Latest Car Insurance News
Welcome to Expert Car Insurance News. Here you will find all the latest information concerning the motor insurance industry.
Posted January 2007
Pay as you Drive is now online
The innovative pay as you drive car insurance product from Norwich Union that was launched in October 2006 following an extensive trial has just been launched online. This brings the details of the cover and the ability to buy online to those massed ranks of insurance purchasers that carry out their business over the internet. The site uses flash graphics to illustrate the benefits and helps surfers to decide if the car insurance cover is for them.
The pay as you drive policy works by using a transmitter in your car to pass its position to the insurer all the while the engine is switched on. The information that is stored from this data is the time of day that you are travelling, the location in terms of which roads you are using, the direction of your journey and most contentiously, your speed.
The pay as you drive product was originally conceived as a way of attracting young drivers that don’t fit the late night driving profile as this is when a large proportion of motorists under 23 tend to have accidents, and it still rewards drivers for avoiding the roads at this time.
In order to determine if your driving pattern makes pay as you drive a worthwhile prospect for you, you have to consider three main attributes of the journeys you make. Firstly you are rewarded with a cheaper cost if you drive very little between the hours of 11 pm and 6 am. If you travel less than 8000 miles per year, with most of that on motorways or dual carriageways and you tend to avoid the morning rush period of 7 am to 10 am you are more likely to benefit from the policy.
As a final incentive, if in the first year your Pay as you Drive policy costs you more than a standard Norwich Union Direct car insurance policy they we will refund you the difference (subject to conditions).
Posted January 2007
Drug driving remains a serious risk
The car insurance company More Than have released a report that calls British drivers ‘some of the worst drug driving offenders in Europe’ and suggests that if nothing is done to curb the rise it could rival drink driving in its negative impact on our roads.
Recent figures from ACPO, the Association of Chief Police Officers, proves that almost 40% of drivers that were required to take a roadside ‘fit to drive test’ during the Christmas period were suspected of driving whilst impaired because of recreational drugs. The More Than report suggests that these roadside tests should be extended all year round, as they are in many other European countries, in order to detect and deter such activity before it becomes endemic like drink driving. This is one the way to reduce the unnecessary levels of driving injuries and deaths.
20% of drivers have admitted to driving soon after taking banned drugs, and these individuals not only put themselves at risk but all other road users as well. 4% of drivers admitted to drug driving several times a week and if that were not serious enough, the trend is also for these motorists to drive on harder drugs such as cocaine, not just the softer types such as cannabis.
Further concern is fueled by the attitudes of those admitting to drug driving, 38% of those believed that their skills were not impaired by the imbibe drugs or that that their actions were perfectly safe. This is not borne out by the increase of 900% in British motoring fatalities where cocaine was found to have been taken, between 1987 and 2000.
Posted January 2007
Beware, staged Accidents are costing us dear.
Royal & SunAlliance are taking pity on their car insurance policyholders that fall prey to the increasing number of staged accidents that are blighting our roads. They have decided that it is not the insured that is at fault if they happen to be the target of this despicable new phenomenon and will not increase the premium or reduce the no claim bonus of sufferers.
Staged accidents and bogus car insurance claims are inflicted on the unsuspecting ordinary motorist and involve someone deliberately causing a vehicle accident with the sole intention of making a exaggerated claim or an untrue claim. Numbers of such incidents have risen so that they are now costing the insurance industry £1.5 billion a year, costs which are passed on to you and me in a 5% increase in premiums.
Royal & SunAlliance’s research also highlighted that although there have been over 22.500 staged and induced accidents since 1999, the lack of publicity means that 41% of motorists had never heard of the criminal practice, and a further 40% wouldn’t know how to tell if they had been involved in a questionable accident. According to Royal & SunAlliance, this is why they have decided that no policyholder should worse off if they are affected by an intentional collision.
What sorts of things are involved? Typically it involves a motorist breaking
hard for no apparent reason or deliberately placing their vehicle in the
way of someone who is reversing. Resultant insurance claims are often
inflated by adding phantom extra passengers that have suffered ‘injuries’,
sometimes with the coercion of ‘bent’ doctors or inflated
garage bills for car repairs issued by mechanics that are in on the scam.
So what should you do if you believe you are a victim? According to R&SA
things you should do include: Don’t say anything other than ‘our
insurance companies must resolve this matter’. If anyone is injured (especially
a party in the other vehicle) call the police. Take photos of the accident,
including the driver and passengers. Take a good description of the driver.
Determine exactly how many passengers in the other vehicle and take a good
description of each one. Note the extent of any damage to the other car and
take the registration number. If you believe the accident to have been staged
then inform your insurance company immediately.
Unfortunately it’s on the rise so be alert to this crime!
Posted January 2007
Reason for claiming 1-2-3-4-5
The AA have published their favourite odd reasons that policyholders have used for claiming against their car insurance policies made in 2006. They are all true incident reports taken from amongst their 180,000 car claims the year. It includes some of the more bizarre stories and is reminiscent of a Jasper Carrott sketch.
Amongst the more unusual reasons given for involvement in an accident included that of a woman driver who was ‘forced’ to veer into the path of an oncoming car because she had her attention distracted by a badger in the road that become ‘confused’..
Other animals were included in the lists of accident causes, in particular the humble and shy deer. Over 150 people claimed to have been driving along, minding their own business, only to be startled by a deer jumping out of the bushes. One assumes they were no more startled than the deer!
Another woman driver whilst undertaking a parking maneuver was hit by a ‘car park bollard which ran into me’.
One driver had a problem with the sound of running water. More specifically the splashing of the water between the harbour wall and the ferry he was boarding, so concerned was he that it caused him to crash into the car in front.
Most entertaining was the driver who blamed his accident on a carpet. He had been following a van when a roll carpet ‘literally flew’ out of the back, and as it was red he ‘felt compelled to drive up it’.
AA’s managing director said that it was always interesting to hear the stranger reasons for peoples’ car insurance claims, but it was important to deal sympathetically with all circumstances no matter how bizarre they may seem.
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
