February 23, 2009
Cash for crash
Story link: Cash for crash
This is a roundabout that is spiraling out of control. Insurance companies need to make their money, while motorists need cheaper insurance. Motorists expect to get cheaper premiums but they rise for no apparent reason while Insurance companies get bogus claims so have to put all customers’ policies up.
Incidents like this are nothing new, and if insurance companies charge so much, then what can they expect.
Swinton, the UK’s leading high street retailer of car insurance, is warning motorists about a new scam designed to defraud insurers out of thousands of pounds.
The scam involves criminal gangs intentionally staging road accidents, usually by slamming on their breaks causing an innocent driver behind to shunt into them, and then making dodgy insurance claims for personal injury and damage to their vehicle.
17,000 uninsured drivers in Norfolk
Story link: 17,000 uninsured drivers in Norfolk
That is an extremely scary figure!
While I do agree that most insurance companies are just out to drain our wallets, I do understand that a crash could result in hundreds of thousands in hospital bills and car repairs, something I couldn’t afford with claiming off my own or somebody else’s insurance.
17,000 uninsured drivers in Norfolk
An estimated 17,000 uninsured drivers are flouting the law on Norfolk’s roads - but police insist they are winning the battle against them.
Statistics from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) last night revealed about 3pc of the 580,000 road users in the county are trying to get away without insuring their cars.
Car insurance – Up and Down
Story link: Car insurance – Up and Down
Insurance companies are constantly changing their pricing structure around to suit themselves; this is mainly due to the fact that they take into account not just total claims, but their current operating costs as well. If insurers want to stay ahead of the game this year, then they will want to start chopping their prices back slightly.
Recent figures have revealed that car insurance premiums fell by more than 3 per cent, in the last six months of 2008.
Car insurance provider, Sainsbury’s Car Insurance, found that the average motor insurance premium, in June 2008 was, £514.16, which is 3.1 per cent higher than the figure in December of the same year at £498.22.
Motorists cut back on Car Insurance
Story link: Motorists cut back on Car Insurance
Motorists are choosing the cheaper option of Third Party, Fire and Theft, rather than fully comprehensive. The third party option will not cover the drivers own care, but will cover damages to any other vehicle.
The last few months has created a huge financial struggle, which has made around 10% more people choose this option.
Motorists cut back on Car Insurance
Cash-strapped motorists are cutting back on comprehensive car insurance to drive down costs, it was revealed.
In the last 12 months, there has been a 10% increase in the number of drivers choosing third party, fire and theft cover rather than comprehensive when they renew policies, insurance company Swinton said.
February 4, 2009
Premiums to fund holidays
Story link: Premiums to fund holidays
Its all part of a brand awareness strategy, and I suppose if the brand is the cheapest for the particular individual, then they are going to have no problems with the campaigns, insurance may be expensive, but they have their own overheads.
UK Insurance Premiums to rise … to fund Celebrity Holidays? - We have recently been perplexed by what appears to be a unique strategy among some insurers. Although we have a few MBAs on our staff, none of them recall the dons back at university talking about it, so perhaps it’s something entirely new. An outline is below for the curious.
Step One: Spend as much as possible on celebrity adverts
Despite the credit crunch, some insurance marketers have gone celebrity mad recently with several companies enlisting big name stars to grab your attention.
1/5 choose the smaller car
Story link: 1/5 choose the smaller car
The days of driving round in a huge 4×4 for luxury, the in thing to do nowadays, is to buy yourself a city car, which is not only a lot more economical to run, but they are usually in the lower end of the insurance groups, making them extremely cheap to insure.
One in five UK motorists have downsized to a smaller car since the start of the credit crunch, new research has revealed.
Car insurance provider LV= discovered that 19% of drivers have sold their car in favour of a smaller model, with each downsizing motorist saving an estimated £309 on running costs.
Snow driving
Story link: Snow driving
Driving in the snow is extremely dangerous, but drivers need to understand that the brakes on a vehicle are just asking for trouble, especially when hitting icy patches. Hitting the brakes won’t allow the driver to steer the car, and the loss of control could cause a crash and therefore a insurance claim, not good!
When pulling away in snow, drivers should try to use second gear rather than first, says the RAC.
“In these conditions, it’s all about keeping the revs down. Pull away in second gear rather than first, and do everything gently.
Collision insurance
Story link: Collision insurance
Pretty basic stuff really, but it is amazing how many people do not check their policy to see what situations they are actually covered by, as many companies do their very best to get their way out of a pay out.
Collision coverage is insurance to pay for damages to your own car in case of an accident. If you’re in an accident, contact your insurance agency immediately. Your insurance company will try to collect payment from the other driver’s insurance company if the accident was not your fault.
Snow and claims
Story link: Snow and claims
It’s a good point, I’m sure many people didn’t even think to check whether they were covered in such dangerous conditions, and for those who had a bump not involving another car, and are third party, the damage will be at their own expense.
Motorists, homeowners and travellers have all suffered adverse effects from the heaviest snowfall for 18 years.
But what is your position if you need to make an insurance claim?
More snow, more claims
Story link: More snow, more claims
Car insurance claims were almost certain to rise this week, thanks to the unpredictable and extremely dangerous conditions we have seen.
Luckily a lot of schools closed Tuesday, which I’m sure meant that thousands of motorists avoided collisions.
Car insurance claims have shot up this week due to the snowfall which is affecting most of Britain, and the Met Office has forecast that there is more bad weather on the horizon.
Monday was the busiest day ever for AA car insurance claims, which was met with a tirade of reports from drivers who had come to blows with the weather, sliding on ice into walls, trees and lamp posts, bumping into other drivers, and getting shunted.