Latest Car Insurance News
Welcome to Expert Car Insurance News. Here you will find all the latest information concerning the motor insurance industry.
Posted May 2006
Where are the car insurance benefits to the Eco-Car?
We were told that the way forward in vehicle propulsion is electricity, vegetables oil or gas and some advances have been made with increasing numbers of service stations now providing gas. The recent development to hit the roads is the partial step of the hybrid car, where a petrol engine charges batteries and the car switches automatically to electric drive when traveling at lower speeds and on favorable gradients.
But where are the financial benefits to the owner of such vehicles. They are currently more expensive than the standard fuel equivalent, there are no tax breaks for buying one and the running costs are higher.
Enter the leading car insurance company, More Th>n, who have made the first move to change this trend by introducing a discount to eco-car drivers. They have given a reduced the premium for existing car insurance policyholders with hybrid vehicles and are offering a discount for hybrid owners that take out a new policy with them.
Behind the move is research carried out on behalf of More Th>n which found that 74% of motorists had serious concerns about the impact of conventionally powered cars. Asked if they would consider buying a more eco-friendly car 58% of drivers said they would if there were the incentive of cheaper car insurance. They also found that 65% believe that every motorist will have to buy a more eco-friendly vehicle at some time in the future and even now half of the drivers asked would a test drive in a hybrid car.
A More Th>n spokesman said that as the ecological cost driving standard cars is rising, with the effects on global warming of emissions and dwindling oil reserves, the company want to add lower car insurance to the incentive for drivers to go green.
Posted May 2006
Senior drivers reap the benefit of the largest fall in car insurance premiums
Every six months the Sainsbury’s Bank car insurance index is published and for the period up to January ’06 it shows that, contrary to popular belief, average annual car insurance premiums actually fell by 1.7% to £462.15.
There are of course large regional variations between just £326.15 in East Anglia and £559.31 in London demonstrating the difference in population density and propensity towards claims in the urban centre. But surprisingly the average premium has increased by just over 2.5% in East Anglia in the same period that has seen a decrease in 2.4% in the London area.
Whilst they are not the lowest cost group at an average annual premium of just over £327 motorists over 65 years old enjoyed the largest reduction of nearly 4.5%. Close behind as an age group are drivers under 25 who saw a reduction of 3.9%, but this still leaves them paying an average of nearly £1,048 for their car insurance.
A Sainsburys spokesman said that they believe as many as 19% of drivers consider only one quotation when buying their car insurance and figures are worse when it comes to those with existing policies with 48% electing just to renew. As their car insurance product is underwritten and administered by esure, Sainsburys claim to be able to save drivers up to £130 on their premium which would go some way to reducing the average costs.
Posted May 2006
Your No Claim Bonus on up to nine cars from Direct Line
It has always been the case that your no claim bonus, as a private motorist, is attached to you as the insured and is also attached to the one car on the policy. This means that if you have a second car, you have to start from scratch with a new car insurance policy, with no discount.
Direct Line have broken that particular mould by introducing their ‘matched’ no claim bonus which will apply the same no claim bonus to up to nine vehicles owned by the same person on the condition that all cars are insured with them. They also offer the additional benefit of 10% discount on the total cost of the insurance policy.
It has long since been an anomaly, and is still seen by some as ‘rip off’ that once you have earned your discount, you as the same driver of a second car can’t get the same financial benefit for that vehicle.
A study by Direct Line has found that over 3.5 million UK drivers own more than one car with rural areas coming out on top. Scotland and Wales had 12% of motorists needing car insurance for two or more cars.
This movement by Direct Line to attract the multi-car owner follows their philosophy towards reflecting trends in modern motoring that they have already shown with their Named Driver No Claims Discount, which allows additional drivers on Direct Line policies to accumulate their own no claim bonus for when they purchase their own car insurance policy through that company.
Posted May 2006
Fewer miles travelled by ‘Pay as you go’ car insurance drivers!
Norwich Union has extended its contract with Trafficmaster to receive an extra 35,000 ‘black boxes’ which provide the in-car technology behind the whole "Pay As You Drive" car insurance proposition.
This is the latest extension of NU’s pilot which began in 2004 and is aimed at expanding the company’s data base on the driving habits of both private and fleet motorists and developing the pay as you go payment model. The data collected from the black boxes includes the time and duration of all journeys, the distance travelled and the locations travelled through.
Some of the results from the data so far are that drivers on ‘pay as you go’ use their cars less than the average, only 8,500 miles against a norm of 11,000. The pilot subjects have travelled a total of 42 million miles in 10 million journeys making the average journey just over 4 miles. It may just be that, not only will it be cheaper to insure your car but the factor of paying by the mile will be the incentive that many of us need to abandon the car for short journeys, walking or cycling, making us fitter into the bargain!
For the observer the pilot it seems to be progressing very slowly, but it is such a departure from the normal methods of purchasing car insurance, if it is to be both an money-saving proposition for the buyer and a profitable enterprise for NU the decision to proceed must be based of a solid statistical model.
Posted May 2006
High value cars covered by Admiral
Traditionally owners of cars that are a bit out of the ordinary, because they are top-end luxury cars or high performance vehicles, had very little choice when it came to car insurance. In the main they had to go to specialist insurers because the larger, main brand companies wouldn’t consider them. Admiral has just bucked the trend by raising to £125,000 the top limit of car value that they will insure.
Admiral have always targeted the city dweller, the younger driver and the performance car driver which places them firmly as an above normal risk insurer, but like all the main personal car insurers they metered this potential claims issue by limiting the upper value of cars to £75,000.
Their attitude to luxury and performance car insurance is that just because someone can afford to buy a high value vehicle doesn’t mean they want to pay through the nose to keep it on the road. Most of these owners are canny individuals looking to minimize their regular motoring costs, as much as anyone else. By including this group Admiral are adding a mainstream alternative to a predominantly niche market at what they believe will be highly competitive rates.
Admiral won’t insure any high value vehicle but this rise in the top limit means that they include such marques Bentley, Lamborghini, Maserati and Ferrari.
Pleased with their extended insurable population Admiral have presented three typical quotations for vehicles valued from £85,000 to £115,000 for professional individuals and all three car insurance premiums were calculated at under £800, placing them in a very positive position against the specialist companies.
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