The price of car insurance for women is expected to rise in December, when a new EU directive comes into force, but it seems that some insurance companies are already increasing their charges for female customers. The latest data from comparison site Tiger.co.uk shows that the average price of a policy for a male driver [...]
Concerns over “dysfunctional” business practices have led the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to refer the private motor insurance market to the Competition Commission. A report by the OFT suggests that artificially high charges could be causing car insurance premiums to increase unnecessarily. The problem centres around the referral fees which car hire and repair [...]
The cost of car insurance is starting to fall according to the AA’s British Insurance Premium Index. The average ‘shoparound’ quote for comprehensive car insurance fell by 1.1 per cent to £1,132 by the end of March. The Shoparound premium is an average of the five cheapest premiums quoted by around 50 insurance providers. Over [...]
Insurance companies are becoming quicker at raising the price of motor premiums when the driver has committed an offence such as speeding or using a mobile phone, according to the AA. Insurers often used to ignore a first SP30 speeding offence, but it is now likely to result in the driver’s car insurance premiums increasing [...]
Research has revealed that more than 50% of drivers plan to switch to a black box insurance policy in the coming half decade. The UK’s young driver market leader Intelligent Marmalade (www.intelligentmarmalade.co.uk) is a product from the award winning young person’s car insurance provider Young Marmalade. “We have seen significant improvements in driver behavior since [...]
A study by car insurance provider, Esure, has found that drivers suffer from a lapse in concentration just 11 minutes into a long journey. Esure questioned more than 1,000 motorists in the UK about their driving habits and attention span. 22 per cent of those surveyed said they fell into ‘autopilot’ easily, while 34% said [...]
Car insurance costs are spiralling and claims for whiplash injuries are one of the main causes, according to a new report by MPs, launched today. Although the number of road accident casualties has fallen by 23 per cent in the past six years, the number of motor insurance injury claims has grown by 70 per [...]
Stormy weather caused the number of car insurance claims to shoot up by 28% in the first five days of the New Year, the AA has revealed. Many parts of the UK suffered winds of up to 90mph resulting in thousands of pounds worth of damage to vehicles. Cars were hit by an array of [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Young drivers in the UK are less likely to make an insurance claim than their European counterparts, according to a new study. Research by AXA found that British motorists aged under 25 are 30% less likely to make a claim than young drivers in Spain or France, and 25% less likely than those in Germany. [...]
If you’re unlucky enough to crash your car twice this winter you could find yourself paying double for car insurance, according to Confused.com. Some insurers researched by the price comparison site more than trebled the cost of insurance premiums after two accidents. Confused.com said drivers should take extra care at the moment because icy winter [...]
Car insurance premiums are set to rise dramatically in 2010, Confused.com said this week. The price comparison site made the comment after Zurich announced a 20% hike to the cost of car insurance. “Zurich’s announcement has not come as a surprise,” said Will Thomas, Confused.com head of car insurance. “It is anticipated others will follow [...]
The AA has told motorists to brace themselves for a sharp increase in motor insurance premiums. Research by the organisation found the average premium for comprehensive insurance has increased by 14% in the last 12 months, the biggest rise in 15 years. Simon Douglas, AA Insurance director, said consumers should expect to be hit by [...]
British drivers treat their cars as high security vaults, collectively storing an estimated £3.8 billion worth of gadgets and accessories in their vehicles, research by over 50s insurance specialist Saga has discovered. The study found that one in five (22%) motorists over 50 keep valuables worth more than £200 in their car. This exceeds the [...]
The AA has secured the accolade of Which? magazine’s top breakdown provider for the third year running. Customers polled by the consumer advice magazine gave the AA an average rating of 86% for customer satisfaction, level of service, and whether they would recommend the company to a friend. “Holding on to top position for three [...]
Drivers are paying over the odds on their car insurance because of a rising number of “unnecessary” personal injury claims and associated legal fees, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said this week. The insurance industry body said soaring injury claims and associated legal fees have become a major issue for motor insurers, and are [...]
Car insurance premiums increased 3.5% over the past three months, research by the AA has discovered. The typical quote for annual comprehensive insurance cover now stands at £778.13, according to the AA British Insurance Premium Index. This is 11% more than 12 months ago. Home insurance premiums also increased in the second quarter, up 2.5% [...]
Severn Trent inflation-linked bond launched
Severn Trent has become the first utility company to issue a retail bond, in an effort to raise £2.5 billion. The 10-year, inflation-linked bond is being issued to the general public rather than professional investors. It is available in denominations of £100 and will pay interest twice a year at a rate of 1.3 per [...]
Tenants pay £200,000 more for housing than home owners
Over a lifetime, a tenant will pay nearly £200,000 more for their accommodation than a homeowner, Barclays suggests in a new study. Over a fifty-year period it costs an average of £429,000 to purchase a property through a mortgage and to maintain it, the study says, while renting a home for fifty years would cost [...]
Confused.com calls for insurance shake-up
The insurance market is failing to keep up with social changes according to a new study by comparison site Confused.com. With more people marrying later in life, the site claims that traditional insurance products are failing to meet the needs of the increasing number of people who are joining up with friends to buy a [...]
Tenants unaware of deposit protection scheme
Housing charity Shelter is receiving a higher number of calls from tenants worried about losing their deposit on rented accommodation, despite regulations being in place to ensure this doesn’t happen. Calls to Shelter’s helpline over rental deposits have almost doubled from 1,764 in 2009-10 to 3,288 in 2011-12. Problems may arise when a tenant moves [...]
Cards launched for customers with low credit rating
SAV Credit, which offers credit cards to customers who have been turned away by High Street Banks, has launched two new products. The aqua Reward and aqua Advance cards are available to customers with a poor credit rating and offer credit limits of up to £1,600. The aqua Advance card offers a reduced rate of [...]
Inflation fell to 2.8 per cent on the Consumer Prices Index in May, from 3 per cent in April, surprising economists who had not expected it to change. Inflation also fell on the Retail Prices Index, which includes housing costs, from 3.5 per cent in April to 3.1 per cent in June. Inflation is now [...]
A quarter of over-50s will delay retirement
Saga, which provides finance products exclusively for the over 50s, claims that more than a quarter of people in this age group will work past the current state pension age of 65. Based on 427,000 retirement dates given by people using its annuity service, 27 per cent of over 50s will work beyond the age [...]
Brits ‘careless’ about insuring mobile phones
Virgin Media says it’s ‘time to shake up the market’ over mobile phone insurance because many people are failing to insurance handsets that can be worth up to £500. A study by the communications firm into consumers’ perceptions of mobile insurance, found that 72 per cent of the 1,000 consumers surveyed had not insured their [...]
Passbook account popular with building society customers
Listening to what its customers want has paid off for the Yorkshire Building Society. In a survey, three out of five customers said they preferred to manage their account in branch, more than half said they wanted a passbook, and 70 per cent said they wanted a branch-based account with a competitive variable rate. . [...]
Mortgage lending fell 30% in April
Mortgage lending fell by 30 per cent in April, with just 36,000 home loans approved, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The fall followed the end of the stamp duty concession for first-time buyers, and loans to this group fell by nearly a half, to 12,600 in April. Many first-time buyers rushed to [...]
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