Car insurer finds drivers are unsure of speed limits

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A recent survey by car insurance provider, LV=, found that seven out of ten drivers were unable to correctly identify the speed limit for different types of roads, which could signal that many drivers are being hit with speeding fines due to their ignorance over the limit for specific roads.

The study carried out by car insurance company LV found that 1 in 3 drivers who took part in the research could not identify that a single carriageway has a 60mph limit, while 1 in 2 drivers didn’t know what the speed limit was on a rural road without street lights.

The results of the research are especially worrying as this seems to demonstrate that a large proportion of motorists on UK roads are not fully aware of the speed limits on specific roads, which could lead to them breaking the limit without even realising that they are doing so.

Evidence suggests that many car insurance providers raise their premiums for drivers after just one speeding offence, and with 1 in 10 drivers being caught speeding since 2009, with 17% of these drivers receiving speeding tickets on two or even three occasions, this will be having a negative impact on the cost of insurance for many drivers.

The advice from car insurance experts is for drivers to brush up on their driving theory to ensure they’re not caught out by speed limits due to a lack of knowledge.

Car insurance comparison site records the questionable fashion choices of British motorists

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According to a recent survey of 2,000 drivers conducted by the price comparison website, Confused.com, many Brits admit to getting behind the wheel wearing slippers and high heels, while many revealed they even drive their car in bare feet.

The car insurance price comparison website polled 2,000 drivers and found that 25% of those who took part in the research had driven in their pyjamas, while 10% took to the wheel wearing their slippers and 40% of the female drivers questioned said they’d driven their car while wearing high heels.

The group most likely to leave their slippers on while getting behind the wheel of their car were found to be men aged between 25-34 years and also female drivers aged between 18-24 years.

When it comes to driving with bare feet, 22% of the male drivers who were polled by Confused.com admitted to this questionable practice, while the number was slightly higher for women drivers with 24% revealing their habit of driving with no shoes.

Aside from footwear, other unadvisable habits of drivers picked up by the Confused.com survey included the penchant of female drivers for applying make-up while driving, 10% admitted to this, while 15% of men have shaved while behind the wheel.

When it comes to keeping focused on the road ahead, women came out on top with only 18% revealing that they regularly checked out other drivers to see if they are attractive compared to 47% of male drivers.

Home insurer calculates the time Brits waste looking for misplaced items

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A survey by Esure Home Insurance has calculated that on average we Brits spend 10 minutes out of every day searching for lost or misplaced items, with the worst offenders being revealed as men with a third of wives who took part in the study admitting that their husbands regularly lose items around the home.

Home insurer Esure questioned 3,000 adults to compile the results of their survey which found that 4 out of 10 adults regularly argue with their partner over misplaced items, often blaming each other for not being able to find the thing they’re looking for.

The most common items which are lost include mobile phones, with house keys and car keys coming in second and third place respectively, followed by paperwork, spectacles and sun glasses, a wallet or purse, lip balms and hairbrushes came in eighth place for the most commonly misplaced items according to the home insurance survey.

While small items such as keys and phones are most likely to be lost, 1 in 10 people questioned as part of the poll admitted to losing their car in a car park regularly, while a very unlucky 14 people from the survey revealed they spent an hour every day looking for a misplaced personal belonging.

The advice from home insurance experts is to ensure that items such as keys and wallets should always be kept in the same place to avoid losing them as it would be a major cause for concern should your house or car keys or lost debit card fall into the wrong hands.

Insurance hike for first time speeding offenders

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Recent research has discovered that insurers are looking to clamp down on first time offenders of minor driving offences such as speeding and using a mobile phone behind the wheel by imposes an increase on insurance premiums of up to 60% in the most extreme of cases.

Historically, car insurance companies haven’t penalised drivers for first time speeding offences, however AA Insurance recently reported that all of the insurers they work in conjunction with do increase the cost of an annual premium after a driver gets the first three points on their licence as a result of a speeding offence.

The rate of the increase varies according to the age of the driver with the youngest motorists, those in their 20’s, being the worst hit with a rise in the cost of cover in the region of 22% after a first speeding fine. Drivers in their 30’s can expect an increase of 15% while motorists aged in their 40’s are likely to see an increase of 10% on the cost of their cover.

While being caught texting or talking on their mobile phone while driving is punishable with a fine and three points on your licence, the same as speeding, insurers appear to take a dimmer view of the former and impose harsher penalties with the cost of an annual insurance premium rising by as much as 60% for drivers caught using their mobile for the first time.

Car insurance tops poll of most searched keywords in January

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Car insurance came out as the most searched keyword for web enquiries during January, according to the quarterly report from research provider Greenlight.

The statics revealed that 1.9 million searches related to car insurance were made during the first four weeks of the month, down from the industry’s record breaking month of October 2011 where insurance related searches topped 2.3 million, however car insurance ranked as the most searched term with 550,000 queries.

While October 2011 saw record numbers of people searching for insurance related products and services online, the number of searches for car insurance specifically was estimated at 450,000, which is 100,000 fewer compared to the keyword search results from January 2012.

When it comes to the fiercely fought battle of the comparison websites, Money Supermarket was found to be the most visible in natural search listings with a 94% share of the voice followed by Compare the Market which was found to have a 66% share of the natural listings. Money Supermarket was also found to rank in the number one spot for 79 keyword terms. Go Compare was ranked as the most visible advertiser utilising paid for listings of search engines with a 66% share of the voice.

The results for web searches in January according to figures compiled by Greenlight, reported by the Post Online, are detailed below.

Top 10 in natural search

  • moneysupermarket.com 94%
  • comparethemarket.com 66%
  • tescobank.com 55%
  • confused.com 43%
  • elephant.co.uk 34%
  • co-operativeinsurance.co.uk 26%
  • admiral.com 24%
  • moneysavingexpert.com 22%
  • cheapcarinsurance.co.uk 22%
  • lv.com 19%

iPhone app to help reduce the cost of car insurance

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Insurance provider, Aviva, is carrying out trials with a view to launching an iPhone app which will link to a telematics system to monitor the behaviour of drivers on the road. In line with other smartbox car insurance systems, the new app would link up with a black box on the policyholder’s dashboard which will collect data on the way the car is being driven.

The rising cost of car insurance for young drivers in particular, is something which has been well publicised. Insurance experts predict that these new types of car insurance policies, which utilise telematics technology and calculate the cost of a premium based on the driving habits of the individual, is an effective way for new and young drivers to fight back against the spiralling cost of insurance.

Research has suggested that as many as two thirds of young drivers could see a reduction in the cost of their annual insurance premium of up to 22% as a result of installing a black box system in their car for a full year.

Car insurer, Aviva, is currently experimenting with a new smartphone application which would collect data transmitted from the black box installed in the car. The telematics system would gather information which will be used to calculate the cost of the driver’s premium including the time of day the car is being driven and the number of miles covered. Practices such as braking suddenly and cornering would have a negative impact on the cost of the driver’s premium.

However one potential downfall of the new system, which Aviva are concerned about, is that the driver would need to have the phone with the app in the car at all times order for the new system to be fit for purpose.

Insurance excess costs pushed to an unaffordable rate by cash strapped drivers

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Cash strapped drivers who’ve increased their voluntary excess on their car insurance policies in order to bring the cost of their car insurance down are increasingly finding themselves in difficulty as they’re unable to afford the excess payment following a claim, according to research by Axa Insurance.

The study conducted by Axa Insurance has found that an increasing number of motorists are unable to afford the cost of repairs on their vehicle following an accident after having increased their excess on their policy. Increasingly, motorists are raising their voluntary excess, with Axa finding that in the last two years, 10% of drivers have increased their excess to help lower the cost of their annual premium.

The number of drivers unable to cover the cost of their excess and then authorise the repairs on their vehicle climbed to 61% in 2011, according to Axa. The figures are especially worrying as this signals that there are potentially un-roadworthy vehicles being driven on UK roads, and also vehicles that are likely to deteriorate as a result of unrepaired damage.

Axa Insurance found that 29% of drivers don’t have any savings to draw upon in order to cover their excess costs in the event of an accident, while almost half of those who took part in the study, 48% have less than £500 on average, while 34% have access to less than £200 in savings.

Insurance experts warn that placing a high voluntary excess of your car insurance policy in order to reduce the cost of the overall premium could work out as a false economy should you need to make a claim. It’s recommended that drivers set a realistic excess which wouldn’t leave them short should they need to pay out following an accident.

Car insurance for women drivers likely to rise by £360 after EU ruling

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The cost of car insurance for women drivers after the new EU ruling comes into play at the end of the year will see the cost of premiums rise by £360 on average, recent treasury analysis has suggested. From the end of 2012 it will become illegal for insurance companies to take gender into account when calculating car insurance premiums.

Until now, female drivers have generally benefitted from lower premiums compared to their male counterparts as statistically, women are involved in fewer accidents on the road and even when they are involved in an incident, the cost of the claim is generally lower than those made by male drivers.

Because females pose less of a risk to insurers, they have enjoyed cheaper insurance costs, however that will all change following the EU ruling shake up. The recent treasury analysis suggests that the cost of car insurance will rise by £362 on average for every female driver as a result, while the worst hit will be young women drivers who are likely to see an even bigger increase.

The treasury predicts that car insurance premiums for women will rise by 24% following the EU ruling, however the cost of cover won’t decline hugely for male drivers as they’re likely to only see a reduction of around 9% after the EU legislation comes into play.

Safety group have warned that the slight reduction in the cost of premiums for young male drivers could lead to more accidents on the roads as these motorists take advantage of the decrease in the rate of their premiums by buying more powerful cars.

Cost of some travel insurance policies for OAPs set to rise

Four Retired Age People On Vacation Portugal The Algarve

The cost of travel insurance for selected policies for the over 60’s with medical conditions could rise by as much as 90%, a new report has suggested. Those with specific pre-existing medical conditions are likely to be hit by the hike on travel insurance for OAPs.

In a recent newspaper report, it’s claimed that the increased cost of medical care in the US and also in selected European countries is the reason travellers are experiencing a rise in their travel insurance premiums. In the space of just one year, the cost of travel insurance for certain individuals with specified medical conditions has risen by 90%, with insurance companies explaining that the increase in the cost of cover reflects the rising cost of medical care in certain overseas hospitals.

Elderly travellers planning a trip to America or parts of Europe will be worst hit. In one example given, a 79-year-old with angina travelling to the US for a two week holiday would face a premium of £576, an increase of 90% compared to the £303 the same travel insurance would have cost last year.

While the cost of travel insurance has rocketed for specific groups of OAPs, for some the picture is even bleaker as many have reported being unable to obtain any type of cover whatsoever.

However it isn’t all bad news for the over 60’s as insurance experts have found that the price of travel insurance for those without any pre-existing medical conditions has actually gone down.

High insurance costs potentially deterring young people from taking jobs

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The high cost of insurance for young drivers is potentially putting some off taking a job, one eminent MP suggested recently. The Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, Nigel Evans, said that many young people may face a real dilemma between whether to take up a job opportunity, or not doing so as the cost of travel to their work place would be so high.

People in rural areas are more likely to be affected as there is less access to regular public transport links, meaning that they would have to rely on their own means of transport to get back and forth from work. However with the cost of an annual car insurance premium for a new or young driver at a record high, many are left wondering whether it’s worth their while taking the job due to the huge amount they’d have to fork out to afford to cover their premiums.

Recent figures released by AA Insurance found that the cost of car insurance for young people has risen by 90% in the space of the last 2 years, pricing many people off the road. As a result of the often unaffordable cost of car insurance, research has found that 1 in 5 youngsters have considered driving without insurance, while 1 in 3 would potentially modify details on their policy in order to obtain cheaper cover.

Due to the fears MP Nigel Evans has over young peoples’ possible reluctance to take job offers due to cost and worry over how to afford travel to their new place of employment, the MP has called upon the insurance industry to become more creative in order to combat the inflated car insurance rates offered to young drivers. Ideas put forward include offering a rebate on part of the premium to a driver if after a year they’ve made no claims, or offering a premium calculated on the basis on the driver’s driving test score.