Sins of the Father

NCD News: Sins of the Father - 18.11.09

>> NCD News: Facebook: murder, affairs, suicide, bullying ... a real society!
>> NCD News: How many No Claims Bonus years do you have? Are you sure?
>> NCD News: Women lying about rape to claim compensation
>> NCD News: "Up to 75% No Claims Discount!" they shout ... "up to"???

Sins of the Father: >>>> The wife of a former IRA man who was beaten to death after his release from jail has been refused the chance to apply for compensation for his death. Despite taking her case to the Court of Appeal, the judge ruled that the criminal injuries compensation scheme did not apply due to the seriousness of her husbands crimes. It was decided that making a compensation payment to his wife would not be in the public interests. The woman had argued that denying her children the compensation was a breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which relates to discrimination based on the parents activities.

>>>> The Environment Agency has issued flood warnings to most of England and Wales today, with severe warnings in the Lake District. Meanwhile reports from the ABI have shown that the typical household will have £28,000 worth of damage should their home be flooded. They do point out that most home insurance policies will cover flooding but a higher excess or premium may be put in place should the house be in a flood risk area. Directline has also stated that they have put emergency teams on standby to assist customers and extra staff have been drafted to deal with the expected influx of calls.

>>>> Figures from the AXA Business Crime Index have revealed that Halifax is the centre of business related crime in the UK. Wolverhampton is the worst place for theft, while Kilmarnock was a haven for arsonists and London was the worst for overall crime. The figures show that those areas most affected by the recession have become those most prone to business crime. AXA have also warned that Christmas may fuel further crime increases due to increased stock and money on business premises.

>>>> The Welsh Assembly Government has tabled a Green paper on how care for the elderly will be funded in the future. The options being considered are a partnership between the individual and the state, with the individual shouldering a 70% burden. Option 2 would be the individual and the state both paying a £20,000 lump sum for a guarantee of free care. Due to changes in legislation which would be required, any new plans could not be started until at least 2014. The ideas are very similar to those being debated in England and have received criticism from the Liberal Democrats for not focusing on the needs of people in Wales specifically. 80% of people in Wales believe that care should be funded via taxation leaving just one in 5 supporting the idea of an insurance funded system. Consultation will run until February 2010.

>>>> Figures released by the RAC this week have shown that the average cost of motoring in Britain fell by 5% in 2009 to £2,219 per year. The savings are thought to have come from lower petrol and diesel prices, which have fallen 10%. Despite this, 8 out of 10 motorists believe the cost of driving has increased and 45% had changed their motoring habits as a consequence. 28% were using their car less and one fifth had dropped to using one car rather than two. A further 6% had started driving a smaller car with women being the most likely to have downsized. Less than a third of those questioned changed their driving habits due to environmental factors.

>>>> The Daily Mail has this week featured a woman who claims to have made more money from compensation than from her job as a PR consultant. She has made dozens of complaints from poor hotel service to complaints about banks and food producers. She recommends going directly to the top rather than dealing with customer service departments. The woman's success came to light after she responded to a survey from a mystery shopping company which revealed that 71% of people will complain about poor service.

>>>> With 32 airlines failing in the last year, travel insurance specialist Voyager has said that travellers are increasingly relying on protection insurance for their holidays. They say their travel insurance product WEBroker has seen a 87% surge in revenue. This is despite a 13% drop in overseas travel this year.

>>>> Aviva is to launch a new magazine aimed at the health insurance market. Your Wellbeing will have its first issue out in November and will be published twice a year. It will be sent to 100,000 health and income protection customers. With articles on maintaining a healthy lifestyle, the first issue will deal with heart problems and medical tests available to private healthcare customers. †