Latest Car Insurance News

Posted July 2006

Taking a tipple before driving is still a habit amongst our more experienced drivers.

Drinking alcohol in any quantity is known to increase the likelihood of misjudgments and hence the likelihood of accident. With around 3,000 killed or seriously injured in our roads every year in accidents where drink was a factor and 16% of road deaths happen where a driver has been drinking and has excessive blood alcohol at the time of the incident.

Using a YouGov poll carried out on their behalf, Direct Line car insurance has reported that our more knowledgeable drivers, i.e. those over 30 and under 50 years of age, are more likely to take an alcoholic drink then drive, than other age ranges. The 30-50 year olds are also more likely to drive following a drink more regularly.

Almost 50% of all UK drivers over 25 years old admit to driving after taking alcohol with that more experienced group admitting to imbibing more units. Of that 50%, 10% admit to drinking 4 or more units before driving. Of the younger driver group aged 25 to 29 only slightly less, 9%, said they drive after drinking 4 or more units.

For driving the current legal limit for alcohol as measured by breathalysers is 35 micrograms per 100 ml of breath, in the blood it is 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml and for urine tests it is 107 mg of alcohol per 100 ml. But the result is affected by absorption and the time taken to expel alcohol from the system, and this depends on numerous factors: gender, size, build, tolerance, amount and type of beverage taken, duration of drinking, presence of food, type of food, which means the suggestion of the amount of drink required to reach the legal limit being 4 units for men and 3 units for women is a very loose approximation, with many drivers reaching the limit on less.

It is heartening to realise that the youngest age group 18-25 years seemed to have the most health attitude of all with 73% reporting that taking any alcohol before taking the wheel can affect your driving and 47% saying they wouldn’t touch a drop before driving.

Posted July 2006

Vans are prime targets for vandals and for the goods they carry.

According to a recent release by More Than the private and small business insurer, crime against the nation’s commercial vans is on the rise and reported crime is costing around £620 million per year. The major problems are vandalism (excuse the pun) and the minor crime of theft from vehicles and the consequent damage.

These types of crime are presenting 13% of commercial vehicle insurance claims and the size of those claims is averaging out at around £3,000. Considering that less than half of the theft from, and wilful damage to, small business vehicles is reported, this activity is actually costing the nation approximately £1.2 billion per year. This points to the need for quality van insurance, especially for the small business owner and the sole trader.

When carrying out their deeds, criminals cannot imagine the knock-on effects of their actions. Often their target is the cache of tools stored in the van, which is estimated to have an average replacement cost of around £4000. These require immediate replacement if the tradesman is to fulfil his commitments, and often this level of loss is not fully covered by their van insurance, which means a large dent in short term cash flow.

Furthermore if their van is damaged or vandalised beyond use (or reasonable use in the case of spray graffiti etc) the van is taken out of commission whilst off the road for repair. The sole trader or business will have to hire a replacement or stand the chance of loosing business and good will through delayed completion of jobs or having to turn away work. All of these things can have a disastrous effect on a small business’ profit margin.

More Than’s new online van insurance includes a replacement van for 48 hours in certain circumstances, a 24 hour emergency helpline and recovery.

Posted July 2006

Comprehensively static; the continuing story for car insurance premiums.

The quarterly AA British Insurance Premium Index indicates that, contrary to popular belief, car insurance premiums for the majority of motorists that have fully comprehensive insurance continue to benefit from negligible or even falling prices.

The AA index which was started in July 1994 compares average and ‘shoparound’ premiums for both comprehensive and third party, fire and theft. The shop around figure is the average of the three lowest quoted premiums which is believed to represent the figure that would be chosen by an individual checking the market prudently.

The insurance market watchers have been warning about the probability of a hike in car insurance premiums for some time, but that refuses to happen, with an actual fall in the average comprehensive premium over the quarter up to April 2006 of 0.5% to £758.38. An annual shift of just 1% displays the level nature of this motoring running cost. The shop around increases show a quarterly 0.4% increase for comprehensive cover.

This windfall is being caused by the high level of competition for the favours of the comprehensive motorist, who tends to be over 25 and less likely to be involved in expensive, high impact accidents. New entrants to the car insurance market and recent methods of packaging insurance products to those with 4 years no claim bonus are thought to be the main causes for the retained cost levels.

Unfortunately for those who elect for third party, fire and theft cover the increases are larger. The annual rise is 5.4%, following a quarterly increase to April of 1.7% and there was a shop around quarterly shift of 3.2% upwards. This tends to hit the young driver and less experienced drivers who struggle to afford more than the minimum levels of car insurance because of the high premium cost which has to be found out of a lower income. It also reflects the higher propensity of the young to have more accidents and to have more expensive accidents.

Posted July 2006

Are you accident prone? It is all down to personality?

The think tank, the Centre for Future Studies has carried out an academic examination of 108 studies into motorists’ behaviour and reasons for road accidents, and from this analysis they compiled a report for Direct Line.

As this report was collated for a leading car insurance company, the object of the exercise was to find out if some people are just plain accident prone or if there is something that can be done to help them avoid becoming involved in driving incidents.

The study revealed that there are five personality traits that increase an individual’s likelihood of being involved in one of the 10,000 car accidents that occur daily on our UK roads. The five groups demonstrated personality types of: impulsive, neurotic, irresponsible, sensation-seeking and aggressive.

As these personality types have a much higher propensity to have car accidents, a Direct Line spokesperson suggested that it may be time to include a personality profiling as part of the driving test. And if these are such good indicators of likelihood to claim, is there a good case for psychological tests to become part of the car insurance application process?

Put simply the reasoning why these character types prove so much more liable to have car accidents are that: the impulsives are so tolerant and liberal they are just as likely to make up their own rules for life in general and the road in particular; neurotics are over concerned with existing worries that they are easily diverted from the job in hand and don’t respond well to stress; the irresponsible group are the selfish ones, thinking hedonistically, ignoring the rules and the results of their actions; sensation-seekers suffer a shorter attention span and are more prone to enjoying the thrill of speed, together with a lower than normal boredom threshold; and the aggressive group are just that, violently emotional behind the wheel, leading to hostile driving and in extreme cases road rage.

June 2006 News Articles

May 2006 News Articles

April 2006 News Articles

February 2006 to March 2006 News Articles

January 2006 to February 2006 News Articles

December 2005 to January 2006 News Articles

November 2005 News Articles

August 2005 to November 2005 News Articles

August 2005 News Articles

April 2005 to July 2005 News Articles

May 2004 to December 2004 News Articles

March 2004 to April 2004 News Articles