Car Insurance, is there more to it than Meerkats and Opera Singers?

Insurance, just the word can make most people shrink away in fear... it costs money..... it doesn't do anything.... there are so many types.... what if I don't get a free Meerkat with it?

So lets skip all the fluffy toys and screeching singers and dig a bit deeper into the realms of Car Insurance!

Insuring your car is a legal requirement, but like most things in life, it seems to cost much more for the cover than the perceived benefits of the coverage.

Car insurance as we know it today became compulsory in 1930 as part of the first government issued "Road Safety Act" and meant that the owner/drivers of the vehicle had to be insured for Third Party injury.

There are 3 main types of car insurance now available.

Third Party: This basic policy does not cover the driver or any damage to their vehicle. It does cover their passengers and other people/property which may be hurt or damaged.

Third Party Fire and Theft: As above with the inclusion of coverage if the car is stolen or catches fire, in some cases this type of insurance is almost as expensive as the "comprehensive" cover listed below due to people who intentionally set fire to their car or declare it stolen incorrectly.

Comprehensive: Usually the most expensive of the 3 types, this covers everyone involved in the accident, including the driver/owner, passengers and third parties, as well as damage to the owners car, hence the name comprehensive. 

You may have read in the news about younger drivers being offered very large quotes, sometimes thousands of pounds per year, to insure their cars. So how do insurance companies come up with these figures, while adverts for "older drivers" offers them much cheaper quotes by comparison.

Insurance premiums of all kinds are based on risk, and given the high percentage of accidents involving younger drivers, as well as their lack of experience(especially compared to someone over 40 for example) it is easier for insurance companies to justify larger premiums as they are required to foot the bill for the repairs.

Other factors are also risk assessed before an insurance quote is given, these may include

Your address: Living in a quieter neighborhood may reduce your quote especially if you park it in a garage, which bring us nicely to;

The make and model of the car: Cars with a bigger engine, more power or more "toys"(sat nav, big stereos etc) might be more expensive for the insurance company to fix, or be more likely to be stolen, think carefully if you really need a 4-wheel drive turbo to drop the kids at school and go shopping.

Where is the vehicle kept overnight: Don't be tempted to tell your insurer "its in the garage" every night if its not, but if it is off the street, keep in a driveway, or in a secure location, this might bring down your quote.

Occupation: Higher risk occupations, such as tradesmen may notice an increase in their quote compared to someone with a job in an office.

Annual mileage: The more miles you drive, the more likely you are to be involved in an accident, think carefully about how much you use your car and give a reasonable figure.

No Claims Bonus(NCB): This will begin to build up when you get your own insurance policy and in some cases can be "protected" so that if you make a claim the NCB will not be lost. Generally one years NCB is worth a 10% discount on your insurance premium, 2 years 20% and so on.

Excess: This is an amount that, if you make a claim on your insurance, you agree to pay towards the costs. Some insurers will have a minimum amount based on age, or experience, £150 for example, and may increase it if you have a powerful or expensive car. You can also choose to add more to the excess, called a Voluntary Excess. which normally reduces your quote further.

There may be other factors which affect your final quote from the insurance company, be sure to tell them if you are not sure about anything, as any incorrect information can mean your insurance is no longer valid.

So where can you buy your car insurance policy?

Check out the 401,000,000 Google Search results for Car Insurance

There are hundreds of insurance companies out there, and they all want your business. It pays to shop around for the best quote, comparison sites are always a great way to get lots of quotes, but contacting insurers directly can sometimes give you a cheaper quote for the same coverage. Shop around and don't forget to write the details down about the price, type of cover and any excesses included in the policy.

Oh and if you don't want your free Meerkat, send it to me!

Buying your first car...The Trials and Tribulations!

So.... Just passed your driving test? YES

Desperate to drive something, anything on the road? YES

Does it matter if its safe, affordable, reliable?............................

Most people already have a dream car, way before their Driving Test Date. A mixture of nerves and excitement within them, then they hear that wonderful news "I'm glad to say, you have passed"

Most people are now reduced to a state of shock, some laugh (you know who you are!), some cry, and others sit and stare vacantly into space as the realisation kicks in that they, THEY, can now drive a car!

Given a quick internet search, its easy to find dozens, even hundreds of cars locally at scarily cheap prices, so obviously all you need to do is pick one in a nice colour, buy it, and get driving! YES

Sorry, its just not that easy!

Have you considered: Road Tax, Insurance, MOT, Maintenance, Depreciation, Fuel, Servicing, Repairs and the condition of the car you want to buy?

Road Tax: This needs to be paid Annually, or 6 Monthly in order to drive a vehicle on the road.

This table below is based on the CO2 emissions of the vehicle measured in grams per kilometer (g/km), you can easily check this figure on most manufacturers websites, and then see which Band your car falls into.

The simple explanation of this is that the less CO2 emissions your car produces per kilometer, the cheaper your road tax will be.

Lets start with Band A cars:

Some examples of cars in the Band A include the Ford Fiesta, Hyundai i30, Vauxhall Corsa, Toyota Yaris and even the smaller BMW's and Volvo's
Click here to see the What Car Website's review of Band A cars!

These cars are all £0.00 in Road Tax, this is because they have smaller engines, which are designed to produce very low CO2 emissions.


Lets skip a few Bands now to Band J, these cars have almost double the CO2 emissions of the Band A cars and therefore pay £250 for 12 months or £137.50 for 6 months Road Tax.

Some examples of cars in Band J include larger BMW's, VW Golfs and some of the Skoda, Honda, Kia 4x4's.

Also in this range is the Vauxhall Corsa, however this is now the larger engined VXR edition, because of this examples larger engine, it generates enough CO2 emissions per kilometer to find itself in the Band J and paying £250 per year compared to the smaller engined Corsa with £0.00 Road Tax!
Click here to see the What Car Website's review of Band J cars!



Significant savings can be made by choosing a car with lower CO2 emissions, and it can be that 2 identical cars(like the Vauxhall Corsa example above) can have 2 wildly different rates of Road Tax based on their CO2 emissions, so check first and choose carefully! Remember, that Road Tax is for life......

Check back soon when we will be discussing the MOT Test!

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Driving Abroad

I returned from 2 weeks in Canada recently.

Canada is a massive country, the second biggest in the world in fact, and a population of over 31million. The distances involved in doing tasks like shopping, or going to work, its hardly surprising that there are so many cars are on the road there. You may think this causes lots of problems and issues, however there are a few things they do differently which appear to make driving a bit easier than it might be for your average city dweller in the UK.

The Roads: The roads are much wider than we are used to here, almost UK motorway sized even in small suburbs. This leaves more room for traffic to move about in lanes before causing a hazard and increases visibility, rather than crowding traffic into a smaller space. You are also likely to find 4 lane roads going through most cities, unlike Dundee which gets by with 2 lanes at the most.

The RoadSigns: These seem to be much simpler than over here. Plenty of "STOP" signs, with very few give ways. As with "STOP" signs here the traffic must come to a complete stop. This is used frequently, particularly at crossroads which may have a "major" and "minor" road in the UK. There is also the option to turn right at any time(which is treated like a "give way") even at a red traffic light. This seems to help traffic keep moving when the road is clear, when they would normally be sitting waiting on the green light.

The Layout: Many of the roads are built in "Blocks" similar to the American system, where roads are designed to go in long straight lines, often north, south, east or west. This keeps navigation much easier and avoids problems we encounter in the UK with roads which haven't been straight since some of them were built over 100 years ago!

The Pedestrian: Although it is a massive car orientated country, Canada's roads are kept safe for pedestrians. Each large crossroads is controlled by traffic lights, with clear signals given to pedestrians when they can cross(red and white, rather than red and green) and, surprisingly, a countdown timer on how long they have before the light changes, on larger roads this is around 30 seconds, letting the pedestrian decide if they have time to cross an 8 lane freeway in time.

All of these things, as well as numerous other things which as a tourist are not obvious help keep Canada's roads safe. Could some of these lessons be applied to UK roads? My favourite is the option to turn right, this might be introduced in the UK as an option to turn left(other side of course!) treating the turn as a give way to other traffic. The hope would be to reduce traffic build-up, as well as journey times and fuel consumption.

Does anyone know if this has been seriously considered before?

Why people don't drive?

For many, the choice about whether or not to drive is an easy one

Cost: This is the most obvious issue, given the cost of owning, maintaining, insuring and running a car, many people simply cannot justify the expense.

Convenience: For someone living in the city, or close to their work and local amenities, a car is a luxury which may not be regularly used. Walking, the local bus, or taxi service, or even a bike may be enough to get them to their place or work.

Never got round to it: In some cases this is the only reason, perhaps lots of friends/family drive, so why bother?

and the benefits???

The biggest issue with the benefits of learning to drive, and owning a car is that none of these benefits are really quantifiable, or are they?

Freedom

Independence

Convenience

These words don't come with a £ sign at the front, whereas £Car Insurance,£Road Tax, £Tyres, £Depreciation all have a serious £ value attached.

However it is important to consider the benefits to you directly, even if you don't own a car, that a license can bring you:

Increased Employability: How jobs are now looking for people who can drive, not as a full time role, but to go between offices, to meetings etc? You might actually be getting paid to sit in a car and drive somewhere! Taking driving lessons, and passing the course also demonstrates your willingness to learn new skills, study a course and take challenging exams! Could this mean a step up the ladder? a promotion? or a new career?

Social Responsibility: For many young people taking driving lessons is their first major step towards becoming an adult, it enables them to demonstrate they are a responsible member of society. For parents, isn't knowing your child has access to safe transport, not waiting on a bus for example, worth more than all the £'s.

Convenience: How much does that bus pass or taxi cost you? How often do you use it? If you had access to transport, would you travel further for your shopping? Would you shop once a fortnight instead of once a week, because you can carry more in your car? Have you ever wanted to go somewhere, but cant, because no one else can give you a lift?



These of course are not the only benefits to having a driving license, remember you will be learning a new skill which will remain with you for life!

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Rant Number1

These rants are not really rants.

They are all based on real events, and incidents which could escalate and put people at risk. So as well as my own chance to voice the issues which affect many of us daily, I will try and offer advice and support.


Not really a Rant #1

While driving on the dual carriageway, an overtaking vehicle pulls in early and doesn't leave a safe gap between itself and you. This puts both vehicles, and following traffic, at risk if the front vehicle needs to brake suddenly.

This leaves you, in the vehicle behind with an unsafe gap in front.

From a coaching perspective this can be daunting for students, especially first trips on the dual carriageway, although it does provide an excellent example of what not to do!

Remedy: Check your mirrors, ensuring any cars behind you are not too close, and reduce your speed, letting your 2 second rule gap build up, before building your speed back up.

To the driver of the car who pulled in too early: Try spotting the headlights of the vehicle you have overtaken, in your rearview mirror, this should give you a bigger, safer gap before pulling in, and in poor weather conditions leave it even longer before moving back in to increase the gap and keep everyone safer!

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who have blogs about driving, particularly instructors. This is one such blog, my opinions are mines alone.

So first things first, a bit of housekeeping and information for you.

 My name is Alex Martin and I am a Driving Instructor.

This all began a few years back in the mists of time, when looking for a career with prospects I stumbled onto website which offered to let me be my own boss, set my own hours, work with people, and make enough money to do the things I wanted to do.

So far so good.

A bit of research, a few phone calls and some discussion with family and friends later I decided to take the company up on their generous offer to train me.

This training takes longer than I expected and meant that after a year of theory practice and re-learning how to drive properly(bad habits are easy, getting rid of them is hard!) I still hadn't met a single pupil.

 From here I worked with my Trainer to learn how to coach a pupil, bring out their own skills and refine them to make them a safe driver, as well as covering the full syllabus of driving and maneuvers. It was only half way through this that I got myself one of those little cars with the "L" plates and met some real people who wanted to learn, working with them to develop their skills, and working with my Trainer to improve my own.

 The next step is the dreaded "Part3" exam of Instructional Ability. This has a horrific first time pass rate of around one in four, and with only three attempts allowed before having to resit the entire course, the pressure is on. Thanks to my Trainer and my Pupils my own skills had developed to a level where I passed on my first attempt.

 After a year of training, still working at my previous job, putting in long hours and spending weekends with new pupils rather than going out, I was relieved. I have since come to realise, that is only the beginning!