Car insurance providers allow you to add drivers to your car insurance policy as and when you need to. This can affect the price of your car insurance so it is worth finding out about the cost before going ahead with changes.

Additional drivers and Insurance premiums

If you add an additional driver to your car insurance you’ll be asked to provide information about that person such as their date of birth and information on any car insurance claims they may have made in the last five years. You’ll also have to declare if they have any convictions that are unspent or pending.

The cost of adding an additional driver to your car insurance will depend on this information. Though it is rare, premiums can occasionally go down after additional drivers are added!

However if your son or daughter is learning to drive and you decide to include them on your vehicle’s car insurance, you should expect a significant increase in the cost of your car insurance. Most car insurance providers will allow you to insure someone who only has a provisional licence but the change in price can be dramatic. In fact, according to The Independent newspaper, adding your son or daughter to your car insurance policy can raise premiums by nearly 300 per cent.1

It’s not just the price of your car insurance premium that you need to consider. Car insurance providers often issue a charge for making alterations to your car insurance midway through your policy. Most UK car insurance providers allow you to view their car insurance policy documents online so you can look into their extra charges before selecting a car insurance policy.

Most car insurance companies issue a reasonable charge of about twenty pounds. This isn’t designed to act as a deterrent but is intended to cover the administrative costs involved in making changes and sending your amended car insurance documents. Cheap car insurance providers may levy a more significant charge so it is worth checking with your car insurance provider before making a change.

Having weighed up the costs you may decide to insure your son or daughter on a different vehicle. Many car insurance providers accept drivers as young as seventeen and as old as ninety-nine however special conditions may apply depending on the age of the additional driver. For instance, some car insurance policies don’t allow anyone under eighteen to pay their car insurance by instalments or younger drivers may have to pay a higher excess.

Car insurance can be costly, especially when you need to insure young inexperienced drivers, but a reliable car insurance policy that offers extensive cover is well worth investing in.

Company Profile:

John Lewis Insurance offers a range of insurance services selected by the John Lewis Partnership. These include home, life, pet, travel, wedding, event and car insurance quotes.

For more information about John Lewis Car Insurance please visit the website here – www.johnlewis-insurance.com/homepage/car-insurance.html.

You should not use your mobile phone whilst driving your car, as this reduces your concentration levels and can increase the likelihood of an accident. Car insurance may protect you financially against an accident, but if the accident is your fault because you were using your phone – then your claim may not be valid.

Using a Mobile Phone whilst Driving

Injury, damage to your car or accidental third party liability are usually covered by your car insurance policy, however if the accident occurs whilst you are talking on the phone, you may find that your car insurance claim is not valid.

If you are caught talking on your phone, you will be issued with a fixed penalty fine, and this fine can rise to up to £1,000 if the driver contests it. You will also get three penalty points on your license. Points on your license mean that your car insurance provider may increase your car insurance premium, as you are viewed as a potential risk on the road. For your own safety, and for cheaper car insurance, you should therefore avoid using or talking on your mobile phone whilst driving.

The British Medical Journal found that car drivers are four times more likely to have an accident if they are using their mobile phones whilst driving.¹ Hands-free equipment does not make driving more safe either, as drivers can still be distracted and at risk of an accident. The Government Department for Transport reports that driver’s reaction times are 50% slower if they are using a phone whilst driving.²

Talking on the phone whilst driving is dangerous, but texting or reading messages on your phone is also very dangerous. As you write a message, you will take your eyes away from the road for several seconds – this is more than enough time for another vehicle to change position unexpectedly or for an obstacle to appear and create a collision.

You should be aware that it is also illegal to use your mobile even if you’ve stopped at traffic lights, if you are stuck in a traffic jam or you are in a car park. According to the law these events still constitute the legal definition of ‘driving on the road’, and you are therefore not allowed to use or talk on your phone.

You should never talk on your mobile whilst driving, and if you know someone is driving you should not call or contact them. Car insurance is designed to protect you financially in case of an accident, but it’s best to do everything you can to avoid an accident in the first place.

[1] – www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-355502/Car-phone-users-times-likely-crash.html

[2] – think.direct.gov.uk/mobile-phones.html

Company Profile:

John Lewis Insurance offers a range of insurance services selected by the John Lewis Partnership. These include pet, life, travel, wedding, event, car and household insurance products.

The further technology is integrated into cars (especially within the engine) the harder it becomes for the owner to repair problems themselves (unless they are mechanics). Drivers grapple with technology in cars is demonstrated by an increasing number of breakdown calls related to the immobiliser being activated.

Other vehicle breakdowns on the roadside or in your driveway are very often an unexpected experience, with breakdown cover you can rest assured in the knowledge that professional help will arrive. One of the worst types of vehicle breakdowns can occur if you are using your car on holiday, this is just one case where vehicle breakdown cover can be useful to have.

European Breakdown Cover

If for example you have decided to go further afield on the European continent for holidays for a specified number of days and paid for long term car rental, insurance providers have certain breakdown cover (such as European breakdown cover) to help in these situations. The insurance providers may have their own recovery centres based in Europe or may partner with a network of local recovery services that can assist you and your vehicle in the event of a breakdown in a foreign country.

When looking through the range of foreign breakdown cover quote available a typical European breakdown cover may include access to English speaking assistance (some providers may be available 24 hours a day 7 days a week), help with towing your vehicle to the nearest available garage, vehicle recovery to the UK, or alternative transport or accommodation whilst the car is repaired. Whatever the situation a ready plan in case of such an emergency can save a reasonably priced holiday from turning into a very expensive one.

One of the most sought after qualities after skills necessary to fix the car is politeness from the professional sent to fix the car. When choosing the insurance provider read the testimonials section or review relevant sites to get a better picture of the type of services offered, experiences of existing customers and most importantly what it is you are being covered for.

Van and truck registrations in the UK rose 15.9 per cent year-on-year in 2010, marking one of best ever annual growth rates, figures show. Rising construction, output and a better-than-expected improvement in business confidence is believed to have driven the growth.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which released the data, said new van registrations rose during all months of 2010, except one. Sales of trucks picked up during the second half of the year and finished at around the same levels as 2009.

The increase is said to indicate recovery from the recession and comes as good news for the van insurance sector.

It has never been more important for drivers to take out quality cover from a reputable insurer. Insure your van at Autonet for a carefully considered insurance policy that can save you a great deal of money in the long run.

Investing time and energy into choosing the best cover for your individual needs is worth it when you think of the substantial costs and damage that could be incurred if you don’t.

SMMT chief Paul Everitt said: “While we still have a long way to go to get volumes back to pre-recession levels, we expect more growth in 2011 and 2012.”

A report from the Transport Select Committee last week called for “greater transparency” on the referral fees paid by injury lawyers seeking to represent the victims of car accidents. But would transparency alone be enough to put the brakes on the ‘compensation culture’ that is forcing all of our insurance costs through the roof, or does the government need to step in with legislation?

“Wider access to justice is to be welcomed, but it has come at a significant cost, with far more personal injury claims being made than in the past.” These were the words of Louise Ellman, Chairman of the Transport Select Committee, as she presented a report to MPs that called for personal injury lawyers to be open about the fees they pay to garages and insurers in exchange for personal information about people involved in car accidents.

Her recommendation was for the insurance industry to work with the police to tackle an issue that is spiraling out of control. The report painted a disturbing picture of a “merry-go-round” in which injury lawyers and accident management firms pay referral fees for information, prompting more and more people to make personal injury claims, with the burden of compensation for those claims then falling on the shoulders of insurers, who then have to increase the price of their premiums.

Ms. Ellman said: “The police made plain to the committee that ‘staged accidents’ are on the increase and that, so far, we have been lucky there have been no fatalities resulting from such incidents.

“That luck may run out unless the insurance industry acts rapidly to help the police target this kind of fraud.”

Clearly there is a significant issue here, when the statistics show that the number of people killed or injured on Britain’s roads has dropped from 341,592 in 1989 to 222,146 in 2009 and yet, over the same period, the percentage of motor insurance claims cost attributed to bodily injury claims has gone from 20 per cent to 50 per cent.

The rising cost of insurance premiums is startling, with the average price of a policy expected to go up by 40 per cent this year.

Moneysupermarket car insurance expert Peter Harrison said: “It is more important than ever at the moment to make sure you get the best deal on cover, especially when escalating fuel prices and the rising cost of insurance cover is hitting motorists hard. Our analysis shows car insurance prices increased by 31 per cent in 2010 – or 44p per day.”

The referral fee issue is not, however, seen as significant enough for the government to step in with legislation.

In 2010, the Lord Justice Jackson report recommended a measure to curb the growing trend in personal injury claims. He proposed that the losing party in personal injury claims should not have to cover the legal costs of their opponents and he called for referral fees paid by personal injury lawyers should be banned.

Global financial management organisation Towers Watson criticised the Transport Select Committee report for not recommending the implementation of Lord Jacksons measures.

In a statement, Towers Watson’s Duncan Anderson said: “The committee has recognised that there is something not right about bodily injury claims costs rising 30% annually when the number of traffic accidents has been decreasing steadily for a number of years.

“But I would like to have seen a stronger endorsement for the recommendations of the Jackson Review rather than recommending a further study next year into what can be done to bring the level of personal injury claims more into line with other countries.”

He added: “It’s really only accident management companies and personal injury lawyers who refute the link between referral fees/‘no win, no fee’ arrangements and bodily injury costs. One only has to look to the evidence presented on the regional differences, particularly between England and Scotland, to understand the effects.

“Calling for transparency on referral fees throughout the insurance industry is good for the consumer, but delaying addressing the underlying issues certainly is not.”

Male motorists all over the country are probably feeling slightly smug this week, as the European Court of Justice has decreed that disparity in the price of car insurance premiums is unfair.

The fact that women pay less for their car insurance than their hairier equivalents is one of those things that has just become accepted in recent times and we’ve had companies like Diamond and Sheila’s Wheels doing good business out of this anomaly.

Car insurance equality

We all know, traditionally, why this has been the case.

Statistically speaking, men have more road accidents than women. That cannot be denied. When things do go wrong, the crashes in which women are involved tend to be low-speed knocks and parking misjudgments. When men have a crash, they tend to do it in style.

However the ECJ evidently thinks that that is no reason to apply broad-brush differentiation between male and female drivers. Now, a driver’s sex should not be the most prominent criterion when insurers are assessing who is more likely to be knocking on their door to tell them they’ve just decimated a small village.

Usually the focal point for grumbling and muttering, the Court has endeared itself to millions of male motorists by paving the way for their premiums to come down, on the basis that to discriminate on the grounds of sex is fundamentally wrong.

One wonders whether this means that male drivers will notice a decrease in premiums, or whether the insurance companies will make themselves even less popular than they currently are and merely charge everyone the same premium across the board.

Insurers have bemoaned that they are not making any money, what with personal injury claims allegedly hanging them out to dry (although their frequency has only increased in line with the numbers of cars on the road) and the rise of ‘crash for cash’ schemes.

The latter involves a corrupt group of individuals all working in league with each other to make money from insurers by causing deliberate car crashes and then milking the system for every penny it’s worth.

These delightful, upstanding members of society tend to drive slowly until their unsuspecting victim, wondering what’s going on, zooms up to the back of their vehicle and then proceeds to slam into the back of it. How did that happen? Well, it goes something like this:

Scammer disconnects brake lights, stands on brake pedal, causes accident, claims for vehicle damage, personal injury (verified by crooked doctor) and fraudulently pockets lots of money, passing the cost on to insurance company’s customers.

If women want equality, they have to take the rough with the smooth.  Equality across the board. Unless, we are smart and sensible enough to realise men and women are actually different and better and worse at different things, now there’s a thought! For a car insurance quote you can try www.lv.com.