Low Cost Vans

According to a recent media release from AXA Business Insurance UK, the steady increase in commercial vehicles/vans becoming mobile offices has sparked concern over the potential risks of losing such high priced items like smart phones, tablets, sat navs, etc. through theft while being left in vehicles. The article titled, " The rise of the 'mobile office' leaves businesses vulnerable " posted on AXA's newsroom website, suggests that small businesses that have now come to rely on such high end technology in their vans, may need to take better precautions when it comes to making sure the equipment is secure and not left in plain sight for opportunistic thieves to get hold of. A majority of those businesses would be left devastated if their mobile office equipment were to be stolen from their vans. AXA Business Insurance conducted a survey which shows the growing number of van drivers that now coordinate their businesses from their vehicles. The number has increased...

Great news this week announced for learner drivers. Dayinsure, in partnership with Aviva, the UK’s largest insurer, has launched a short term motor insurance solution for people learning to drive.   Unlike almost any other offering currently available, Dayinsure Learner can be bought to provide cover from just 1 day up to 3 months. It is available for any motorist aged 17 and over who holds a provisional driving licence and meets the acceptance criteria*. This temporary insurance enables a learner driver to borrow a car to practise driving. The standalone Dayinsure Learner policy helps to address the issues of adding a provisional licence holder to an annual policy which can be expensive, with any subsequent claim affecting the No Claim Discount and invoking a large excess. Brian Spinks, head of broker personal lines, Aviva UKGI explains:  “We fully recognise the difficulties that buying insurance as a learner driver can present, particularly for young drivers and their families.  We a...

According to Confused.com , 50% of motorists are still not aware of the EU gender directive which comes into effect on 21 December 2012. The directive, by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that the practice of appointing insurance prices according to gender should be considered illegal discrimination and will no longer be allowed by the end of this year. This will significantly increase insurance costs for women aged 17-25 by a whopping 24% says confused.com.  On the other hand, it will see the cost of insurance for men of all ages, decrease by as much as 8% as the rates will now be on an even playing field. To read more about the new gender directive and to view the new insurance (rise) cost tables provided in the post titled, " Why is the EU interfering with our car insurance prices? " written by Naphtalia Loderick, please click here .

The BVRLA, the UK trade body for companies engaged in the leasing and rental of cars and commercial vehicles, has posted an article on their website which announces that they welcome the Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) decision to refer the UK's private motor insurance market to the Competition Commission for further investigation. The BVRLA are concerned that it is not been fair for motorists, as "the insurers of drivers responsible for accidents (at-fault drivers) appeared to have little control over the way repairs and replacement vehicles were provided to ‘not-at-fault drivers’ – creating an opportunity for costs to be inflated." To read more, please click here to view the post on BVRLA's website which was posted on September 28, 2012.

Confused.com has just added an interesting infographic to their news views page titled, "Telematics tech behind the wheel and beyond." It offers a very good run down on what telematics is and how it can be useful for insurers and most importantly, how it can help driver's to save money on insurance. Although the use of telematics may seem a bit invasive and possibly feel a little like being spied upon by your insurance company, as it will be used by them to gather information on our every day driving habits, the infographic points out that you may have unknowingly already used telematics by way of Sat Nav or GPS. If you would like to see the infographic, which is well put together, please visit Confused.com by clicking here .

Aviva is asking their customers to help them test drive a new Android smart-phone application called "RateMyDrive". It's going to be used to help Aviva fairly set the cost of individual rates based on how you drive. The app will track the way your vehicle is driven over the course of 200 miles via GPS and give Aviva a look into your driving style, like how safely you brake, accelerate, and corner. I am not thrilled with the idea of having my insurance company monitor my every driving manoeuvre, but what does inspire me to consider downloading such an app, is the incentive of an up to 20% discount on my insurance rate. Keep in mind though, the discount will depend on your driving score: "You‘ll collect different progress badges along the way, and at 200 miles, the app will give you your individual driving score of 0–10 (10 being the safest)." The application is not yet available for iPhone, but will be in the future. You can view more details about this app on t...

I came across an interesting article on the MSN Car News website regarding car insurance. The piece claims that the industry is "in turmoil" as stated by an insurance industry expert. According to the article: "Director of AA insurance, Simon Douglas, highlighted the state of today’s market after it was uncovered that some providers have been HIKING their prices, while others are SLASHING premiums to build up their customer base." In a time when some insurance companies have flat out refused to start cover or extend cover for those who are or have recently become jobless and steady hikes in premiums over the past few years, I was interested to read that the average price for a fully comprehensive policy sold direct has risen by 8.5%, now at £1,034 for 12 months cover. The turmoil reference may be to do with findings that those same policies were found to be cheaper on price comparison websites for the same cover which dropped by 3.3% – just £631 in correlation. As m...