Women Car Insurance – 90 Second Guide

Part of our continuing ’90 Second Guide’ series, we deliver a short but informative piece on getting the best women car insurance deal.

Today their is a number of leading insurers who specialise in providing cover for lady drivers. Backed by big marketing budgets companies such as Diamond, Sheilas Wheels, Cover Girl, Women on Wheels and Lady Insure, to name a few.

Instinctively many women will head straight for one of the above to obtain a new or renewal quote. Whilst there can be no doubt that these niche providers often deliver competitive quotes, it is wise not to forget mainstream insurers such as Direct Line, churchill, Privilege, Tesco and Budget among others.

Regardless of who you turn to to get the best deal, there are a number of factors that can help to put you in the driving seat for lowering your premium.

Statistically the majority of car insurance claims made by women are for relatively minor accidents when compared to their male counterparts. This is due to a number of factors such as women driving shorter distances, lower annual mileage, driving more slowly and a generally more cautious approach to driving. Women claim less on their policies than men, and are responsible for far fewer driving convictions. Hence most insurers will provide discounted rates to women drivers.

Aside from the above it is imperative that all lady motorists SHOP AROUND for the best deal. Certainly give the niche providers such as Diamond and Sheilas Wheels an opportunity to quote but also check out consumer favourites such as Budget and Tesco for (normally) ultra competitive quotes.

Back to…… Budget Basics

Yesterday I stumbled on a product I knew nothing about, let alone knew even existed! Welcome to Budget Basics, part of the privately owned UK BGL Group.

Nearly all readers of the Homeapproved blog will be familiar with Budget Car Insurance. In fact the insurer is featured on our Top 5 Car Insurance Companies, as consistently returning some of the most competitive motor quotes in the UK.

Budget Basic was launched in March 2007. This innovative product is designed to capitalise on changes in the personal insurance market. It is the insurance equivalent of a no-frills airline. Designed specifically for use on price comparison sites, it offers significantly cheaper insurance for key customer segments who are highly price-driven.

That’s about it in a nutshell! You can learn more about this product from the main Budget insurance website.

Norwich Union Scraps ‘Pay As You Drive’ Policies

The Independent today reported that Britain’s biggest insurer Norwich Union has withdrawn one of its flagship car insurance policies less than two years after its launch.

The “Pay As You Drive” scheme used satellite technology and aircraft style black boxes to log details of all journeys, meaning lower bills for those who drive less often or in daylight only. The data was used to offer cheaper motor premiums to drivers who avoided high-risk periods such as rush-hour and late at night. A great concept, however….. 

Norwich Union says too few customers had signed up for the policy, blaming a slow take-up rate of the technology among car-makers. A spokesperson for the company said “We are pausing Pay As You Drive and transferring existing policyholders on to more traditional products.” “The indication we had from the motor industry was that they (motor manufacturers) would readily adopt telemics boxes. That would have reduced our costs. But it hasn’t happened.”

It seems the provider also overestimated the response from consumers. In 2006, when it was launched, Norwich Union had hoped that 100,000 boxes would be installed. Today, that number is understood to be about 10,000. Concerns over the tracking capabilities were a sticking point as cars with the system were constantly tracked via satellite. Questions were raised over invasion of privacy and the use of the data generated from monitoring the movements of a registered vehicle.

“The big-brother element of Pay As You Drive, particularly the ability to see how fast someone drives, put a lot of potential policyholders off,” said Peter Gerrard, the head of insurance research at the price comparison site Moneysupermarket.com.

The policy charged drivers between 5p and £1 per mile depending on when and where they drove, particularly during rush-hour or at night. This made it more popular with younger and occasional drivers.

But the insurer admitted that policyholders may have to pay more for insurance as a result of the move. “The nature of the Pay As You Drive policy means it is not possible to match the premiums policyholders have enjoyed. However, the information we have about usage will us help find the most appropriate alternative policy,” the spokesman said.

Norwich Union’s withdrawal from the pay-as-you-drive insurance market will also have a knock-on effect on Government plans for road-pricing systems, which have unofficially relied on insurance companies to road-test tracking schemes.

Motor Insurance – Driving a Hard Bargain

A familiar old topic of discussion, however one which is sensible to reiterate to our readers.

Lowering your car insurance premium (without reducing the level of cover) should be the goal of every motorist. There are three factors which make a big difference to the price you pay for your motor policy:

1. Age
2. Gender
3. Your address.

Unfortunately, besides moving house (and postcode area) there is nothing you or anybody else can change about the above. So, what we need to focus on are the factors insurers use when determining your premium – that we can do something about.

1. Shop around! Approximately three quarters of all drivers will renew with their existing insurer. No, no, no! By all means if you are happy with your current insurer – stay with them – but only after considering quotes (with like-for-like cover) from othe providers. It could save you 25% over your current premium! 

2. If you haven’t previously considered buying your new policy on the internet, then now is the time to take the plunge. It could mean savings of up to 15%. 

3. Choose your new vehicle with care, with one eye on the car insurance group the car will fall into. Each group is assigned a number from 1 to 20, enabling each vehicle model to be accurately banded with cars of similar characteristics. The insurance group number rises according to relevant engine size, and performance of the car. The higher the insurance group the more relatively expensive it is likely to be to insure the vehicle!

4. Where do you leave your vehicle overnight? Garaging your car or parking off-street could cut your premium by up to 10%.  Insurers will also take into conisderation if you fit a security device such as a steering lock or immobiliser.

5. If your car is of low value consider taking out third party fire and theft insurance as against fully comprehensive cover. 

6. Insurance companies spend millions of pounds every year on expensive television, newspaper and glossy magazine advertising.  Be wary of extravagant claims for a lower premium and generally sceptical over specialist insurers, who claim to offer the best deal just because they serve only a particular niche of the market. 

7. Consider the savings and cover levels offered by policies such as Norwich Union Simple Cover, or Pay As You Drive car insurance.

8. Young drivers are traditionally hammered when insuring their vehicle. Unfortunately insurers are unlikely to devise a policy which significantly undercuts what is already available. One option if you are in your teens or early twenties could be to piggyback on your parents’ motor insurance.

9. Spreading the cost of your policy using direct debit over 10/12 months can seem like a sensible option. However, most insurance companies will charge you extra for the privilege. Where possible always pay your premium in full.

10. HAGGLE for the best price – If you don’t ask you won’t get!

Young Driver Education & Training

The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) and the Department for Transport (DfT) recently put out a consultation paper seeking views on wide-ranging changes to driver education and testing.

Safex 2008, the biannual two-day Driver Education World Conference, recently took place in London for 200 delegates from all over the world such as long-term driver education practioners, and researchers, mainly academics. Both groups agree that basic car control can be learned well enough by most people to pass a driving test, but it is their failure to apply what they know that causes 90 percent of accidents thereafter.

Most young male fatalities are traceable to over-confidence, distraction, frustration, poor observation, revenge, competitiveness, showing-off etc, and these are psychological, not technological or physiological issues. These inexperienced drivers lack awareness or responsibility, usually both, and it is this that coaching seeks to address.

The Goals for Driver Education Matrix (GDE-Matrix), which is now being quite widely used, distinguishes four levels of learning: 1. vehicle controls and manoeuvring skills; 2. mastering the variety of traffic situations; 3. current journey-related attitudes and behaviours; 4. engrained lifestyle and risk-seeking attitudes.

Source and further reading: Telegraph Motoring