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More Than insurance are to become the first insurer to offer a discount to hybrid car drivers in the UK.
The More Than eco-car insurance is designed to reward eco-friendly driving as premiums for existing hybrid customers will be reduced and a discount will be offered to new customers with hybrid vehicles.
Research released by More Than reveals that while being concerned about environmental issues, drivers would also be encouraged to drive eco-friendly cars if it saved them money.
Of those surveyed 58 per cent would consider switching if they could benefit from cheaper motor insurance.
Keith Maxwell, head of motor insurance at More Than insurance, says: "We want to financially reward drivers who are taking steps to do their bit for the environment."
With environmental issues high on the public agenda and high petrol prices, More Than eco-car insurance discount offers an incentive for drivers to change to more eco-friendly vehicles.
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New data from HPI suggests that all vehicle types are susceptible to crime, highlighting the need for car insurance.
Detailed analysis of the HPI database reveals that whilst supercars and luxury vehicles remain the most common targets for criminals, family and city cars are also at great risk.
The HPI database checks the background of vehicles to reveal whether they are stolen, written off, have a mileage discrepancy or have outstanding finance against them.
Its data shows that whilst performance cars are more likely to be written off or have their number plates transferred than family cars and coupes, they are less likely to have their mileage altered. Family cars and coupes are actually at the top of HPI's mileage discrepancy register
Similarly, while supercars and luxury vehicles are shown to have the highest risk of being stolen, coupes and executive cars are also prominent targets for theft.
And 4x4s, which do not appear on any of HPI's other registers, are highly likely to appear on the outstanding finance register.
Daniel Burgess, automotive director, commented: "Close analysis of this data reveals that dealers must not be complacent when it comes to the middle of the range vehicles such as family cars. Unsurprisingly, luxury and performance cars are high risk, but the hit rates highlight the need for dealer awareness across the entire range of vehicles."
The database's diverse findings underlines the importance of having full car insurance cover to protect against theft and other car crimes, whatever type the car is.
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After your dream home, your car remains the second-most prized possession for you. And more value is normally attached to it if it happens to be a luxury car like a BMW or a Mercedes. After all, car buying alone is considered to be a lifetime achievement for many among us.
However, unlike other prized possessions, a car is not meant to be preserved at one place and then taken care of. It, instead, has to be run on roads and, most of the time, kept in public places where anything unfortunate can happen to it. It, therefore, needs protection not only from, say, third party liability but also from accidents apart from natural and man made calamities.
And what a better way to protect your vehicle than to give it an insurance cover! One good thing about motor insurance is that it is mandatory as per law. Under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, all vehicles that ply in public places must have an insurance policy that at least covers 'Third Party Liability' as specified under the Act.
But if you really love your car and are not among those who keep changing their cars after every, say six months, it is better to go for a comprehensive coverage to ensure all round protection. And the entry of private insurance companies in recent years is said to have made a lot of difference to the motor insurance portfolio in terms of services.
Says Kamesh Goyal, CEO, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance: 'Motor insurance premium is as per the tariff and hence there has been no change in the premium structure.
But ever since the entry of private sector players, there has been innovation in operational levels like cashless settlement of motor repair claims, introduction of motor dealers as a distribution channel, tie-up with motor manufacturers, tie-up with motor workshops to quick and reasonable repair and labour costs, on-line issuance of policies, on-line purchase of motor policies, and SMS alerts on motor claim status introduced by us, among others.'
However, all said and done, choosing the right insurance partner is still not easy. So how to go for the best policy which meets your requirements as well?
'Customers should check the service levels of different insurers as well as the existence of cashless tie-ups with garages before deciding on an insurer,' says Karan Chopra, national manager, ICICI Lombard.
Adds Goyal: 'The consumers today have a lot of choice when it comes to deciding their insurance partner. Each of the distribution channel partner like motor dealers, agents and banks vie for the customer to provide motor insurance. One should, however, be careful while choosing the insurance partner.'
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Tesco applies 'Value' brand to car insurance
25th May 2006
Tesco is launching a 'Value' low price comprehensive motor insurance policy, aiming to keep costs low by offering the policy only over the internet, restricting cover to over-21s, and specifying where policyholders can have claims repairs done.
The policies also have a higher excess of '475, compared to '300 for the group's comprehensive cover, and reduce the guarantee provided on repair parts from three years to one. As a result Tesco, now said to be the UK's third largest motor insurer, says it's able to offer the policy for '2 a month more than its standard third-party cover, and nearly '50 a year less than its comprehensive policy.
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The next time Pete Marshall rents a car, I predict he'll either study his receipt with laser-beam intensity or make sure he has only one bank card in his wallet. That's because his failure to do either, on a recent trip to St. Louis, cost him $500. Marshall rented an Avis car at the airport, and when the clerk asked how he wanted to pay, Marshall handed her his Visa debit card.
"She asked if I wanted to use their insurance," he states, "at which point I realized that I should have given her my Visa platinum credit card." That's because the credit card-- unlike the debit card-- includes zero-deductible insurance on rental cars.
Marshall claims that he asked the Avis employee not to use the debit card and handed her the credit card instead. "She took the second card," he says, and, assuming that was the card he was renting the car under, he signed the rental form.
You guessed it: Marshall had an accident (which he admits was his fault). Things got even worse, however, when he got his bank statement and realized that the car had been rented with the debit-- not the credit-- card. The accident was covered under Marshall's regular auto insurance, but he had to pay a $500 deductible.
Marshall said he made "numerous" phone calls to Avis, during which he was told there was nothing the company could do, since he had signed the rental agreement with the debit card number on it.
"I said, 'Well, what's Avis's reputation worth? Don't expect me to ever rent from Avis again.'"
In the end, Avis offered coupons worth $85, which was the rental fee he'd paid. Since Marshall rarely rents a car, he says he asked (1) whether he could give them away, and (2) whether there would be an expiration date. He claims the answers were yes, he could give them away, and no, there would be no expiration date.
But when the coupons, three for $25 and one for $10, arrived, he says, the fine print stated that no more than three could be used at once, which meant they'd have to be spread across two rentals. Worse, they'd have to be used by June 30.
I contacted Susan McGowan, director of public relations at Avis, who confirmed the company's position. Regardless of how the wrong credit card ended up on Marshall's rental contract, McGowan reiterated, it was his responsibility to check the card number before signing.
As for the coupons' fine print, however, McGowan said, "We will replace the coupons with something equivalent and a longer shelf life."
I don't rent cars very often, either, and when I have I've waived the insurance. Now, however, I'm not so sure that's the best way to go. BreezeNet Marketing has a website (bnm.com/insgas.htm) that explains the customer's options-- i.e., rental-company insurance vs. credit-card insurance vs. regular auto insurance-- and I plan to bone up before getting behind the wheel of another rented car.
Nigerian scammers find a mark
Earlier this year, I wrote about a new wrinkle in the notorious Nigerian "419" scam ["Check the check," January 26], in which con artists posing as potential tenants for an apartment I'd advertised sent bogus checks. The idea was that I'd be stupid enough to deposit the checks/money orders (which looked 100 percent authentic) and then wire them the extra $2,000 or so overpayment that had "accidentally" been included.
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Dundee is apparently the UK's most car-friendly town, according to a report from a car insurance provider.
Virgin Money Car Insurance gave ratings to the UK's largest 50 towns based on factors such as the cost of parking, the number of speed cameras on surrounding roads and the level of car crime 'C a major aspect of motor insurance premiums.
Following Dundee in the car-friendly stakes were Blackpool, Ipswich, Portsmouth and Southend. Least car-friendly was deemed to be Cardiff, followed by Nottingham, Birmingham, London and Reading.
Virgin Money Car Insurance's Jason Wyer-Smith commented: "Driving can be frustrating and expensive whether it is a case of struggling to find a car park or struggling to pay for the car park with the cost of petrol, speed camera fines and the threat of vehicle crime thrown in."
"There are bound to be drivers in Dundee who cannot believe their city is car-friendly just as there will be people in Cardiff who love driving there," he added.
East Midlands city Nottingham was found to be the worst city for vehicle crime, although last month Tesco Personal finance found that the highest car insurance premiums are in the north west and London.
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Perhaps insurers think that older women drivers who do low mileage and have five years no claims are all schizophrenics. They seem to think that no one person can have all those characteristics. That's the way it comes across anyway when they advertise their various schemes.
One insurer will offer them a scheme for older drivers, another for women drivers, another will offer discounts for low mileage and another will give a 75% no claims discount if you're accident-free for five years. Working out which scheme to go for can be time-consuming. Indeed, it could probably turn you into a schizophrenic!
It doesn't matter who you are, you'll probably qualify for different types of discount. The question is, are they gimmicks, or can you really save money? I invented a hypothetical 56-year-old male with a BMW and one claim on his record. Saga, an insurer for the over fifties, can insure him for '352. However, there are over a dozen insurers that can do it more cheaply. Swiftcover, for example, came up with the figure '261.
I did another quick search on a hypothetical person who could take advantage of at least three different types of introductory discount. I made up details for a 22-year-old female driver who does less than 1,000 miles. Many insurers with no promotions for women offered cheaper cover than Diamond, an insurer for women drivers, which quoted '505. QuoteA, which makes a big thing about comparing cheap young persons' cover, was also beaten by four or five insurers and brokers, with '422. There were no low-mileage insurers in sight of the cheapest deals, which were around '395.
New schemes appear all the time as insurers try to make themselves look different. Admiral has launched a multi-car policy. This does exactly as you'd expect: it covers more than one vehicle on the same insurance certificate. More Than have released an eco-car policy, as they try to push their green-friendly credentials. Also, Tesco releases a 'Value' policy this Wednesday. It's a comprehensive policy minus some of the usual extras and it's aimed at helping third-party only drivers upgrade their cover.
However, the evidence suggests that it doesn't matter who the insurers say their policies are good for. You should compare a range of insurers to get the best quote. I'm not saying that Saga never quotes the best price for 56-year old men, or that Diamond is never the cheapest for women. That's almost certainly not true. But it is important to look around, and not fall for the slogans and advertising.
Don't be suckered in by advertising gimmicks. Compare prices with lots of insurers now.
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When news broke Monday that Pittsburgh Steelers star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was seriously injured in a motorcycle crash in which he was not wearing a helmet, it brought back memories of last spring, when my father was killed while riding his motorcycle without his helmet. And predictably, it made me furious.
It made me angry because Roethlisberger is someone who appears to have it all. He's young. He's popular. And he's successful. In January, at age 23, he became the youngest quarterback in history to win a Super Bowl.
In Monday's crash, Roethlisberger struck a car. He was thrown from his bike and hit the car's windshield with his head. In the process, he lost two teeth, broke his upper and lower jaw, broke his nose and broke various facial bones.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Roethlisberger was in fair condition after seven hours of surgery to repair his multiple facial fractures. Doctors say he appeared to escape serious injury to his chest, abdomen, spine or brain. He's lucky. He's also incredibly stupid.
He's stupid because he could have very easily brought an end to a promising career just as it was getting started. Or worse, he could have been killed. Roethlisberger was released from the hospital Wednesday evening, just two days after his accident, and he will apparently play this year. But who knows if he will ever again be the same quarterback he was in January, when he was on top of the world? Only time will tell.
In my mind, Ben Roethlisberger has just become the poster child for why a universal helmet usage law is needed in this country. Actually, we used to have one, until members of Congress repealed it in 1995. Since then, many states, including Pennsylvania, have made helmets optional (Pennsylvania's law making them optional passed in 2003). And every year, it seems, someone in Tennessee's General Assembly tries to do the same thing here. It's an outrage.
I can already hear the outcry from those who think that this is an issue of personal choice, and that wearing a helmet should be optional. To those people, I say, no it's not. This is an issue of safety and of public health.
One fact that cannot be denied is that motorcycle helmets save lives. Statistics indicate that approximately half the motorcycle fatalities each year could be prevented if people would use helmets, and use them properly. Some people will, of course, argue, that helmets don't save every life. Of course they don't. Neither do seatbelts. But your chances of surviving a serious accident are significantly greater if you are wearing a helmet. That fact is indisputable.
What also is indisputable is that keeping helmets mandatory helps save consumers a lot of money in health care costs. Take it from me. Even a short stay in the hospital can cost thousands of dollars. And if the stay becomes extended, it could bankrupt the average American.
The problem with the "personal choice" crowd is that they can't see past the end of their own nose. They think they're the only ones affected by their decision to ride without their helmet. They're not. What they can't, or won't, see is that every time they have a serious accident that requires a lengthy hospital stay, it affects others through increased insurance premiums and health care costs. It's unfair. And it's largely preventable.
We need a universal helmet usage law in this country because it would eliminate the patchwork of laws where some states require helmets and some don't. And we need a universal usage law because, frankly, it would eliminate the "stupid factor." It would take the choice of whether to wear a helmet and make it easy by making it the law.
Congress should revisit this issue and make helmets the law of the land again. We can argue all day about "personal choice" and about government's intrusion into our personal lives. But the fact is, Ben Roethlisberger is lucky to be alive. Not everyone who had an accident this serious would walk away from it. By making helmets mandatory, we would greatly increase their chances.
Peter Watson is The Jackson Sun's editorial page assistant. Call him at 425-9655 or toll-free at (800) 372-3922, Ext. 655. Log onto jacksonsun.com and share your thoughts on this column.
Originally published June 18, 2006
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Home ? "> Columnists ? "> Lemmon, Russ ?
Article published Sunday, June 18, 2006
Big Ben needs helmet both on field and road
Every so often, a famous athlete becomes permanently linked to something that has nothing to do with sports.
Lou Gehrig and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
Magic Johnson and HIV / AIDS.
Lance Armstrong and testicular cancer.
Last week, without warning, Ben Roethlisberger's name became associated with motorcycle helmets.
The Findlay native may be the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl ' he did that in February, leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to their fifth NFL title ' but years from now he may be better known for his role in making motorcycle helmets mandatory in Ohio and Pennsylvania, if not the entire country.
We'll call it Big Ben's Law.
Mr. Roethlisberger's motorcycle accident Monday in Pittsburgh reignited the debate over whether helmets should be mandatory. He wasn't wearing one and paid a physical price ' a broken jaw, a broken nose, broken teeth, and a flaplike cut on the back of his head. He spent seven hours in surgery.
As is the case with the debate over global warming (I challenge you to watch Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, which is now playing in the Toledo area, and still say global warming is a myth), the debate over making helmets mandatory should be over.
And I'm not talking about the absurdity of motorcycle helmets being optional when those in cars are required to wear seat belts.
Once upon a time I sided with those who say it should be a matter of "choice." In my early 20s, I owned a motorcycle and often rode without a helmet.
Why have I done an about-face? Because health-care costs are spiraling out of control, and Mr. Roethlisberger's hospital bill is part of the problem.
Would he have sustained a broken jaw had he been wearing a helmet? How about a broken nose? Broken teeth? A flaplike cut on the back of his head?
I'd like to look at Mr. Roethlisberger's hospital bill and see how much he was charged for work done on his jaw, nose, and teeth, as well as the cut on the back of his head.
Then, I'd like to compare that bill to one he would have received had he been wearing a helmet. No doubt the latter would be a fraction of the price.
The situation applies to anyone involved in a motorcycle accident. If he has medical insurance through his employer, there likely is a cap for what he has to pay for a hospital stay ' and the rest is absorbed by others in the health-insurance universe.
Which, of course, results in higher insurance premiums.
Health insurance or car insurance, the same principles apply. That is, policyholders get it in the end.
Admittedly, the cost of health care has become a top-of-mind issue for me only in recent months. It all started with an article that said couples should plan on spending at least $200,000 on health care after they retire. (Yikes!) Closer to home, and much more immediate, the cost of health care is a major issue in the current labor negotiations between The Blade and its unions.
This wasn't the first motorcycle accident where wearing a helmet could have prevented thousands of dollars in medical expenses from being absorbed by others. And it won't be the last.
In today's society, where too many live paycheck to paycheck, the "choice" argument for helmets is being trumped by our pocketbooks.
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Police in Handsworth, West Midlands, are to launch an offensive against motorists who drive illegally without car insurance.
Car insurance has been compulsory in the UK since 1930 but the Department for Transport estimates that one in 20 motorists risk driving without it.
According to the Motor Insurers' Bureau, uninsured drivers add on average '30 to car insurance premiums of law-abiding drivers.
PC Andrew Webber of the road policing unit remarked: "Many unlicensed vehicles also have no insurance, no MOT certificates and are often committing other road safety offences."
"Their removal from the streets will have a direct impact on road safety and will improve the quality of life for people living in the area," he added.
As part of Operation Warrior, West Midlands Police are asking members of the public to provide details of cars without tax and motor insurance policies.
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