Recovery of economy being affected by two major factors

Industry officials have recently stated that the recovery of the economy in the UK is being seriously hampered by two major issues, which have been highlighted as rising unemployment levels and the rising number of swine flu cases. Read more

Tags: new money, whilst, state, economic recovery, industry officials, breakdown, recession

‘Be open’ with your car hire company

Tourists travelling abroad this summer and planning on renting a car should be honest with the hire company, particularly if they are thinking of doing anything “slightly out of the ordinary” such as driving across the border to another country.

Neil Greig, the director of the IAM motoring trust, has said that drivers taking their hire car into another country risk invalidating their car insurance.

However, he noted that this is not always the case and holidaymakers can safely drive from Spain to Gibraltar without negating their insurance.

“It is always worth checking the fine print because if you do end up having an accident you may not have breakdown cover [or] you may not have insurance cover if you actually damage the vehicle,” Mr Greig warned.

According to Which? people are often unaware that there is often a large excess, sometimes more than £1,000, when hiring a car abroad.

Tags: Insurance, breakdown cover, breakdown, tourists, United States

What to look for with car insurance

Car insurance is a compulsory form of insurance cover for drivers in the UK that are taking their vehicles out on the road. Read more

Tags: Insurance, breakdown, lower your premiums, site, car insurance, cover

Do you have European breakdown cover?

Most motorists in Britain are well aware of what their insurance policy covers in the UK depending on the level of cover that they have, but according to recent research an alarming level have no idea that they may not be covered for driving in other European destinations.

A large number of Brits take their cars along to various European destinations each year, but only a percentage of these have actually got adequate cover that will protect them in the event of breakdowns and accidents whilst driving abroad.

The recent research was carried out by Marks and Spencer Money. The results indicated that only twenty percent of drivers were insured against breakdowns last summer when taking their vehicle to Europe, and only a third of drivers taking their vehicles to Europe were covered in the events of an accident or the theft of their vehicle. This means that the majority of people that take their vehicles to European destinations each year actually have no cover in the event of accidents, theft, or breakdowns.

According to research only ten percent of fully comprehensive motor vehicle insurance policies automatically include European cover; however, many motorists simply assume that if they have fully comprehensive cover on their car then they must be insured for driving in other European destinations – this is not the case. Drivers that intend to take their cars to Europe are warned to check with their insurer first, and to make sure that they add on the additional cover if it does not already exist.

Experts state that it does not tend to be very expensive to add this cover. One spokesperson from insuresupermarket.com stated: ‘It’s worth considering as thieves often target cars with foreign number plates. There’s also a greater risk of having an accident when you’re driving in unfamiliar places on the wrong side of the road.’

Tom Smith
4th June 2007

Tags: car, cover, travel, vehicle, breakdown, motor, foreign, european, Insurance