Going green might not be a very good idea for drivers. Owners who want eco-friendly insurance might see their premiums rising by almost 150 per cent. A price comparison website has found that if you are looking for an insurance cover that will offset carbon emissions you may well have to add an extra £450 to the existing cost. So if you are driving Toyota Prius, an eco friendly vehicle you might see yourself paying £319 as motor insurance with Swiftcover. (more…)

Two Manchester firms have come up with a revolutionary proposal of having a new type of Car Insurance which will have drivers pay as they go. This latest technology, Coverbox, will use global positioning technology that will supervise the distance covered by your car and the time used by the vehicle. The technology will utilise this information to generate a bespoke insurance bill and the rates will differ according to the time when it is being used- whether your car is being used during peak hours or during off-peak period. This kind of insurance cover is being provided by Co-op and Equity Red Star while the gadget is being manufactured by one of UK’s leading automotive security companies, Cobra UK. (more…)

According to money supermarket, premiums for specialist Car Insurance for women and for older drivers are costlier than traditional insurance. The research carried out by the price comparison website found that a 30 year old woman driving a Ford would be paying about £622 on average with a woman-only car. This is almost 60% higher than what traditional insurance covers. In such a case, according to money supermarket director Andy Leadbetter, it is better for women to opt for Sheila’s Wheels and Diamond who cater specifically to women motorists. (more…)

A car which is different from factory specifications and has been fitted with market parts and optional items after purchase are known as a modified car. It difficult to find insurance providers for modified cars as most companies do not offer cover for imported vehicles. However, here are some tips for obtaining a Modified Car Insurance:

• Inform the insurance provider of modifications

You must inform your insurance provider about changes in your car or else your insurance policy may become invalidate.

• Insurance intermediaries

Greenlight Insurance is one of the insurance intermediaries to help modified car owners find competitive quotes for their cars and other benefits for example, ‘like for like’ substitution of modified elements that have been damaged.

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Car insurance provider Esure is all set to establish an example in going green by sourcing all of its energy from renewable sources. As a part of the go Green Car Insurance notion, the company adopted a 12 month campaign and now claims that they have reduced the use of paper by 29% and where successful in achieving 56% recycling rate. Also, the firm saved a considerable amount of energy by focussing on switching off the monitors when not in use.

Adrian Webb, head, corporate communications, esure, says that they were successful in bringing in substantial changes in their corporate energy buying and recycling. They claim that their biggest success was that they were able to educate their staff about the importance of recycling. He adds that the personal carbon footprint of their staff has reduced greatly. This measure taken by the esure will sure be a motivation to other corporate organizations.

Recent researches by Tesco shows that above two-thirds of homeowners considers themselves to be eco-friendly. But comparison of this figure with those in rented accommodation shows a big difference – the research revealed that this figure fell to 57% and 24% of them said they are “not very green”.

Good news for more than 2million Muslims residing in Britain. No longer do they need to own a motor insurance by compromising with their religious values. According to the Salaam Halal Insurance, motorists in the UK had no option but to take the regular Motor Insurance cover which were in conflict with the Muslim faith. However, analyst’s belief that with the changing face of Britain, British institutions need to change as well. In a normal insurance cover, the risk is passed on from the policyholder to the company. However, in case of a valid claim even though the payment is made one party suffers loss in many instances the policyholder, if the claim is not settled. There is an element of uncertainty and gambling is not permitted in Muslim faith. ?

To combat this problem, Takaful insurance was introduced in Sudan during the 1970s where a Muslim can gain even at the risk of loss of misfortunes and risk is borne by all the policyholders. Takaful means “guaranteeing each other” and is conceived as a co-operative insurance. It means bearing one’s burden. Takaful insurance is almost the same like the traditional insurance cover but functions slightly in a different manner. In this type of insurance cover, the premium is collected in the form of a contribution in a pool and is then invested in sharia-friendly investments ad the profits earned form these investments are given back to the Takaful fund.? If you require protection from this cover, you must be ready to help others when in difficulty. Islamic insurance promotes supporting each other and contributing enough to cover claims of individuals. At the end of the year, if the profits are more in the Takaful fund then, it is distributed equally among policyholders. ?

It is therefore much welcome news for Muslims in Britain that the government has allowed sharia-friendly car insurance. It has even attracted the non-Muslim community who take interest in co-operative nature. In this respect it is however, interesting to note that at the moment the Islamic insurance industry is a mere 1/1000th the size of the traditional insurance industry and more than half of the policies being sold in Iran. So, there is potential for growth of the insurance industry among the Muslim community. However, the rate of growth is considerably low than what the insurance company is hoping for.

Lack of competitive tax policy may prompt Brit Insurance to quit UK

The London underwriter, Brit Insurance would be taking a decision whether or not to move their tax headquarters from Britain in the next six months. This move by the Brit Insurance will have the Government on its toes to take steps to curb such departures by the corporates. The chief executive of Brit Insurance, Dane Douetil stated that the insurer has taken the subject very seriously for a more reasonable tax system like the one existing in Geneva or Dublin. According to him this move would be taken not only because of the tax factor but also on the fact where they are investing their capital on. In this respect, they are seeking advice of experts like that of an auditor, Ernst & Young and other consultants as well. Mr Douteil is also in charge of implementing modern practices on the biggest insurance market of the world.

This move by the company could have serious repercussions. It could also trigger other firms of Lloyd’s group to take such a similar move since most of them are frustrated with the Governments tax policies and unfriendly regulations towards British companies. Many companies including some high profile ones like WPP have threatened to take such a step. Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline could follow the lines of other drug groups like Shire and United Business Media. Business sectors especially those in insurance, pharmaceuticals and fund management are unhappy with tax issues like a common rate for capital gains tax, duty on non-British workers and the possibility of imposing tax on overseas profits. Until the uneconomical tax system is take care of by the Government with immediate effect, the country will witness more and more firms moving outside the UK.

The government has taken some steps to reduce tax and make it more corporate friendly. To stop firms against settling abroad, the Treasury has formed a high-level group of experts to explore various options to reduce the tax burden on the corporates. It has also decided not to add any new taxes without reaching a consensus with the companies in Britain. The pre-tax profits of Brit Insurance have been halved in the first six months to £49.9 million from £106.8 million. Brit has about £2 billion in store, partly to compensate for the liabilities that it has in its main business areas namely reinsurance, global markets, and the UK.

Pet names have triggered importance of car insurance.

It is not an unknown fact that most motorists develop a special bonding, a kind of extreme fondness for their cars. The most important reason for this unusual bonding being the amount of time they are spending with their cars. According to a survey by a popular Car Insurance company, for these people the car just does not mean a mode of transport or a tonne of glass and metal. It holds much more significance in their lives and as many as two per cent of car owners have agreed that their precious vehicle is of utmost importance in their lives.

Car insurance is crucial for all car owners but it stands a greater significance for all those who have an affair with their cars in case of an accident. The research also showed that more than half of the population of car owners have an emotional bonding with their cars and a third of that population have gone on to name their cars as well! More than 38 per cent of women have admitted in naming their cars while men are not too far behind. Almost a quarter of them have given a pet name to their cars.

Cars for some reason are more commonly given female names like Baby, Betty or Betsy. Some have even taken a step forward in giving some weird names like Einstein, Sadie Frost, Fizzy Pop or Beastie. Love for cars is a welcome sign especially for car insurance companies as it encourages more and more people to get insurance for their precious possessions. As a result, in the last year insurance premiums have shot up by six per cent.
With spiralling fuel costs and car tax without this emotional bonding, many car owners would have otherwise abandoned their cars!

Liverpool Victoria Insurance Company, a mutual society would be taking over UK’s car insurance company Highway Insurance is a deal decided worth about 150 million pounds. This was announced by both the companies on Thursday. Highway Insurance is being given 73.35 pence/share by Liverpool Victoria, in addition to the short-term surplus of 1.65 pence, which amounts to a total of 75 pence/share. It is interesting to note here that the shares of Highway Insurance were up by 14 per cent at 73 pence on Thursday morning. This price signifies a premium of 47% to the closing value 49.75 pence of Highway, the day before they stated talks of a takeover at an advanced level by a single company. The share prices immediately shot up by 30 percent with this announcement. This takeover was described by Liverpool as a “strong industrial logic” of two businesses in the insurance sector. With this agreement Liverpool hopes to join the league of top five insurance companies by 2012. According to the CEO of Highway Insurance, Andrew Gibson, this deal will yield interesting financial results and a joint business will provide greater occasion in the insurance market.

Jena Clattenburg, a team leader with the online UK based insurance company, Admiral Insurance was glad to announce its expansion plans in Halifax from the present size of 120 headcounts to that of triple the size. Though she has not been to Great Britain, she has never stopped short of helping Brits and Scots with car insurance deals. She sounded thrilled with the growth plans and said that it meant not only more opportunities but shifting to new tower as well.

Admiral Insurance began its operations in 1993 from Great Britain and since the past six years has been rated by the Sunday Times as one of the top hundred companies to work. The development agency, Nova Scotia Business Inc has been very supportive of the expansion plans of the company and has promised payroll reimbursement of $3 million over five years which would be given after achieving recruitment targets.

Alex McDonald, vice-president of Admiral, reassured that the Halifax Company only sells insurance policies to 1.6 million consumers in the UK and refrain from competing with Canada or North American businesses. Most of the work is completed in the British office and the Canadian office comes to play only after the UK office shuts down at 6 in the evening. Mr McDonald also states that they are very particular about work-life balance and hence they are against late night shifts for their employees. Therefore, they take advantage of the time difference and the Canadian office is thus able to serve customers till 10 in the night. The reason for being associated with Nova Scotia was low business costs and good reputation of customer service expertise.

The new recruits will enjoy a salary in the bracket of $30,000 per year and employee stock options worth $6,000 besides other benefits. Admiral owns a share of six percent in the auto insurance field in the UK and believes to grow further. Though at times, a customer finds it strange to talking to customer service in Nova Scotia but it’s never been a stumbling block, claims Ms Clattenburg. It is important that the customers get help at the right time and it doesn’t matter where they are based. Though Admiral is working from temporary locations on Bayers Road, it will soon shift to new office building to be completed shortly.