A third of drivers struggle to afford excess on insurance

As most drivers are only too well aware, the cost of operating and maintaining a vehicle has soared over recent years, with more and more drivers finding themselves struggling to meet the rising costs associated with driving. This includes everything from higher maintenance costs and soaring insurance costs to rocketing petrol prices. This is putting real financial strain on the many people who rely on their vehicles to get to work, ferry kids around, and for other purposes.

With regards to car insurance costs, many drivers look at a variety of ways to try and reduce the cost of their car insurance plan, one of which is to opt for a higher level of excess. With vehicle insurance the higher the excess level you choose the lower the premiums are likely to be. However, this means that in the event of a claim the amount of excess that you have selected is the amount that you will have to pay from your own pocket.

One recent report has urged consumers not to increase the excess levels in order to push vehicle insurance premiums down unless they are sure that they can cover the excess in the event of a claim. The report, which has been released by the insurance giant AXA, claims that almost one third of drivers in the UK are actually unable to actually afford the excess level that they choose when it comes to making a claim. This has led to many being left with vehicles that cannot be repaired and become unroadworthy.

An official from the insurance giant stated: “We appreciate that premiums have risen a lot in the last couple of years and we can understand consumers looking at ways of saving a bit of money. But if this means that they can’t afford their excess, it is a completely false economy.”

Tags: maintenance, false economy, Automobile, variety, insurance plan

Women fail to cover themselves for critical illness or death

For many people having critical illness insurance cover and life insurance cover is vital so that they can be certain that their loved ones are protected in the event that the worst should happen. Critical illness insurance and life cover provides peace of mind and stability for those that have the cover as well as for their loved ones, and there are many different policies available from a range of providers these days.

However, according to a recent report women in the UK do not seem to be as concerned about covering themselves with critical illness and life cover as they perhaps should be, and this has caused concern amongst some industry officials. A study that was recently carried out by leading life insurance firm Axa Life showed that many women in the UK had no life or critical illness cover in place.

According to the results of the study more than 30 percent of women did not think that they needed life insurance or critical illness cover. The figures showed that only one third of women actually had any life insurance cover in place, and when it came to critical illness cover only 20 percent of women had any cover in place.

Furthermore the results indicated that of those women that did take out life insurance cover and critical illness cover many were underinsuring themselves, which could prove to be problematic for them or their loved ones in the event of critical illness or death.

An official from Axa Life said that women had become more independent over recent years in many ways, including financially, and that they needed to be more aware of possible health problems and take steps to protect themselves financially against unexpected health problems that could seriously affect them and their families.

Tags: women, Insurance, life insurance, AXA, Critical illness insurance

‘Holidays abroad to drop under credit crunch’

The current economic turmoil means that more people will be unable to afford a holiday overseas this year, the Family Holiday Association (FHA) has said.

A recent study by Abbey Credit Cards found that parents who planned to take their families abroad for the half-term break were hit with prices up to 80 per cent higher than usual.

John McDonald, the director of the FHA, commented: “I think holidays are really important for the well being of both the children and the parents…it is a disappointment that perhaps more people will miss out this year than perhaps did last year.”

Last week, insurance company Axa warned holidaymakers that if they arrange the different parts of their holiday separately, such as flights, hotel and cars, they could be leaving themselves open to unnecessary risks.

According to the company, travel insurance does not always cover people who book their holidays independently rather than through a travel company.

Tags: credit crunch, holiday, AXA, Academic term, John McDonald, usual.john mcdonald, flights