The RAC are trying to get the message across that as well as buying travel insurance prior to a holiday so car insurance should not be overlooked.
As more Britons travel into Europe and beyond in their cars and on their bikes, so the need for adequate insurance has never been greater. If an accident does occur then car insurance, from the RAC or another provider, will ensure there are people on the end of the phone who are trained to deal with situations. Where there are potential language difficulties then these experts are all the more valuable.
There can also be significant costs involved with accidents abroad, so once again adequate car insurance, like the RAC recommends, is a must. The RAC are best known for their recovery services, and the fact that their European Recovery operation saw a ten percent increase in demand last year underlines the need for sufficient protection when abroad.
It comes as little surprise to anyone that the young drivers on our roads today are being charged much more for their car insurance than their older counterparts. The differences though are considerable.
A study has been carried out by an independent body, looking at the typical premiums being paid to car insurance companies such as Swinton Insurance and others like them. The research has found a difference of 115 percent between the national average car insurance cost and that paid by young drivers. The average figure for the nation is GBP439, while young drivers are paying GBP989. This works out for the young driver at nearly 70 percent of their cars value.
Could this be the reason some young drivers go without insurance it has been asked. In fact some young drivers have even had insurance declined simply because of their age, though Swinton are not understood to be one of the insurers that has done this.
The view of Swinton, the biggest insurance broker on the high street, is that drivers with six points plus on their licence will soon be the norm, categorised as standard.
With the advent of the speed camera and the often scandalously low speeds at which they are set to trigger, Swinton feel it is not right to automatically penalise drivers because of these points. Bearing in mind the fact that approximately six million drivers have points on their licence, which is over ten percent of the whole population of the country, the approach from the insurer seems a very fair and sensible one.
Swinton are taking the view that the driver with six points on their licence today is as safe as the one who had three points five years ago and no points ten years ago. We just hope other insurers follow suit.
