Pink car gets thumbs down from insurance company

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27-year-old Tania Sansom had always dreamed of driving a pink car, however she had no idea her perfect pink car would lead her into disagreement with her insurance provider who decided her repainted candyfloss pink car would attract trouble and proceeded to cancel her policy.

Ms Sansom relayed her story to a local newspaper in North Tyneside to warn others about the repercussions of altering a vehicle. Although the 27-year-old informed her insurance company, Tesco, of her plans to have her Citroen C3 sprayed pink and thereby altering it from its original colour of blue, after the change had been made, she found her policy had been withdrawn.

Although the call centre staff had informed Ms Sansom, after checking with a senior staff member, that it would be acceptable for the colour change to be made and that this would be noted on her policy as a modification, Tesco later told the policyholder that this information was incorrect as they don’t provide insurance for vehicles which have been painted a different colour to the original manufacturers colour.

According to the car insurance company, a pink car is more likely to be vandalised and attract attention because of its eye-catching colour, and for this reason, they refused to provide Ms Sansom with a policy.

Tesco admitted that a mistake had been made as Ms Sansom had been given the wrong information by call centre staff initially. She was given £50 to compensate for this, and a refund on the car insurance premium paid to date.

The 27-year-old motorist was able to find competitively priced cover for her pink car elsewhere, although her story serves as a cautionary tale for any other drivers contemplating a colour change for their car.

Win a year’s free car insurance with the Co-operative Facebook competition

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The Co-operative is offering young drivers the chance to save themselves thousands of pounds by launching a Facebook competition where the first prize is free car insurance for a whole year.

To be in the running to win this superb prize, all you need do is share how much passing your driving tests means to you with the Co-operative on their official Facebook page. Applications from drivers who have just passed their driving test, who about to take their test, and who have already passed and have been on the road for some time are all welcome to apply for first place prize of a year’s free car insurance.

There’s been much discussion of late about the spiralling cost of car insurance, especially among younger drivers of those aged between 17-25 years, and so the Co-operative decided to launch their social media competition to give one lucky winner the chance to save on the most costly aspect of motoring for a whole 12 months.

The Co-operative estimated that the cost to young drivers getting on the road for the first time is £4,459, with car insurance making up the bulk of this cost.

To be in with a chance to win the free car insurance for a year, or one of the smaller prizes on offer such as a Sat Nav for your car, complete The Big Test application on the Co-operative’s Facebook page and upload a video or photo showing how you celebrated, or plan to celebrate, passing your driving test.

Women more likely to bend the truth when taking out car insurance

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Female drivers are more likely to bend the truth when applying for car insurance, according to recent research carried out by eCar.

The eInsurance Group which serves 280,000 insurance applications every month carried out research into the habits of both sexes when it comes to divulging information which could have an effect on their insurance policy. The insurance provider say they have noted an upturn in the number of female drivers avoiding the truth when taking out policies.

In May of this year, the provider revealed that 20% of their policies underwent fraud investigations. Out of those policies which were subsequently declined, 51% were made by women, while 49% were made by men.

The top untruths uncovered by the investigations included not fully disclosing convictions, of which 47% of women were guilty compared to 64% of male drivers. Giving misleading information regarding licence length was highlighted as a reason for revoking 68% of insurance policies for women drivers, and 32% of male drivers. 53% of female policy holders and 47% of male policy holders were caught out as a result of incorrectly stating the length of their no claims bonus.

Car insurance fraud has added 38% to the cost of all annual insurance policies over the last year, forcing 1.3 million drivers off the road as they can no longer afford the cost of their premiums.

The results have spurred eInsurance to start a new campaign, Truth or Dare, to encourage drivers to take a more truthful approach to their car insurance.

Car insurance survey reveals improvement in driver behaviour

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Driver’s are becoming safer behind the wheel, at least that’s the conclusion which can be drawn following the results of a recent survey conducted by Sainsbury’s Car Insurance which found that fewer drivers are using mobiles while driving and there’re less likely to give into a fit of road rage compared to the findings of last year.

According to the results of the Sainsbury’s Car Insurance poll, there’s been a reduction in the number of drivers choosing to get behind the wheel when tired, with 10% fewer doing so when compared to 2010.

Drivers are also becoming increasingly aware of the dangers of using a mobile while driving with those admitting to using their phone while driving falling by almost 50% compared to last year’s figures. 6% say they have used their phone while driving, but at the same time the number of who have texted while sitting in the driver’s seat has fallen from 6% to 4% this year.

This is especially good news as research has shown that driver reaction times are 50% slower when using a mobile so it is hoped the reduction in the number of drivers using phones while driving will lead to a fall in the number of accidents on UK roads.

Overall driver safety seems to be improving with other encouraging statistics collected from the survey which include an increase in the number of people choosing to wear a seat belt, and also fewer people succumbing to road rage while driving, with 2% admitting to getting irate while driving.

Habits of the average driver revealed by insurance comparison site study

Gocompare-Logo

The habits of the average driver over a lifetime have been revealed as part of a study by leading insurance price comparison website, Gocompare.com. The survey polled a broad cross section of 2,000 drivers to collect the results which make for very interesting reading.

The results of the poll found that the average UK motorist’s driving lifetime covers 61.5 years with the majority of drivers getting behind the wheel at the age of 17. During this time they will own 26 cars, cover 300,000 miles and break the speed limit a whopping 18,165 times.

During our driving lifetime which stretches 61.5 years, we spend a great deal of our time behind the wheel of our cars mostly commuting to work, driving other people about, and driving to social events.

The average motorists will get stuck in a traffic jam 9,348 times during their lifetime, which equates to 100 days and 21 hours and 7 minutes spent sitting in traffic queues, and will also get lost on 336 different occasions.

Over the course of their driving lifetime a car owner will have to get their car fixed 31 times, and will fill up with fuel at the pumps on 2,645 different occasions.

Other non-driving related activities which take place in cars include drivers sleeping in their vehicle 39 times over their lifetime, crying in their cars on 82 different occasions, and arguing with a partner 3,646 times.

Survey finds motorists are being more honest with insurance providers

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The findings of a recent survey by a leading insurance price comparison website has found that drivers in the UK are being more honest when applying for quotes for car insurance and are not attempting to bend the truth in order to get a cheaper deal.

The research was conducted by car insurance price comparison website, Confused.com, and found that there has been a sharp decline in the number of drivers lying to insurance providers with the intention of getting a cheaper rate on their annual cover compared to this time last year.

In 2010 a similar survey found that 32% of women and 46% had been economical with the truth when applying for car insurance, however those figures are in sharp contrast to this year’s results with just 12% of women and 17% of men admitting to lying to their insurance company. The results are even more unexpected as the cost of car insurance has continued to rise year on year making it more expensive for drivers to get cover for their vehicle.

Although drivers appear to be more honest this year, one thing hasn’t changed and that’s the gender divide as the study conducted by Confused.com on 2,000 customers found that men are still more likely to tell a white lie to their insurance company compared to women.

One of the main reasons cited for this honest approach to car insurance shopping is that drivers are becoming wary of lying to their insurance provider amid fears their policy could be deemed invalid should they attempt to make a claim and information provided is found to be false.

3 out of 4 consumers choose the cheapest insurance quote

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When it comes to choosing an insurance policy, be it for travel, your home or car, 75% of us will opt for the cheapest quote, regardless of whether it offers adequate levels of cover for our needs.

Money talks, it would seem, and thrifty Britain would rather save a few quid than splash the cash on a more costly insurance policy, even if it does offer better levels of cover should you need to make a claim. However insurance experts warn that this is a dangerous business and could leave consumers open to problems as opting for a cheaper policy could leave them without sufficient cover should they run into trouble.

The use of price comparison websites to find the best deals on insurance has risen dramatically over the last few years and this may have something to do with the growing trend for choosing the cheapest insurance deal on the market. The recent survey found that 75% of people blindly opt for the cheapest offer flagged up on price comparison websites, without considering whether or not the policy covers their needs.

The same survey also found that 14% of people fail to make a claim on their insurance policy, 22% of which say that a high excess means it’s not worth them making a claim.

The advice from insurance experts is to not be seduced by low cost policies, as these will more often than not offer the lowest form of cover, which could lead to problems should you need to make a claim.

Most car friendly UK town revealed

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The UK’s most car friendly town has been revealed as St Helens, Merseyside, for the second year on the trot following the results of the annual poll run by Virgin Money Car Insurance.

A number of key factors were considered in order to compile the list which indexes 65 cities and towns across the UK from best to worst according to their ability to provide a pleasant environment for motorists. Factors such as the cost of fuel in a specific town, its levels of car crime and also parking charges were taken into consideration as the list was compiled.

Two Berkshire towns featured in the tail end of the list with Reading being named the least car-friendly town in the country, with Slough coming in equal 61st place out of the 65 strong list. Slough, Cardiff and Manchester were all found to have high levels of car crime, which lead to a poor scoring on the annual poll.

However West Midlands town, West Bromwich, experienced a turn in fortunes as they rose from 34th place in table last year, to second place in 2011, following St Helens as the most car friendly town in the country.

Virgin Money Car Insurance believe that motorists are becoming increasingly wary of driving in urban areas because of the increase in the cost of parking and speeding fines, and also the rising expense of fuel, which is something which is reflected in the findings of the study.

Over three quarters of women believe European ruling on car insurance is unfair

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According to a recent report published in the wake of the recent European Court of Justice ruling which found gender bias in the insurance industry to be discriminatory, 1 in 8 women believe the ruling is unfair.

Currently, women enjoy cheaper rates than male drivers on car insurance as statistics show that they are less likely to be involved in an accident, and even when female drivers are involved in a crash, their claims are lower.

However the European Court of Justice this week ruled that using gender as a means by which to calculate risk by insurance companies was tantamount to discrimination, and so from December 2012, gender will no longer be taken into consideration when calculating car insurance premiums.

The upshot of this is that women can expect higher rates of car insurance, while male drivers are likely to see a reduction. However a recent report found that the vast majority, 78%, of those women questioned thought the ruling was unfair. Only 22% of respondents thought the ECJ ruling was just.

Not surprisingly, the poll found that male drivers were happy with the ruling, with 74% declaring that they agreed with the decision from the court in Luxemburg that gender bias is discriminatory and that they welcome the change in the rules.

Women will face higher car insurance premiums following ruling from Europe

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It’s been the subject of much discussion over the course of the last few months, and now it’s official; women will have to pay more for their car insurance in the future following a ruling from the European Court of Justice which found that gender bias in calculating insurance rates is discriminatory.

Women currently benefit from cheaper rates of car insurance as they are viewed as a lower risk group compared to male drivers who are statistically more likely to be involved in an accident. Figures also show that male drivers tend to be involved in more serious accidents than their female counterparts, and so in the past, insurance companies have used these kinds of statistics to calculate risk.

However the European Court of Justice in Luxemburg has ruled this week that using gender as a “risk factor” to calculate the cost of car insurance premiums “constitutes discrimination”.

The ruling means that from December 2012, insurance companies will no longer be able to offer lower rates of cover to drivers based on their gender. As a result, female drivers could face an increase in the cost of their insurance of up to 25%, while male drivers could see a reduction of as much as 10%.

As well as affecting the insurance premiums, the ruling will also have an impact on the way life insurance and pensions are calculated.