Jul/090
Women Continue to Get Lower Car Insurance
Research carried out by the AA shows that women drive slower, drive shorter distances and have lower annual mileage than men. Men who have just passed their driving test are more likely to have a crash than women who have just passed their test. Also while women are more likely to have small knocks and bumps, men are more likely to have crashes that cause large amounts of damage. All this contributes to women receiving lower insurance premiums to men.
Though some are arguing that this is sex discrimination, something the European Commission were trying to enforce, the British Government have dismissed the claim and have given insurance companies an “opt out” from the gender discrimination legislation.
They feel that by enforcing the discrimination law upon the insurance industry it would “penalize those it was meant to protect”, i.e. careful and safe drivers.
Jul/090
Fraudulent Claims push up premiums
Fraudulent car crash claims have increased by 70% over the last 3 years costing insurers millions of pounds. £260million fraudulent claims were discovered last year alone.
Now, insurance companies are spending money on reducing this number by introducing a ‘crash for cash’ scheme to whittle out the scam artists. Insurers claim it is not fair that good honest people have to pay, on average, £40 a year extra on their insurance premiums. They are now thoroughly investigating claims and sharing fraudulent claimants with other insurers to prevent more fraud occurring in the future. This bid will hopefully bring down premiums in the future.
Jun/090
Drivers Are Now Choosing to Cut Corners on Car Insurance!
Since the recession has set in and people are trying to spend less, research shows that one of the main areas people are doing this is car insurance.
Research done by the car insurer Uswitch has discovered that ‘6% of 3rd party insurance holders have downgraded’. This ultimately means that the policy holder feels they are saving money they could use elsewhere, but in the event of an accident the amount of costs to repair the vehicle will by far out price the cost of fully comprehensive cover.
Motorists are urged to keep on paying for fully comprehensive cover as this will be the real economy saver in the future.
Jun/090
Under 25’s Cant Get Car Insurance!
Drivers who have only just passed their test are more likely to have a crash in the first year of having a licence compared with experienced drivers.
This is often assumed to be people under the age of 25, and research shows many insurers refuse to cover people in this age group.
The AA has issued a warning that this sort of attitude to under 25’s will only encourage more fraudulent drivers on the road, and are encouraging the insurance companies to realise that this age group are now doing more to improve their driving skills.
There is now a scheme that is being run by the AA and the police called ‘DRIVE SMART’ that is giving young drivers who have been caught breaking the law the chance of free driver safety training to reduce the amount of speeders, drink drivers and drivers using their mobile phones.
This effort is in a bid to help young drivers get reasonable car insurance, and reduce the amount of fraud on the road.
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