Showing blog posts for March 2011

UK drivers paying the price for the uninsured

By James Preston

makeandmodel.co.uk

28 March 2011

Uninsured drivers are costing every motorist in the UK an average of £30 per year, according to research by moneysupermarket car insurance experts. Worryingly, the number of drivers in the UK who have driven without insurance is as high as one in six and, perhaps more worryingly, one in three uninsured drivers claims not to have been aware they were breaking the law. How can the UK solve its insurance aversion problem?

The law in the UK is very clear when it comes to car insurance. A vehicle must be named on a person’s policy in order to for that person to drive said vehicle. But this law is being broken at an alarming rate – at the expense of road users who obey the laws on car insurance.

Car insurance experts surveyed 2,019 British adults in February 2011 to garner information on the problem of uninsured driving. The results showed that 16 per cent of drivers have driven a car they were not insured to drive. Of this 16 per cent, seven per cent claimed to have driven their own car without cover, seven per cent said they had driven someone else’s car without insurance and a further two per cent admitted to having driven their car in between their insurance policy expiring and obtaining a new policy.

Lack of knowledge about car insurance law seems to be at the heart of the problem for many people in the UK. No less than 27 per cent of respondents who admitted to driving uninsured in the survey said they did not realise they needed insurance at the times when they drove without it.

A further 38 per cent of uninsured drivers claimed to have been between insurance policies when they drove uninsured, which nine per cent said they “couldn’t be bothered” to take out insurance.

Two smaller but nevertheless very telling statistics of the most telling statistics are the 6 per cent of uninsured drivers who said they did not believe insurance was necessary because they are unlikely to crash, and the 13 per cent who said they could not afford to get insured.

Commenting on the research, car insurance expert Peter Harrison said: “Uninsured drivers cost the industry £500 million each year, which as a result adds an average of £30 to every motorist’s premium. Our research shows insurance premiums rose on average by 44p per day, or by 31 per cent, last year.”

“Coupled with rising fuel prices, you can see why people are looking to cut costs, but car insurance is a necessity for all motorists and not something you should avoid paying for.”

The government is looking to clamp down on the scourge of uninsured drivers with the introduction of Continuous Insurance Enforcement, which, from April 2011, will make it illegal to own an uninsured vehicle unless that vehicle is registered with a Statutory Off Road Notification.

In the meantime, Peter Harrison urges insured road users to shop around to money on their insurance renewals.

He said: "The rising cost of motoring makes shopping around for the best deal crucial to ensure you aren't paying over the odds for your car insurance. The average saving using moneysupermarket.com is £270, so I urge everyone to do their research and not automatically accept their renewal without checking there isn't a better alternative."

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James's Weekly Used Car Chatter - 25th March 2011

By James Preston

makeandmodel.co.uk

25 March 2011

What’s been going on this week?

3 new dealers added to the site this week, welcome to:

Caralot

Car Consultants

Cambridge Smart Cars

Many people at the moment consider the Ferrari 458 Italia and McLaren MP4-12C the best 2 cars of the last 12 months, well that might be about to change! Porsche's amazing 918 Spyder Hybrid Supercar goes on sale this week costing a cool £672,000. The Porsche will be able to reach 62mph in 3.2 seconds, as well as having a return of 94 miles per gallon.

Another thing - like many people around the world I can't wait for is the return of the F1 this weekend, my money's on Ferrari to win everything after their fantastic pre-season, still it would be nice if Lewis Hamilton or Jensen Button won a second world championship!

With the Geneva Motor Show well and truly over for another year, here are a few of my favourite pictures from the event...