Car insurance cost falls, and ministers target whiplash fraud
The cost of insuring your car has fallen at the fastest rate in the last 20 years, as an average of £80 was saved per policy over the last 12 months.
The news comes as ministers announce plans to reduce the cost of motoring, focusing on bringing down the amount of fraudulent whiplash claims, which result in higher premiums for everyone.
The fall in motor insurance, announced by the AA British Insurance Premium Index, brought the average cost of comprehensive insurance down from £648.61 per annum at the end of September 2012, to £568.32 at the same time this year. This represents a total fall of 12.4pc.
However, there have been differences in the scale of the reduction of premiums between different age brackets, and genders. Those aged between 23 and 29 have experienced the biggest drop in premiums, while young and old drivers saw lower premium reductions. Women also saw lower decreases in their premiums, after an EU law on gender equality was passed last December, which stated gender could no longer play a part in determining the cost of insurance premiums. The result of this was that, on the whole, premiums for women were raised to bring them in line with those of men.
While this is good news for motorists, ministers have also targeted reducing the amount of claims that are made for whiplash as the result of an incident on the road. This will include the use of independent medical panels that will identify and examine claims for compensation that appear to be exaggerated or fraudulent. It is hoped that this will help to curb the ‘compensation culture’, and will help to further reduce car insurance premiums.
Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling said: “We are turning the tide on the compensation culture and helping hard-working people by tackling high insurance premiums and other motoring costs.
“It is not right that people who cheat the system get away with it, while forcing up the price for everyone else”.
Need Advice?
If you have any financial questions and need advice, contact our financial advisers for assistance
Share this..
Related stories
Is it time to revamp motor insurance?
A report by Cardiff University has today hit the headlines with a suggestion last over 200 lives a year could be saved, as well as 1700 fewer serious injuries, if young drivers between the ages of 17 and 19 are restricted from driving at night. There are also calls for younger drivers to be banned from carrying young passengers with statistics showing that males under the age of 21 are 10 times mo...
Read MoreIs your garden insured for the increased risk of theft?
As crazy as it may sound there has been a significant increase in garden thefts since the recession hit home and many homeowners are finding they are severely under-insured. We are talking about thieves breaking into sheds and stealing expensive equipment as well as thieves stealing expensive shrubs, plants and even freshly laid lawns. So are you fully covered?
The vast majority of...
Halloween proves a difficult period for insurance companies
Insurance company Aviva has today issued a statement warning customers to be wary of damage to their cars and burglaries over the Halloween and bonfire night period. The company has released statistics showing that on Halloween and bonfire night especially there have historically been significant increases in claims with regards to damage to motor vehicles and burglaries.
The figure...
Family income benefit
Family Income Benefit is an innovative type of life insurance product, which is useful and extremely good value when compared to some other types of life or health insurance. As with term assurance policies, family income benefit policies provide cover on death if you die during the policy term. But instead of a lump sum, it gives regular set payments (income) for the rest of the term of the co...
Read MoreZurich Insurance loses personal data for British customers
It has been revealed that Zürich Insurance has lost a data tape which held the personal details of 51,000 of the company's British customers. The revelation comes more than a year after the tape was lost in transit from South Africa and there are concerns that the company, while admitting the error to the regulatory authorities some time ago, has not yet been in touch with customers to warn the...
Read More