Car Insurance Costs Rise By New Record

[R K]

...because it will make your premiums rise next year and give you more to b1tch about.

Sadly, this is the way that everyone thinks and one of the main reasons that we get screwed by insurance companies every year.

It's called the 'Paradox of Fraud' (actually I just made that up). Whereby the scammed are forced to scam to compete.

It's the perfect partner to Red Karma's Law: 'Bad Debt Drives Out Good'.

The foundation stone of our post-industrial () economy. Where would bankers, insurers, the property industry, lawyers, politicians etc be without it.

Edited October 12, 2010 by Frank Sidebottom

[assetrichcashpoor]

Car design is partially to blame, nowadays cars are fitted with airbags which cost about £1000 to replace each time. Also the inclusion of crumple zones and pedestrian safety aids mean that cars practically self destruct when they're in an accident. All for the better but it does make repairing them economically unviable.

Insurance companies insist on using brand new manufacturer components when repairing cars because otherwise they would be liable in the event of a second accident if it was proved that the car wasn't up to the manufacturer's specification.

[Diver Dan]

...because it will make your premiums rise next year and give you more to b1tch about.

Sadly, this is the way that everyone thinks and one of the main reasons that we get screwed by insurance companies every year.

That's exactly my point. As with so many things these days, you know that it's a dog's breakfast of a situation when people who are nominally honest decide that certain crimes are morally acceptable.

[HPC001]

At this rate I'll spend my entire life using public transport...

[Flatdog]

In South Africa third party insurance for motorists is built into the retail price of petrol/diesel, yet the price of fuel there is a third of what it is in the UK..go figure.

[The Ayatollah Buggeri]

Do credit card and loan companies factor this in when building their scorecard models? Do men face higher personal loan rates and women higher creidt/store card rates? Of course not. So why is gender allowed to be used when calculating an insurance quote?

They do charge women more for pension annuities, though, something that the feminists are frequently up in arms about without objecting to the car insurance premiums paid by young men.

Yep - this is how is works in Australia I believe. Mandatory third party insurance provided as part of the annual road tax fee then drivers can purchase additional cover from the provider of their choice.

Some US states operate a similar system, whereby you are not legally required to buy insurance, but if you choose not to, you have to pay a fixed annual fee to the state (typically $200-400). It's in effect a barebones third party insurance from those who the private sector don't want to insure.

We should be more worried about the irresponsible folks who don't buy insurance than the ones who do. Isn't an average of £80 added to each policy for the uninsured driver claims? Get the police to deal with that before worrying about speeding and mobile phone use.

I suspect that in some cases it's more a calculated risk than irresponsibility. The young driver interviewed for the article is a heating engineer - hardly a benefit-subsistent chav who couldn't give a four-x. I'm sure there are lots of young males on low incomes living in areas with little or no public transport, for whom the ability to drive means the ability to work; some of whom think it's worth taking the risk of driving uninsured, especially given that the penalties for doing so if and when caught are relatively low.

The answer to this seems to me to be a combination of doing more to limit meretricious and/or inflated claims and offering subsidised insurance to younger drivers combined with draconian penalties for motoring offences that result in an accident for younger drivers. That way, the responsible ones get to begin their driving careers legally, but the irresponsible ones get hammered.

[aa3]

I didn't know age and sex discrimination was legal now. So a young man is more likely to get into an accident.. they then take that to say ALL young men should be painted with the same brush.

Also this claims and lawyers is a stupid way to do it. Skip the middle man and just have administrative awards by some government agency.

[macca]

Its great being young, can't afford a house, car, degree, pint of beer, packet of fags, jobs paying bare minimum and wanting the earth with no job security and modern music and films suck. I'd be out of this country in a flash if I was starting out. Life is too short to put up with this pathetic country and all its problems.

[Tonkers]

That's exactly my point. As with so many things these days, you know that it's a dog's breakfast of a situation when people who are nominally honest decide that certain crimes are morally acceptable.

An ex-colleague was quite open about pretending to have whiplash, since when was it OK to go round and go la la look at me I am committing fraud? One almost hopes she is tempting fate.

When my brother was doing insurance scams he kept well quiet about it.

[erranta]

Both injuries and fatalities have been going down for years, in spite of increasing traffic volumes so it must be something else.

http://www.theaa.com...ember-2010.html

I suspect that the insurance companies are recouping losses in other parts of their business that is not doing so well.

The insurance companies employ their own lawyers or own the law company they use - therefore rises of lawyer fees = more profit for insurance companies! They stiff you in every way.

Just like the cartel they run with you having to go to a accident repair garage which is on their list and having a new plastic say ford, bumper/sprayed/fit cost £800.

3rd party manufacturer bumper = £150 sprayed/fitted

We are forced to pay for the rip-off part costs within insurance premiums coz it's a manufacturer car-tel!

[Johnny Storm]

I'd be out of this country in a flash if I was starting out. Life is too short to put up with this pathetic country and all its problems.

Too true. Anyone who voted Labour should be hung.

[ken_ichikawa]

Of course you may eventually get this result if you price them off the roads....or you simply get more uninsured accidents and hit-and-runs which are more expensive and dangerous.

I hate hit and runners, surprisingly the hit and runners have almost universally been in expensive cars too. A funny (afterwards) event was when I was shunted at high speed on an old CB500. I went flying over the car in front and landed on his bonnet. Its a good thing I'm virtually immortal.

[ken_ichikawa]

None of the costs that come with any insurance claim seem to be legit and everybody knows it.

Time for biker law again? In that many bikers if they crash simply pay each other the damage.... but then again the friendship if worth more than the money.

[200p]

£275 this year. Same as last year. Quoted me Happy (not with Norwih Union though).

[REP013]

Both injuries and fatalities have been going down for years, in spite of increasing traffic volumes so it must be something else.

http://www.theaa.com/public_affairs/news/latest-road-accident-statistics-september-2010.html

I suspect that the insurance companies are recouping losses in other parts of their business that is not doing so well.

As I posted a few weeks ago.

According to ...

The situation is down to have a go heroes in the guise of no win no fee lawyers. There may be less claims but the costs of those claims is higher.

As an anecdotal how many people do you know who have been in car accidents and talk about how to get the most compo out of it? Everyone I know who has been in an accident in the last few years has been keen to get their "fair share".

On another note it is ludicrous that for no insurance you only get a small fine and perhaps a ban for 12 months although, I also have known many people who drive without a license as they have been banned for no insurance, they get another ban - who cares when all you get is a small fine and a ban - not sure what the answer is though?

[Clocker]

The situation is down to have a go heroes in the guise of no win no fee lawyers.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Clocker

[Home_To_Roost]

Motor Accident Lawyers have LOYALTY CARDS!. If you have the misfortune of using a claims lawyer, they will send you a Loyalty Card ... in the hope that you recommend them to a friend! .... what could possibly go wrong with compensation culture? ...

The motor insurance system is another massive UK scam: Force motorists to pay for insurance .. then add VAT and Insurance Premium Tax. The government gets hundreds of millions of pounds in tax every year.

P.S. If you need to replace your windscreen: "Don't Worry ... it's normally free of charge if you're fully comp ... and then we pass your personal details onto market research companies "

AutoArse repair ... AutoArse Replace

Edited October 13, 2010 by Home_To_Roost

[R K]

Motor Accident Lawyers have LOYALTY CARDS!. If you have the misfortune of using a claims lawyer, they will send you a Loyalty Card ... in the hope that you recommend them to a friend! .... what could possibly go wrong with compensation culture? ...

The motor insurance system is another massive UK scam: Force motorists to pay for insurance .. then add VAT and Insurance Premium Tax. The government gets hundreds of millions of pounds in tax every year.

P.S. If you need to replace your windscreen: "Don't Worry ... it's normally free of charge if you're fully comp ... and then we pass your personal details onto market research companies "

AutoArse repair ... AutoArse Replace

We've become a 'Scamocracy' like our big brother the United States of Scamerica.

It's a complete national failure of ethics and imagination. It's become endemic. We need to rid ourselves of this increasingly cultural trait before nothing else is viable.

[assetrichcashpoor]

I've often wondered if there is a statistical difference between racial groups when it comes to car accidents.

Apparently all young men are terrible drivers so it's only fair to make them pay 20 times as much as women in her 30s when it comes to insurance, even if they've never had an accident or committed a traffic offence.

What if an insurance company could prove that one ethnic group was more likely to make a claim than another ethnic group. Would they charge that ethnic group more for insurance in the same way that they discriminate on age and sex?