Direct Line has found that drivers are increasingly swapping their penalty points with partners to avoid losing their licenses. They say that as many as 2% of drivers have asked their partner to take their penalty points to avoid bans, this compares with 1.5% who admitted to the practice three years ago. Londoners were the worst with 7% admitting to the offence, while 4% of those aged 18-35 had swapped points. Andy Goldby from Direct Line commented that encouraging someone else to take your points is illegal and can be prosecuted. He says that it simply is not worth the risk.
Figures from the AA have shown that male drivers are 1.5 times more likely to have a conviction than female motorists. 18% of motorists now have at least one conviction compared to 14% ten years ago. Simon Douglas from the AA has said that most convictions are for speeding offences, 9% are for jumping red lights and 2% are for drunk drunk driving. Men are twice as likely as women to have a drunk driving conviction. Driving without insurance and driving while using a mobile phone are the next two most popular convictions. Young men also come high in the convictions tally with almost a quarter of those aged between 25 and 34 having one conviction or more. Older women aged in the 35 to 44 age bracket are the most likely to have a committed an offence. Douglas has suggested that the difference between the genders could be down to the fact that men drive 20% more than women do. The difference is also reflected in insurance premiums, with men paying more than women. Douglas does point out that the gap between men and women is closing as more women drive more often.
Swinton Bikes is backing a new campaign aimed at making the roads safer for motorcyclists. The Think! campaign is hoping to reduce the number of deaths on the roads, taking into account the fact that motorcyclists make up 19% of road accident deaths, despite only being 1% of road users. The adverts will be shown on television from this week and will show a cyclist with a flashing neon sign displaying their name and personality traits. The makers hope that knowing someone personally may encourage other road users to take more care. Anthony Aronin from Swinton commented that they are behind the campaign and hope it will prevent the shocking numbers of deaths.
An NHS doctor has stated in the Guardian that other doctors should only diagnose whiplash in the most serious of cases, as over-diagnosis is causing harm to the insurance industry. He says that just one of the 427 cases he had seen had serious injuries. The ABI have said that the industry receives more than 1200 claims of this type each day, costing an incredible £2bn a year. A Canadian doctor has also written on the subject and says that doctors themselves are encouraging people to make false claims by too easily writing whiplash on a patients summary.
The latest FindaProptery Rental Index has shown that rents have increased by 1.2% in the last month. John Boyle from Homelet, the largest specialist insurer for rental properties has commented on the findings by saying that demand for rental properties has improved in recent months due to problems obtaining mortgages and saving for deposits for those not yet on the property ladder. He also says that investing in property in the south of the UK will still offer a good return as house prices are still not achievable for first time buyers. He also suggests that landlords should take out rent guarantee insurances.
Prudential boss, Harvey McGrath has been insisting that the decision to buy the Asian arm of AIG will be a great success, after shares in Prudential fell two days in a row following the announcement. He points out that the purchase will make Prudential the largest provider of life insurance in south east Asia and that the company knows the region well, having been in the area for 80 years. The share price for Prudential has fallen by 114p, wiping £3.1bn off the value of the company. It is expected that the insurer will use a rights issue to get the money for the takeover, raising £13bn – the largest rights issue ever in UK history. It has also been suggested that there will be a 90% take-up by shareholders. Despite this, credit agency Fitch has indicated it may cut Prudential’s credit rating. They say that the risks involved in such a large transaction prompted the move. Fund managers have also warned that the takeover may be in jeopardy if shares continue to fall and that it may itself become a target for takeover, while Prudential sources have said that these types of falls are normal when announcements such as these were made.
While Admiral Insurance is celebrating record profits on the back of 12% increases in premiums, they are again warning that drivers can expect further increases this year. Admiral has around 6% of all car policies in the UK and had previously claimed that the rise in premiums was due to the increase in no win no fee cases for personal injury; a symptom of the recession. Chief Executive Henry Engelhardt has said that the company seems to be uncovering more fraud and that the proportion of injury claims is increasing. Premiums have increased by 2% already this year and are likely to increase into double figures for 2010. Admiral have also said they will be paying their shareholder dividends early this year to avoid the 50% tax hike in April. It has been claimed that Engelhardt will save £900,000 in tax by paying the dividends differently this year. A spokesperson for the company said that the decision was made in the interests of all shareholders, not just the Chief Executive.
Halfords have conducted a recent survey into the driving habits of UK motorists and discovered that close to a third had answered a mobile phone call while driving and 25% had looked at a text message. Another 22% admitted to making calls while driving. While these were the people who made the admissions, 52% of passengers say that they had witnessed their driver taking or making a call while driving. 5% of drivers had even accessed Facebook or Twitter while driving and 3% had read an email. Claire Pritchard from Halfords commented that a handsfree device was the only way to make a call legally, while the RAC said that drivers reactions slow down by half when they are on the phone and that texting was even worse.
RSA insurance has said that the Chilean earthquake which happened over the weekend could cost the company around £30m in reinsurance claims. However they have said that the earthquake should not affect their guidance on performance for 2010.
Meanwhile travellers are being advised not to travel unless absolutely necessary to the region by the Foreign Office. Anyone who was due to travel to the area is also advised to contact their travel advisor or airline for the latest news and to check their travel insurance to ensure they are properly covered for any cancellations or losses.
Loss adjuster Crawford has said that they will continue to offer a good service to their customers in Chile and have launched their catastrophe plan to help in the recovery. Crawford has offices throughout Chile and have said they will be able to provide more than 400 adjusters to help assess any claims. They have been receiving claims calls since just a few hours of the disaster and are already sending staff to the area.
The Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System have claimed in a new report that insurance fraud has increased by 54% during 2009. There was also a 74% increase in identity fraud, while total fraud increased by 10%. The fraud specialists claim that that the recession is to blame for the increases. Scott Bowers from the counter fraud unit at insurance law firm Browne Jacobsen, commented on the findings by saying that technological improvements such as the internet have opened up a raft of opportunities for criminals. He says that companies need to be more aware than ever and make more investments into fraud avoidance.
A House of Commons select committee has decided that homoeopathy should no longer be funded by the NHS, a decision that has prompted insurance comparison site Quoteboffin to say that every patient should have the right to seek whichever treatment they feel is best for them. A spokesperson from the site has said that freedom of choice is something which Britain prides itself on. It is possible to get the treatment via private health insurance, however. Companies such as AXA PPP and BUPA still allow their patients to have these treatments and as Quoteboffin have pointed out, health insurance premiums can start from as little as £5 a month.
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