AA Insurance has warned that uninsured drivers are being let off too lightly by the courts, even though they may be putting people at serious risk. According to the motoring organisation, honest drivers are being let down because uninsured motorists are being given fines and sanctions that fail to reflect the seriousness of the offences [...]
An insurance scam could have left around twenty thousand motorists uninsured according to a report by the BBC. ‘Ghost brokers’ are targeting young drivers who are struggling to afford high insurance premiums, as well as communities where English is not the first language and where residents may not understand how the UK insurance system works. [...]
Homeserve revealed today that it expects to spend around £10 million on overhauling its sales practices following the recent mis-selling scandal. The decision by repair and insurance group Homeserve to suspend sales activity after problems with its selling practices came to light will also result in significant costs. The reduction in marketing is expected to [...]
Pet insurance fraud almost quadrupled last year according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI). In 2010 pet insurance fraud totalled £1.9 million, while in 2009 it was just £420,000 according to the ABI’s figures, although the true scale is believed to be even higher. Policy holders are trying to cheat the system in a [...]
Customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) are liable for tax on the compensation they receive. The Financial Services Authority awarded compensation to PPI customers who had been mis-sold policies, plus 8 per cent interest on the money they originally spent on the policy. This interest is subject to tax it has been revealed, [...]
Homeserve, which provides emergency insurance and home repairs on boilers, plumbing and domestic appliances, has restarted its telesales operation. The company closed its call centre on 31 October following a review by Deloitte which highlighted problems with its sales processes. Homeserve initiated an immediate re-training programme for its call centre staff and has now started [...]
Motor insurance company Admiral has issued a profits warning causing its shares to plummet by a quarter, after being hit by an increase in personal injury claims. The company, which owns Elephant and Confused.com now expects 2011 profits to fall at the lower end of the range of analysts’ estimates. The number of personal injury [...]
With immediate effect, motorists will be forced to declare if their car is off the road if they want to avoid buying insurance. The measures are part of the Government’s efforts to clamp down on uninsured motorists. In the past, drivers had to be caught driving with no insurance to be charged and prosecuted. From [...]
When consumers shop around for the cheapest insurance, they are in danger of cutting corners and ending up with a policy that will not properly cover them. That’s according to research from Incahoot.com, who say there is little point someone paying cheap for insurance that doesn’t do what it needs to. The study for Incahoot [...]
The Lloyd’s of London insurance market today said natural disasters will cost it in the region of £2.4 billion ($3.8 billion). The recent catastrophes including the flooding in Australia, the New Zealand earthquake, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, means insurance prices will soar as claims eat into the industry’s capital reserves. The company said the [...]
Lloyds Banking Group has been forced to set aside a huge sum of money to cover potential costs related to its mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI). The bank has made a provision of £3.2 billion for contacting its PPI customers and making recompense where necessary. As a result it posted a £3.47 billion loss [...]
UK banks are set to lose billions following a High Court ruling over Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). The controversial insurance has been a hot topic for sometime now and the Financial Services Authority introduced a review of the insurance after millions of policies were mis-sold and thousands of complaints were received. Under a PPI policy, [...]
British insurance giant Prudential has today announced profits grew 17% in the third quarter – driven by higher sales at its Asian and US markets. The results were better than expected and sent its shares up 0.6% in early morning trading. The insurer, which is Britain’s largest, said it has focused its attention on expanding [...]
As a woman gets older she can expect her car insurance premiums to rise significantly faster than single men. That’s according to a study by Which?, who used a price comparison site for car insurance to explore differences in pricing for men and women of different ages. Which? found that once a woman reached 60 [...]
The Lloyd’s of London insurance market today reported a massive fall in profits, due to a series of catastrophes, including the Chilean earthquake and BP’s oil spill. The market reported pre-tax profits of £628 million for the first six months of 2010, compared with £1.32 billion a year earlier – a significant fall of 50%. [...]
British insurance giant Prudential has said the cost of its failed bid for AIA, the Asian arm of US company American International Group (AIG), is £377 million before tax relief. However, it is less than originally thought. Following the collapse of the deal, Pru said it faced costs of £450 million relating to the withdrawal [...]
Over a third of fatal accidents on Britain’s roads are caused by road rage, according to new research. The study by AXA insurance found 800 lives are lost every year through road accidents caused by angry drivers. More than one in three (35%) serious road accidents involve at least one angry driver. AXA estimates the [...]
Nearly half of car insurance providers do not provide a courtesy car as standard, research by Defaqto found. The study found 49% of car insurance policies would not provide a replacement car following an accident. A further 28% only offer a replacement car if it was selected as an optional extra when the insurance policy [...]
Only a quarter of travel insurance policies offer cover if the policy holder is stranded because their airline has gone bust, according to a new study. The research by Defaqto found 77% of travel insurance policies do not cover airline failure. Even insurers that cover airline failure may only offer a refund for the missed [...]
Brit Insurance has rejected a takeover bid of £10-a-share from US private equity firm, Apollo. Following the news, shares in Brit soared 20% after the company said the offer “significantly undervalues” the group. Brit, which became the England cricket team sponsor in January, saw its shares rise above the 900p mark on Friday, before falling [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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