim is decided individually in court, the proposed arbitrator would map out benchmark payments for each type of injury. For example in Ireland, a back injury that recovers within twelve months, is allocated the euro equivalent of £11,000 whilst a neck whiplash injury, which recovers over the same time frame, is worth £9,400.

Not surprisingly, the British legal profession are none too keen on the proposals! The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers believe that the ABI’s proposals would leave the injured in the hands of the insurers adding that it’s own research showed that the initial offers by insurers were, on average, 50% of the final agreed compensation and that 66% of defendants initially deny liability.

However, the Lawyers objections are not backed up by experience in Ireland. Here compensation values remain at similar levels to pre-arbitration, but compensation is paid three times quicker at a quarter of the legal cost.

We say roll on arbitration and, for a change, lets see the cost of car insurance fall.