Car Insurance

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Car Insurance

Car insurance is there to protect you against any loss you could face as a result of accidents on the road. These losses could be your own death, damage to your car, personal injury or the injury, death or vehicle damage of other drivers. Most policies also cover you for the theft of your vehicle and any vandalism or wear and tear which your vehicle might suffer. Because premiums can increase after a claim, most drivers choose to pay for wear and tear and minor vandalism themselves rather than claim on the insurance.

The Law

In the UK it is illegal to not have insurance for any vehicle you own. Even vehicles which you might have parked off-road on your property need a certain type of off-road tax certificate specific to them. It was in 1930 that the UK government first introduced a law which required everyone with a car to take out insurance.

Since then, there have been several changes to the Road Traffic Act, which was first created in 1988 and these mean that anyone with a car must be insured at the very least against the damage they could do to other people and their vehicles. This minimum cover level is called Third Party Insurance. It’s illegal to drive your car or allow other people to drive it without at least this form of insurance.

Drivers are also required by law to show police officers and government officials their insurance certificate when asked to. If the driver cannot show the police officer the document immediately they could be issued a HORT/1 form, with just 7 days to produce their certificate. If they then fail to show the police a certificate they are officially guilty of an offence and could face serious consequences such as hefty fines and having their car crushed. Furthermore, if you then refuse to pay fines or get in the way of the authorities carrying out justice, you could be arrested.

All vehicle owners are also required to prominently display a tax disc in the front window of their car, this is useful because when the disc is purchased, the buyer must show their insurance certificate and so in having a tax disc it is quite safe to say you also have insurance.

To deal with the repercussions caused by those who flout the law, The Motor Insurers Bureau was created and the Bureau offers compensation to victims of traffic accidents which were caused by drivers without insurance. The Motor Insurers Bureau also runs the Motor Insurance Database and in this are details for every insured car in the UK.

What does Car Insurance cover?

Different companies offer different coverage and benefits and most insurers mainly compete on price, trying to offer more competitive, cheaper deals. This is because car insurance is considered a necessity, something which all people must have. As a result basic, cheap deals are popular.

However, the most common factors are the same across the board. There are two main types of cover, basic cover which typically is third party, fire and theft and can only be given to drivers over 25 where there are no drivers registered on the policy under 25 and there are little to no previous claims. More comprehensive cover which might include cover whilst driving abroad (especially Europe), a maximum no claims discount, cover for up to 4 different drivers, breakdown cover and other perks and extras.

Women Drivers

Women drivers pay less because they statistically have less chance of claiming than male drivers. Deals for women often have more comprehensive cover than those which are unisex and offer better perks. The facts which have been compiled by the UK government and which support the standard of women drivers paying less on their insurance premiums are also quite surprising.

In studies it has been unequivocally proven that 92% of all UK convictions for driving offenses are male drivers. Statistically women are far safer drivers and more conscious of laws than men, but whether or not the standard of women paying less insurance is fair has been queried several times.

Most recently European Union members debated whether or not the insurance industry practices amounted to gender discrimination and came to the conclusion that women were offered cheaper car insurance based on provable statistics. Therefore, it would be unfair to make a woman pay the same as a man when statistically she had far less chance of being involved in an accident than a man the same age. Forcing a woman who poses less risk than a man to pay the same premium, would in fact be unfair.

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Car Insurance Benefits

The benefits of having car insurance are clear. Firstly, it is a necessity and secondly it provides you with funds in the event of an accident.

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Car Hire Insurance

One thing people often forget when they hire a car is that they have a choice over which service provider they chose. For more information, take a look at the Car Hire Insurance website.

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