Drivers could be missing out on significant savings by not switching their insurance policy at the optimum time, according to comparethemarket.com. Ursula Gibbs (below), director of comparethemarket.com, said,“Insurance pricing can be complicated, and insurers use a wide array of factors to decide the cost of a policy. "However, our figures clearly show that prices change significantly … [Read more...]
Insurance Features
Brakes go on smart motorways, for now
No more smart motorways will be built for now amid safety concerns but current sections will not be returned to hard shoulders. Using the hard shoulder as a permanent live traffic lane increases capacity, but critics say it's unsafe and has led to deaths. Five years of safety and economic data for the schemes will be collected from the motorways built before … [Read more...]
Premiums dip before expected rise this month
Insurance premiums hit a seven year low at the end of 2021. The average annual car insurance premium declined by £80 year-on-year in Q4 (September – November), according to the latest Premium Drivers research from comparethemarket.com. The average premium is now £640, compared to an average of £721 for the same three-month period in 2020. The decline in the insurance prices also means this is … [Read more...]
Carmarthenshire slips to top of winter accidents in Wales
Government data shows that London has more accidents (4,846) when the weather is poor than all other regions across the country, with nearly double the accidents that occur in Scotland and Wales, put together (2,629). The compilation for Leasing Options showed that within London itself, Lambeth was found to have the most bad-weather related accidents, with 248 occurrences reported last year. … [Read more...]
Welsh police step up breath-tests
Drivers in Wales are far more likely to be breath tested in December than any other month. Analysis of Home Office data by personal breathalyser firm AlcoSense shows that in December last year 4,551 motorists were stopped by Police across Wales on suspicion of drink driving. This was nearly a fifth of the total for the entire year. North Wales led the way with 1,906 tests, followed by South … [Read more...]
Drivers warned about leaving it late to switch insurers
Time is running out if you want to save money and switch insurers before a new law takes effect. Price analysis website Comparethemarket.com has studied UK car insurance premiums over the last nine years revealing drivers are losing up to £350 by not switching their insurance at the optimum time. Significant savings can be made based on the number of days left on your policy and the time of … [Read more...]
Assisted Driving tech is getting better say testers
Thatcham Research and Euro NCAP are encouraged by the results of their latest Assisted Driving Gradings, which show all seven of the mainstream vehicle manufacturers whose cars were tested, are committed to fitting robust Assisted Driving technology at every price point. The world-first Assisted Driving Grading assessments were introduced in October 2020 and are designed to support the sensible … [Read more...]
Repairers are poorly prepared for rising EV sales
The steep rise in electric vehicle sales is a pivotal moment for all EV stakeholders, writes Adrian Watson, Head of Engineering Research at Thatcham Research. September 2021 was the UK’s best month ever for new battery electric vehicle (BEV) registrations, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Not only did the 32,721 new BEV registrations account for 15.2% of the market, … [Read more...]
Write-offs are worrying more drivers
Almost one in three (32%) UK drivers have had a car written off by an insurance company (men 35% and women 30%) and 8% twice or more. London drivers are the most likely to have written off a car, with almost half (48%) having had a car written off by an insurance company. This is almost twice as high as other regions including Wales (23%) and the West Midlands (24%). In the Opinium survey of … [Read more...]
Rising used costs push up accident & write-off payouts
Surging used cr prices have created an unexpected problem when accidents happen, accoding to the National Body Repairers Association. “Following claims that a surge in the price of second-hand cars is driving up the cost of accident repair claims, the NBRA agrees that there is a danger that some insurers may not recognise this fact, and instead will simply think that repairers are charging too … [Read more...]