Six arrested in Gwent “crash for cash” investigation
by Gill Montia
Story link: Six arrested in Gwent “crash for cash” investigation
Gwent Police have arrested six people as part of its on-going investigation into a suspected “crash for cash” fraud ring. Operation Dino has been following up on suspicious claims referred by insurers and the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) and so far 40 people have been arrested, all of whom remain on Police bail. The investigation [...]
RSA and LV= sign motor claims agreement
by Gill Montia
Story link: RSA and LV= sign motor claims agreement
RSA and LV= have signed a bilateral agreement aimed at speeding up and streamlining motor claims processes and cutting unnecessary costs. Commenting on the deal, LV= technical claims director Martin Milliner says: “This is a great step forward to ensure fairness all round.” RSA says it remains open to talks with other insurers on the [...]
Car insurance premiums hit two year low
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Car insurance premiums hit two year low
Car insurance comparison website Tiger.co.uk has revealed in its Tiger Watch survey for October that the cost of car insurance has declined by 3% compared to last month. Car insurance premiums have also fallen by 2.7% year-on-year, taking the cost to a two year low. The last six months have seen a significant drop in [...]
West Midlands drivers are least respectful
by Richard Kilner
Story link: West Midlands drivers are least respectful
Research commissioned by AXA car insurance has found that drivers in the West Midlands are the least respectful in Britain. The survey involved 2,000 drivers and found that those in Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton were least respectful and most likely to break rules whilst driving. Sheffield and Newcastle also featured in the bottom five cities [...]
Aviva warns of rising theft on Bonfire Night
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Aviva warns of rising theft on Bonfire Night
Aviva has warned that Bonfire Night is the worst day of the year for burglaries, with 25% more burglaries occurring than on a standard day. Gold and jewellery are particularly sought after, with a 33% rise in claims for them compared to the September/October average. Car thefts also spike during Guy Fawkes Night, during which [...]
Tax disc insurance check to be ditched
by Gill Montia
Story link: Tax disc insurance check to be ditched
DVLA is proposing to remove the insurance check when a vehicle is taxed. Under plans unveiled this week by Roads Minister, Stephen Hammond, motorists will no longer have to provide a motor insurance certificate when buying a tax disc, with the change allowing around 600,000 additional motorists a year to tax their cars online. Justifying [...]
Ageas backs calls for minimum road safety standards
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Ageas backs calls for minimum road safety standards
Ageas has announced it is supporting the Road Safety Foundation’s call for the Government to have minimum road safety standards at the heart of any reform following the finance and ownership review of the major road network. The Road Safety Foundation’s annual GB EuroRAP report found that there would be significant economic rewards from low-cost [...]
“Marked discrepancy” between road injury figures and claims
by Gill Montia
Story link: “Marked discrepancy” between road injury figures and claims
Latest data from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries show a “marked discrepancy” between official road accident injury figures since 2006 and the number of injury claims made to insurers. During the period road accidents involving injuries fell 20%, according to Police records, while the Institute’s figures show a 40% rise in third party injury [...]
Driverless cars – a new insurance dilemma
by Gill Montia
Story link: Driverless cars – a new insurance dilemma
Lloyds is questioning whether driverless cars will shift the need for insurance away from consumers and towards manufacturers. Autonomous, or driverless, cars navigate using sophisticated technologies and as most road accidents are caused by human error, the technology could change the way insurance is bought and sold for consumers and manufacturers. In the US, where [...]
ABI welcomes outcome of civil litigation damages appeal
by Gill Montia
Story link: ABI welcomes outcome of civil litigation damages appeal
A decision by the Court of Appeal to revise its original decision in the case of Simmons v Castle has been welcomed by the Association of British Insurers (ABI). The ABI applied to re-open the judgment on the grounds that it would upset the package of Government reforms to the civil litigation system by introducing [...]
Allianz mulls appeal over “cost of repair” ruling
by Gill Montia
Story link: Allianz mulls appeal over “cost of repair” ruling
Allianz says its legal team is considering a judgement made by Mr Justice Cooke last week regarding the practice of producing invoices to prove claims for cost of repair. According to the insurer, if the judgement stands, insurers tempted to seek recovery based upon diminution of value, rather than the traditional repair cost, will have [...]
ABI tackles young driver crash excess
by Gill Montia
Story link: ABI tackles young driver crash excess
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is calling for an overhaul of the way in which young people learn to drive. In a new report, radical measures such as a minimum one-year learning period, restrictions on night-time driving and a lower blood alcohol limit are proposed, with the aim of reducing the risks young drivers [...]
Decline in car know-how leaves maintenance undone
by Gill Montia
Story link: Decline in car know-how leaves maintenance undone
Only a minority of drivers are able to perform the most basic tasks needed to maintain their cars, according to research by Britannia Rescue, and it would also seem that motorists no longer own the basic tools needed to rectify a simple break down. Nearly two-thirds of drivers questioned didn’t own a car battery charger [...]
Aviva archives reveal archaic insurance claims
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Aviva archives reveal archaic insurance claims
Car insurer Aviva’s archives, dating back to 1911 when there were just 89,000 cars on the road, have revealed historic and unusual reasons for insurance claims in decades past. Despite the lower number of cars accidents were more common in the past, with one accident per 14 vehicles in 1930, compared to one accident per [...]
One in 14 car insurance claims are fraudulent
by Richard Kilner
Story link: One in 14 car insurance claims are fraudulent
The record rise in motor insurance fraud is due to phantom passengers and fake injuries, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI). Each week 865 dishonest motor insurance claims worth £10.4m are being found by insurers. The figures have been released a week after the ABI launched a new national database to help combat [...]
Car insurance premiums fall in September
by Richard Kilner
Story link: Car insurance premiums fall in September
Insurance comparison website Tiger.co.uk’s car insurance price monitor Tiger Watch has revealed that premiums in September declined by an average of 4% compared to the corresponding period last year. Car insurance premiums are now the same as they were two years ago, with drivers between 35 and 55 seeing the largest falls, with quotes down [...]
Ageas ups anti fraud measures
by Gill Montia
Story link: Ageas ups anti fraud measures
Ageas has signed up to the Syndicated Intelligence for Risk Avoidance (SIRA) anti-fraud database from Synectics Solutions. With application fraud on the rise – adding approximately £50 to customer premiums, according to Ageas – the insurer is deploying SIRA at the underwriting stage, checking information from new business proposal against known fraud data held by [...]
LV=’s Britannia Rescue named top provider
by Gill Montia
Story link: LV=’s Britannia Rescue named top provider
LV=’s Britannia Rescue arm has been named the top recommended provider for breakdown cover by Which? The consumer group rated providers on a number of factors including waiting times, quality of roadside repairs and customer satisfaction. In all, 5,772 people who had called out a breakdown provider in the last year were surveyed and two [...]
Motorists beware 1st September
by Gill Montia
Story link: Motorists beware 1st September
AXA is warning that the 1st September has been the worst day of the summer season for motor accidents for three years in a row. Last year saw the biggest spike, with a massive 40% more claims being made than on the average day in the rest of the summer holiday period. This year, 1st [...]
One millionth uninsured car is seized
by Richard Kilner
Story link: One millionth uninsured car is seized
The one millionth uninsured car on Britain’s roads has been seized by West Midlands police, Bluefin has reported. The West Midlands force has been utilising automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology to help it crack down on the uninsured, and has reported an average seizure rate of one vehicle per hour. Since 2005, when the [...]
