Lincolnshire Teenager Struggles to Get HGV Insurance
A Lincolnshire teenager is facing £11,000 a year for HGV insurance, pricing her out of driving the family lorry.
Lizzy Coulson is 19 and works in Middle Rasen, Lincolnshire, on the family farm. She has told BBC Lincolnshire how that she wants to drive the family lorry on the road to move sheep from field to field to help out her father, but cannot get insurance.
Despite passing her HGV test, which can be taken at 18, Miss Coulson faces astronomical policy charges or outright refusal to be insured. One insurance told her to wait until she was 23, while another quoted £11,000 a year.
Her struggles highlight the ongoing problems for read more »
ABI Breaks Down the Cost of Motor Insurance Premiums
The Association of British Insurers has revealed what makes up motor insurance premiums and where motorists’ money actually goes when they pay out for insurance.
The figures reveal that personal injury claims account for a large majority of claims, with whiplash claims accounting for 20% alone.
Whiplash claims have come under scrutiny in recent months, after the ABI aired concern about the legitimacy of these claims. 80% of current injury claims are for whiplash, but the ABI believes the large majority of these are false.
The problem with whiplash claims is that they are very hard to confirm or deny. The ABI believes that more than a read more »
Safety standards to be introduced for young drivers?
The subject of young drivers is always a hot topic when it comes to car insurance. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has given us yet more to talk about by claiming that young drivers could save up to £370 a year on their cover if the government were to introduce new safety standards.
Currently the average annual premium for a 17-18 year old stands at more than £1,800- no small fee when taking into consideration the rising cost of fuel. The ABI believes this figure could be lessened and that, more importantly, the number of deaths could be significantly reduced.
A few of the standards that the ABI have proposed include a minimum read more »
Admiral Announces Pre-Tax Profits Rise
As one of the country’s largest car insurance providers, Admiral has announced a pre-tax profit of £345 million in 2012, up 15% from £299 million the previous year. As a result, the firm has decided to reward its employees with free shares worth £3,000!
The company employs more than 1,900 people across 2 sites in the city and plans to provide them with the shares as part of the Admiral Employee Share Scheme. Admiral also enjoyed a 1% increase in turnover up to £2.2 billion for 2012.
The company, which is now in its 20th year of business, was also recently named as 11th Best Company to Work For by the Sunday Times, as well as the Best read more »
Association of British Insurers Propose New Safety Standards for Young Drivers
The association of British Insurers has proposed new safety standards for young drivers to cut down on accidents and deaths on the road as well as reducing car insurance premiums for new drivers.
Young drivers could see a saving of 20% on their insurance premiums if the legislation comes into place, saving them up to £370 a year if the government introduced new safety standards.
The average annual car insurance premium for 17 to 18 year olds is more than £1,800 a year, because statistics point to them having a significantly higher risk of being involved in a serious crash. In fact, 40% of 17 year old males have got into an accident in read more »
One in Seven Brits Have Driven Without Insurance
New research has revealed that one in seven Brits admit breaking the law and driving without car insurance.
6% admitted knowingly getting behind the wheel of their own car without cover, while a further 6% admit borrowing someone else’s car without insurance.
14% of people who admitted driving without insurance confessed that they did so because they were unaware of the need for insurance. 26% blamed being in between insurance policies for driving uninsured, while 7% just couldn’t be bothered to take out an insurance policy.
12% said they couldn’t afford the insurance, double the number that blamed cost last year. 7% said there read more »
Finding Cheap Car Insurance for Young Drivers
It is expected that the cost of running a car is likely to hit £4,580 a year in a decade’s time due to increasing insurance, fuel and tax costs.
The mounting costs threaten to price younger people off the road, who already have higher insurance costs and are likely to have less money to foot the bill.
The average UK worker earns £26,500 according to the Office for National Statistics and this would mean that 17% of their income would be taken up by car costs. Even more so for younger drivers who already have higher car insurance costs.
According to Auto Trader’s Future of Motoring Report, people are worried the costs for drivers read more »
Third of UK Drivers Auto-Renewed Their Policy Last Year
New research has revealed that 8.7 million UK drivers simply allowed their car insurance provider to automatically extend their policy for another year at their last renewal opportunity.
28% of those who auto-renewed, did so out of loyalty to the insurer, 15% didn’t have time to look for a new policy quote and 10% have stayed with same insurance provider for over ten years.
29% of those who auto-renewed believed that because their insurer was cheapest last time they would offer good value on their renewal again.
But by simply just carrying on their current policy for another year could mean that millions of drivers are missing out on read more »
Pet Insurance Most Likely to Be Claimed
A recent survey by Which has revealed that people are more likely to claim on pet insurance than on their car, home, or travel insurance.
The publication surveyed members who had made insurance claims in the past two years. Four in ten pet insurance owners had made a claim in that period, the highest proportion of all the general insurance categories.
Pet insurance was followed by car insurance (20%), home insurance (18%) and travel insurance (15%).
Pet illness was the most common reason to make a claim, with 70% of pet insurance claims accounting for this, followed by accident and injury (18%).
Cancelled travel was the most common read more »
Whiplash Claims are Driving up Price of Car Insurance Policies
Whiplash claims are adding £118 to every motorist’s annual car insurance bill, according to Aviva.
The firm said car insurance quotes had risen by 80% since October 2008, mainly due to an increase in personal injury claims.
The average legal fee for whiplash is £2,500, which is mainly being claimed through personal injury lawyers, but Aviva have said that £1.5 billion could be saved from UK car insurance premiums if the claims were settled between insurance companies instead. This cost reduction could lead to premium falls of around £60 a year.
Aviva’s report, Road to Reform: Reducing Motor Premiums by Reforming the Personal read more »
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