Fraudulent motor insurance claims come to five million a week

According to a recent report motor insurance bodies have discovered fraudulent motor insurance claims that are amounting to around £5 million a week in terms of value. Officials from the Association of British Insurers said that last year around twenty four thousand fraudulent motor insurance claims were uncovered, and these amounted to £260 million, which equates to £5 million a week. This reflects the level of the problem when it comes to fraudulent insurance claims, both in the motor insurance sector and other insurance sectors. Read more

Tags: level, Business and Economy, risk, motor, fraud, insurance industry faces

BIBA: Uninsured drivers are ‘a massive problem’

With around two million people driving without insurance in the UK, the issue is a “massive problem”, the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has said.

The organisation said it is working with the government to reduce the number of uninsured drivers because they are costing other motorists over £400 million each year.

Graeme Trudgill, technical and corporate affairs executive of BIBA, says that next year there will be a new drive towards making sure motorists have car insurance.

“It will compare the Vehicle Registration Database with the Motor Insurance Database and anyone that’s got a car and hasn’t got car insurance will get a penalty notice and if they don’t get insurance then they will have their car seized,” Mr Trudgill said.

According to recent figures from moneysupermarket.com, 15 per cent of UK drivers admitted to driving without insurance, while 23 per cent of people in their twenties have driven without cover.

Tags: number, motor, hasn, Business Finance, Mr Trudgill, corporate affairs, uk drivers, notice

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

Am I Insured To Drive Anyone’s Car?

Confusion

Whether you have got fully comprehensive insurance and want to drive somebody else’s car or whether you have only third party insurance and want to do so, it’s a confusing mess – the simple question is, are you legal or not? Read more

Tags: anyone, all, theft, fire, cover

Car keys still being left on display

Many of us are running the risk of having our car stolen because we leave the keys on display in our homes.

Research by Saga Motor Insurance shows that one in ten are still not heeding the advice of insurers and police by failing to properly conceal our keys.

The majority keep them on a key rack which can be seen from outside the property, meaning the chances of becoming the victim of an opportunistic thief are greatly enhanced.

People aged over 50 are more diligent than those younger than them, says Saga, with 19 per cent ensuring that their keys are well hidden, compared to just 13 per cent of under 50s.

It means that people aged 49 and under are more likely to have their car stolen and be forced to make a claim on their car insurance.

“It might not be the first thing on your mind when you come home, but drivers should get into the habit of putting their keys somewhere out of sight, leaving them on display makes them an easy target for the opportunistic thief,” commented Andrew Goodsell, chief executive at Saga.

House keys are another issue, although people appear to be improving their safety procedures when it comes to this.

Saga found that nobody leaves the spare key under the doormat anymore, with 29 per cent leaving it with a friend or relative and 19 per cent keeping them locked away inside the house.

Tags: friend, Business and Economy, keys, key rack, nobody, motor

Breakdown insurance, is it worth the money?

Many drivers worry about their car breaking down in the middle of a motorway, isolated area or even a town, but is it worth spending money on separate insurance for those “just in case” moments? Read more

Tags: roadside assistance company, car insurance, Road transport, Driving, motor, RAC plc

Motor insurance set to rocket in the UK

Motorists in the UK are set to face huge increases in motor insurance over the next year according to recent reports relating to some of the larger motor insurance companies in the UK. It has been reported that the biggest motor insurer in the UK could be whacking up the cost of premiums in 2007, increasing the gap even further between the prices from some major insurers and some of the cheaper motor insurance companies.

Unfortunately, the large rise in premiums could mean that those companies currently seen as budget insurance companies, which are able to offer huge discounts, could also be forced to push up premiums, making it even more costly to own and drive a car in the UK. Norwich Union has already raised premiums by up to forty percent over the past few months, and other major players are set to follow.

The largest motor vehicle insurer, the Royal Bank of Scotland, is now set to follow suit and push up its insurance premium rates, and smaller companies could follow. One spokesperson from the Admiral Group stated: ‘We believe Royal Bank of Scotland Insurance is the decisive factor in taking the market up in price. If it were to sustain a series of increases over the next 12 to 18 months, that would take rates up substantially.’

According to statistics forthcoming rises could push up an average insurance premium of around seven hundred and fifty pounds to around nine hundred pounds. Officials from the Royal Bank of Scotland Insurance stated that the rises were largely due to the heft cost of claims that had been made over recent years. An AA spokesperson also spoke about the rises, stating: ‘You will find people will shop around even more now. The market is going to be even more polarised between the highest and lowest prices.’

Tags: aa, Insurance, claims, norwich union, rbs, accidents, car, costs, premiums, motor

Fierce Competition Likely to Push Car Insurance Premiums Down

Despite the recent announcement by Norwich Union that it is to increase premiums on its UK motor insurance policies by up to 16 per cent. in the coming year, recent research undertaken by Defaqto indicates that fierce competition among UK car insurance providers is likely going to result in car insurance premiums falling in the coming months.

According to the findings in Defaqto’s recently released report, “Motor Insurance in the UK – Adapting to Survive”, many of the UK’ leading car insurance providers are either electing to keep their car insurance premiums frozen this year or are looking to reduce premium burdens on their customers.  With UK car insurance premiums constituting £7.4 billion in sector revenues for 2006, many of the UK’s leading car insurance policy providers now acknowledge that intense market competition is stopping them from following Norwich Union’s lead and increasing premiums.

To a large extent, most of the competitive pressure on car insurance premiums in the UK is coming from savvy motorist who have now learnt that looking online for discounted car insurance is the easiest and quickest way of finding cheap UK car insurance.  Brian Brown, Defaqto’s head of general insurance research commented that “With the Internet, it is now easy for customers to shop around and so many insurers are still giving introductory discounts, cash-back or guarantees to beat other quotes, that there is little, if any, need for customers to stick with their existing insurer when faced with premium increases”.

The question of whether or not UK motorist can look forward to reduced car insurance premiums is still, however, subject to whether or not large UK motor insurance providers, such as the Royal Bank of Scotland, decide on price freezes.  If RBS were to decide that now is not the right time to push through a price hike, then joint competition from RBS and alternative discount UK car insurance available on the Internet will almost certainly result in premium freezes or reductions in the coming year.

Nonetheless, UK motorist still need to be careful they read their UK motor insurance policy carefully as over 60 per cent. of motor insurance providers in the UK now recoup lost revenue from premium reductions in the form of policy adjustment charges.  Here, Defaqto’s report found that the fee to cancel a UK car insurance policy can cost the policyholder as much as £75.  However, Defaqto are also quick to point out that following the Office of Fair Trading move to reduce late payment fees on UK credit cards, it is likely that these high additional fees will not be round for long – with or without the OFT’s intervention. 

Tags: motor, increase, uk, quote, Insurance

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