Laid Up Car Insurance – A Change in the Law!

As of 20th June 2011, there has been an important change to UK car and bike insurance laws.

Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) will become law in the UK, making it illegal to own a vehicle without it being insured (unless it’s registered as off the road with the DVLA – see below). You will sometimes see this being referred to as Laid Up Car Insurance.

The law seeks to address the rise in the number of uninsured vehicles on the road. According to the ABI, it’s believed that uninsured drivers add around £30 to the average insurance policy.

The most obvious to be affected are those with convertible cars and motorbikes, who may use them only during the warmer months and insure them only when in use. It also means that insurance is needed from the renewal date, regardless of whether the car or bike will be used or not.

The new vehicle insurance law – don’t be caught out
If you’re the registered keeper of a vehicle, it must be insured at all times.

The exceptions are:

• if you have made a SORN for the vehicle
• if your vehicle has been kept off-road since before SORN came into force on 31 January 1998 – unless it was brought back into use
• if your vehicle is recorded as stolen, passed or sold to the motor trade or between registered keepers
• if your vehicle is recorded scrapped or permanently exported by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing (DVLA)

Tesco Car Insurance – Supermarket Goes Into Battle

Supermarket wars have spread to the car insurance sector!

The continuing battle between Sainsburys and Tesco for our groceries pound has spread into the cut throat world of motor insurance. Whilst many shoppers show loyalty to one or the other of these two heavyweights, one imagines that brand loyalty is going to be tested to the full in the UK  insurance sector.

The Tesco Car Insurance offering plays on the image of the comnpany as delivering excellent value for money. In addition the company incorporates offers for Tesco Clubcard holders (in our opinion, the most successful loyalty card scheme).

Hot on the heels of Tesco motor insurance is the recently re-launched Sainsbury’s car insurance. Central to the re-worked offering is the partnership with RBS Insurance and the promises to give customers a saving of about 15% on premiums in the form of Nectar loyalty card points.

With the average price of motor insurance in the UK having risen by about 30% to £815 in the past 12 months it’s clear that both these two mighty organisations see the potential in delivering incentives to motorists that utilise possible savings through other parts of their business i.e. Buy our car insurance and get cheaper fuel or clubard vouchers for money off cineworld tickets!

Whilst fighting each other for the insurance pound it is clear their is also an opportunity to take business away from high street banks and specialised insurers, both of which have a somewhat tarnished reputations from the banking crisis (fiasco) and the spiralling costs of insurance! It will be interesting to see how it plays out – our money is on Tesco!