Car Insurance Guide Blog

A million of us downgrade to third party cover

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:22:53 BST

As the recession bites, we are constantly looking for ways of reducing our outgoings and, given the high costs of running a car, it is no surprise that this is an area which many of us are looking at to make savings.

According to recent research by uSwitch.com, more than a million of us have reduced the level of our motor insurance from fully comprehensive to third party, fire and theft.

Many of us are simply no longer able to afford a comprehensive policy whilst others are prepared to take the risk and make the compromise which a third-party policy entails. 3% of motorists using a price-comparison website say they do not even bother to look at the cost of comprehensive cover.

It is, however, slightly worrying that of the 5 million drivers who have third-party cover, over a third admit that they do not know what they are covered for. Of those who think they do understand, many are wrong. 1.8 million people believe that if they had an accident where they were to blame, they would be covered for damage to their own vehicle. What's more, a further 1.8 million think that they would be covered for damage to both their own vehicle and the other party’s vehicle.

It may come as a surprise to some drivers to learn that a fully-comprehensive policy is actually only 11% more expensive on average than a third-party policy, and in the case of young drivers this is even less, with the differential only being 7%. Direct Line in fact charges 6% more for a third-party policy than a fully-comprehensive one for drivers aged 18.

The Witness Statement

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:34:10 BST

If you've ever experienced the mind-bending stress of being involved in a car accident, then spare a brief thought for anyone the driver may have called upon to be a witness. While the days immediately following a crash are typically filled with both of the vehicle owners completing insurance claim statements, anyone who actually saw what happened may be called upon as a witness to the event.

This needs to be done with approval by the witness, but there is a moral obligation for that person to come forward and say what happened. Anyone who is happy to act as witness will have to complete a Statement of Witness form, which is fairly straightforward. There can be several witnesses to the same accident.

You will be asked where you were, what events took place and who you think was at fault. Where there is one party who was blatantly in the wrong, it is easy for the witness to apportion blame. However, being British, and therefore living in the Kingdom of Sweeping Understatement, it can be difficult for us to just say, “it was him/her”. If there is no doubting who was at fault, then you need to make that clear.

What happens when both parties would seem to be jointly responsible for the accident? In this case, it is acceptable to write, “joint responsibility”, or something similar. If it is a case of 75% versus 25% blame, it is probably better to put, “unable to say” in the box and let the insurance company make their decision based on the events you have described. This way you are not allowing your subjective judgement to interfere with proceedings. You will also receive fewer telephone calls from either insurers or their solicitors.

You are also asked if you know anyone involved, and from which vantage point you observed the accident. This is a filter designed to test if your statement is one-sided (such as to favour your friend who may have been at fault), and also the validity of your statement based on how well you saw what happened.

The best advice is make a clear statement of events, be familiar with the date, time and location of the accident and, if in any doubt, do not make a statement of blame if you are not 100% sure. This will save you a lot of phone calls, and the parties involved a lot of time and expense.

AA warns motorists to keep keys safe

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:56:49 BST

According to the AA, the most likely way that your car is going to get stolen these days is if the thief gets hold of your car keys.

The announcement was made by Edmund King, the president of the AA, at the conference of the International Association of Auto Theft Investigators. He also highlighted a number of facts about car crime, including:

car crime overall has dropped by 66% since the middle of the 1990s
during 2007 and 2008, nearly 1.5 million vehicles were reported stolen
car crime is responsible for 13% of all crime in the UK

But the most startling fact that he brought to light was that over the last year, 15,700 cars were stolen following the theft of the owner’s keys during a burglary, which represents a 15% rise. On top of that, another 2,900 cars were stolen after the owners had their keys stolen from their person.

Despite cars having improved security systems, if the keys are stolen then the security system will be of little use.
It has prompted the AA to warn people that this is the most likely way that they will lose their car to theft, and that special care should be taken of their car keys at all times. This includes when they are at home, because keys are the “weakest link” in the car crime chain and thieves are now actively looking for car keys when they break into a house.

Motorists confused over continental car insurance

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:31:57 BST

If your summer holiday this year involves driving your car across to Europe, do you know exactly how much cover you can expect to receive on your car insurance? The chances are that you don't, because according to new research released by moneysupermarket.com, 49% of car owners do not know how much cover they are entitled to whilst driving abroad.

More people than ever have decided to involve an element of driving on the continent as part of their summer holiday plans but they could be in for a nasty shock if they are unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident or their vehicle breaks down whilst abroad.

According to the research, out of the 20 biggest car insurance companies, only half provide the same level of cover abroad for their customers as they do back home. But this is comes as a great surprise to many drivers, with one third of people with fully comprehensive insurance believing they would be insured at the same level abroad.

Many companies will downgrade a fully-comprehensive plan to third-party only, whereas some will downgrade their cover to the minimum level required in the country where any problems occur. Time limits are also automatically imposed in many cases, meaning that drivers will only be insured for 30 days or 90 days once they leave the UK.

The head of car insurance at moneysupermarket.com, Steve Sweeney, warns drivers that “it is a mistake to assume your existing cover is valid when driving abroad” and advises that they should always check the details of any policy so that they are aware of what they are covered for.

The free breakdown pitfall

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:48:16 BST

It was an Alfa Romeo and it had to happen. Standing next to my pride and joy, which by now was billowing white smoke quite some way up into the atmosphere, I could finally understand why Italian cars warranted such a fearsome reputation for unreliability.

I had been having a lot of difficulty with my car until it finally expired one morning on the M1 Motorway. Seeing the temperature dial swing past 130 degrees is never a pleasant way to begin your morning. The resulting fireball that was once the top end of my engine was both spectacular and frightening in equal measure. I managed to pull into the services, despite my car spewing smoke like a Red Arrow jet.

This, however, was not a problem because I had free breakdown cover. It was a value-added perk of my car insurance policy. The breakdown assistance was provided by the RAC, one of the UK's largest and most reputable policy providers.

What you need to remember is that the free breakdown cover offered to you by your insurance company is an entry level of cover. Think of it as “Breakdown Insurance Light”. What this means is that it will only cover you to get you to a garage within a maximum distance of ten miles from where you break down. The garage itself must be approved by the insurer, and of course not all regions have a large concentration of these approved facilities.

If you are unlucky enough to break down outside the ten mile zone, you will have to pay the cost of the tow truck for every mile over. This doesn't sound too bad, but I was towed a total of 21 miles and my supplement was £180. It depends on where you are and how much the company operating the towing vehicle charges the breakdown scheme provider.

Insurance companies are keen to advertise their free breakdown cover because it makes an insurance policy appear to be better value. However, when you factor in the extra £30 it requires to upgrade your breakdown assistance to a more complete package, you begin to think that it is not worthwhile.

The best advice would be to choose car insurance on its own merit, and look at a separate breakdown policy which has the features you desire. This way you can be sure you are getting the products that are of the most use to you.

PetrolPrices.com have compared all the leading breakdown cover policies by price and policy details, to help you find a cover plan that's right for you. Don't be caught with a duff policy, make sure you get your breakdown cover today!

Is Virgin's car insurance worth thinking about?

Fri, 22 May 2009 16:06:48 BST

Trains, planes, credit cards, festivals, and books are some of the Virgin brands still going from strength to strength. Record label, record store, bridal wear, radio station, and mobile phones are some of those that have had their day and been bought for millions. Sir Richard Branson is never short of ideas for new Virgin ventures. For the last five years car insurance has been an arm of his increasingly popular Virgin Money, that deals with mortgages, loans, pensions and credit cards.

How can you tell which is a good or bad car insurer? Nowadays this is a fairly unanswerable question because everyone has a different set of criteria for their policy, not to mention much more chance of finding the exact one that suits them. We have price comparison sites to make things much easier for us. This has now resulted in customers having little to no loyalty towards insurance providers, but rather going with the company that comes out top of the list, i.e. the least expensive.

This is certainly true for new drivers and this is where Virgin surprisingly comes into the equation. Maybe because of their airline you might not associate Virgin with being focused on the budget end of the marketplace. but if you are a new driver, without a no claims bonus, Virgin are well worth looking into. They offer a 10% discount if you buy online and they have a number of optional extras, one of which is a no claims protection if you have a four-year discount saved up. They won the best motor insurance award in 2007 from Your Money Direct.

Like all providers, Virgin suffers from mixed reviews from customers, and this is largely because people only voice their opinions when either very happy or very unhappy. They might be better for those only looking into third party cover because they are one of the cheaper providers across the country. They aren’t always the most reliable in terms of customer services though, when replacement cars are promised or your own car has to be repaired. However, it is certainly worth having a look at their website.