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Welcome to Expert Car Insurance News. Here you will find all the latest information concerning the motor insurance industry.Posted December 2006 The worst UK Cities for car theft Cars are getting harder to steal with the increased sophistication of factory fitted security systems, making it harder for the opportunist and professional thief alike to ply their trade. But in some areas of the country it’s a lot more likely than others. Endsleigh car insurance have recently compiled statistics of vehicle thefts recorded in cities across the UK and compared them to the same list drawn up in 2003 lists, and they report that the incidence of stealing cars has reduced by a factor of 31% over that period. The study singled out Hull as the Nation’s hotspot for car theft, where you are over twice as likely to have your car stolen. Thefts are currently running at 126% above the national average. Other cities with at high risk are Bradford (107% above average), and Leeds (95%). These three are head and shoulders above the rest in Endsleigh’s statistics followed by Bristol, Nottingham, Bath, Ilford and Sheffield all registering over 50% above the average rate. Endsleigh Insurance also compared these figures with accident claim statistics and found no overall city based correlations. However, they did find both Bradford and Ilford appearing in both lists with Bradford suffering 37% above the national average for car accidents and Ilford registering 35%. A spokesperson for the car insurance company said that overall the situation is improving with even the worst cities showing a decline in theft, no doubt due to the improvements in security, but there is always room for vigilance and car owners should ensure that they close their windows when leaving their car unattended even for a short period and that valuables should always be locked away out of sight. Posted December 2006 Vandalism, one of motorists’ most annoying problems A spokesperson for Direct Line car insurance reported recently that mindless vandalism against cars is one of the issues most likely to raise motorists’ hackles. This inane activity is being carried out with increasing confidence by vandals that are sufficiently street wise to avoid areas covered by closed circuit TV. It was also suggested that although it may at first seem ineffective, people that suffer this wanton violence should report it to the Police or the Local Authority. If there is evidence of a trend in your area improvements to street lighting or installation of extra CCTV may be installed and act as a future deterrent. The cost of vandalism against cars has risen to over £560 million last year, and over 30% of the victims had their car attacked a second time. Also, with the vandals using their limited intelligence to avoid areas with CCTV and moving into residential streets, the majority (over 55%) don’t bother to report it because they believe the chance of catching the offender is close to zero. The greater indignity is that the average cost of this damage is £150 which means that to claim against their car insurance is just not cost-effective because a large part of the bill is covered by the excess they have to pay, and many would loose their no claim bonus. The result is that many just accept the full cost themselves. Most of Direct Line’s respondents, over 90%, believed that the vandals should be made to pay for the damage. 25% even thought that a period in prison would be a suitable penalty, indicating the depth of feeling brought about by vehicular vandalism. The five worst affected areas in England were London, Manchester, the Wirral, Edinburgh and Birmingham. Posted December 2006 Students Unions targeted to raise awareness of road deaths During the recent Make Roads Safe campaign activity across the nations universities, given the tagline ‘Campaign on Campus’, was aimed at raising awareness of the disastrous number of deaths on the world’s roads and to decrease the amount of preventable accidents on UK roads. Most of the nation’s car insurance bodies are backing the Make Roads Safe campaign and trying to improve our driving safety record. We tend to look on road accidents and road deaths as a matter of course in today’s society, we’d all like something done about it but still startling numbers of us fail to drive within the speed limits and drive whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In the global picture, road accidents are second only to HIV/AIDS as the biggest killers of young men. Make Roads Safe is trying to do its bit draw attention to the 1.2 million road deaths worldwide every year. Campaign on Campus is being positively backed by the rock group Dirty Pretty Things who will visit many universities during their winter tour and will urge students to get involved and petition for reduction of road deaths through the improvement of safer road infrastructure wherever the Government has any influence. Considering the age of he target audience, organisers are hoping that the more local effect of the campaign will reinforce in the students the need to be safer drivers themselves and to help reduce the number of 2000 young people that are killed or seriously injured on UK roads each in accidents involving young drivers. Posted December 2006 Norwich Union's stand alone commercial vehicle policy Norwich Union have released their improved 'Premier Truck' stand alone commercial vehicle insurance policy which is targeted at operators of single goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. It fills some of the gaps between the insurance services available to the single vehicle owner and the commercial fleet operator. It boasts a new dedicated commercial claims handling team with specific expertise to minimise vehicle down time via a nationwide network of specialist commercial vehicle repairers, ensuring you are back in business as soon as possible. And you also get NU's 'Roadsense' risk management tool kit, as part of the benefits, with a CD to get you started and a helpline if you need further assistance.
A spokesman for NU said that a flexible, cost effective breakdown solution is needed considering the large number of incidents involving this target commercial group. Some 34,000 breakdowns were recorded by RAC alone this year for a whole variety of reasons including engine breakdown, drained battery, starter problems and problems with gearboxes. He also explained that for commercial vehicles checked through HPI last year half of them raised issues likely to pose a problem to the purchaser. Almost 4 out of 10 had unresolved finance issues assosciated with them alone. Extra discounts are available of 10% on the new policy where driver training and vehicle security is undertaken and a further 5% if a digital tachograph is installed. February 2006 to March 2006 News Articles January 2006 to February 2006 News Articles December 2005 to January 2006 News Articles August 2005 to November 2005 News Articles April 2005 to July 2005 News Articles May 2004 to December 2004 News Articles March 2004 to April 2004 News Articles
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