July 30th, 2010 Administrator
A learner driver has been quoted a staggering £17,000 to insure his £2,000 Vauxhall Corsa.
Student James Hayes, who turns 17 next week, saved for months to buy his modest one-litre car but has been astonished at the sky-high quotes for insurance.
He will have to work flat out over the summer to pay the premiums.
His case highlights how insurers are increasingly using prohibitive premiums as a weapon against young male drivers.
The failure of insurers to offer reasonably priced insurance is being blamed on an explosion in uninsured drivers, which drives up the cost of cover for others and leads middle-class parents to commit a crime by putting themselves as the main driver on their children’s cars.
This reluctance to insure young men is based on accident statistics.
Men aged 17 to 20 are almost ten times more likely to be killed or seriously injured on the roads than older drivers, while one in five new drivers has a crash within six months of passing their test, according to road safety charity Brake.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says the average claim of a younger driver is also three times more than older drivers.
But their refusal to cover male teenagers for affordable premiums has led to almost a quarter driving uninsured, according to Brake.
And this ends up costing all motorists as they foot the £500million annual bill for accidents caused by uninsured drivers. Fines for driving without insurance can be as small as £200 plus six points on the licence.
James Daley, editor of Which? Money, says: ‘Uninsured driving is just a knock-on effect of insurers charging high premiums. If insurers really want to combat this then they need to come up with innovative solutions to help young drivers reduce their costs.
‘It’s in everybody’s interests to encourage young people to be better drivers and those who are responsible and maybe need to drive for their job should not be made to feel as if they’re being discriminated against.’
Car insurance premiums have rocketed 11 per cent in the past three months, according to the AA. The average premium for drivers who shop around is £704, but most young drivers can expect to pay at least £1,500 more than this.
Mr Hayes says: ‘I used six comparison websites and the cheapest comprehensive quote I found as a learner driver was £2,257 with ibuyeco. This rises to £3,555 with Admiral when I pass my test. It’s ridiculous when my car is only worth £2,000.’
The most expensive comprehensive quote he received was from The Green Insurance Company at £17,000 per year.
Mr Hayes, who is studying for his A-levels, earns £5.60 per hour working at a supermarket during the holidays and weekends. As well as his insurance, road tax and MoT, he will also have to pay for driving lessons at £13 per hour.
Many youngsters get their parents to insure their car and go on the policy as a named driver – an illegal process known as ‘fronting’.
Mr Daley says: ‘This really is a middle-class crime. Families think: “Well, everybody else is doing it so why shouldn’t we?” ‘
Mr Hayes, who hopes to work in the film industry after he finishes his studies, does not want third party-only insurance and does not want to invalidate his insurance by fronting.
Direct line told him that it keeps all quotes generated by customers – so if someone initially got a quote for themselves, decided it was too expensive and got a new quote with their parent as the main driver instead, the insurer would not pay out on this policy because it has obviously been fronted.
A spokeswoman for Direct line says: ‘Fronting is fraud and the consequences could be grave – ranging from an additional premium being required, to the cancelling of a policy (and therefore non-payment of the claim) as well as the policyholder being added to the financial industry’s fraud database.’
Malcolm Tarling of the ABI says: ‘It is not uncommon for premiums for young drivers to exceed the value of their car.
‘The main risk is not loss or damage to the car itself, but the potential cost of personal injury awards made against the driver if they cause an accident. This can easily run into tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds.’
The best way for young drivers to minimise the cost of insurance is to shop around using comparison sites, such as Moneysupermarket.com, GoCompare.com, ComparetheMarket.com, Compare.dailymail.co.uk and Tiger.co.uk.
You could also find a local specialist broker on the British Insurance Brokers’ Association website www. biba.org.uk or by calling 0870 950 1790. For the cheapest cars to insure, visit www.thisismoney.co.uk/cheap
Will Thomas of Confused.com says: ‘When you’ve passed your test, take the Pass Plus course. Only 6 per cent of 17 to 25-year-old males do, but it saves them £1,037 on average before they reach 25.
‘Start with a small-engine runaround in order to build driving experience.’
From : Dailymail.co.uk
Txt-Drive driving school in Bedford has FULLY QUALIFIED driving instructors that can deliver the PASS PLUS course to you. The PASS PLUS course costs just £150.00 for 6 hours of driving lessons. The PASS PLUS course is designed for new drivers that have recently passed their driving test as it helps to develop their existing skills & it also provides more experience for the new driver. The PASS PLUS course covers motorway driving, night driving, all weather driving & much more. To book driving lessons in Bedford with Bedford driving school Txt-Drive, please call : 0800 8600 983 (FREEPHONE). To book yourself on the PASS PLUS course after your driving test call a Txt-Drive driving instructor in Bedford on the above FREEPHONE number or visit www.txt-drive.co.uk.
Posted in Bedford, Driving, Driving Instructors, Driving Tests, Pass Plus, Road Safety, Txt-Drive, car insurance | No Comments »
July 29th, 2010 Administrator
Learner drivers could fail their driving test if they pose a threat to the planet, under proposals being draw up by the European Commission.
Braking suddenly, revving the engine or wasting fuel by being too heavy on the accelerator pedal could prove costly.
This is because Brussels wants to include “eco-driving” – cutting carbon emissions at the wheel – in the practical driving test.
The plans, which could consign “boy racer” drivers to history, were unveiled earlier this week by Siim Kallas, the EU’s Transport Commissioner as part of a comprehensive road safety strategy for the next decade.
It would be achieved by widening the current EU Driving Licence Directive, which is binding on all member states.
In Britain “eco-driving” has been included in the written test since September 2008.
But making it part of the practical examination would mean that learner drivers would not only have to be safe drivers but also “clean” ones as well.
“This is absolutely ridiculous,” said Claire Armstrong of the motoring group, Safe Speed.
“How is driving in an environmentally unfriendly manner posing a danger to other road users.
“In any case people want to drive in an economical manner, because keeping a car on the road is so expensive.”
Andrew Howard, the AA’s head of road safety, also voiced some misgivings.
“My concern that somebody could be mark down twice for the same piece of bad driving such as accelerating too fast,” he said.
“I suppose there would be one benefit, the young say they are short of money and this would encourage them to save fuel.”
But Stephen Joseph, executive director (check) of the Campaign for Better Transport, welcomed the initiative.
“This is a practical and common sense measure. Training people drive in this way would save them money and the planet as well.”
Eco-driving is one of a number of initiatives aimed at improving the next generation of drivers.
The EU also wants to introduce a probation period for newly qualified drivers, who would be subject to stricter restrictions than other motorists.
The Government gave the proposals a cool response. “We will study with interest the EU road safety strategy and the specific proposals within it,” said Mike Penning, a transport minister.
“This strategy outlines plans for the next ten years and at present there is no specific legislative proposal in this area.
“Any new proposals that emerge – including the widening of the EU driving licence directive – will be subject to scrutiny by the UK and European parliaments and subject to negotiations between Member States.
“We will negotiate strongly to ensure any changes to current legislation are consistent with our domestic road safety policy and represent the best interests of UK citizens.”
From : Telegraph.co.uk
Bedfor driving school Txt-Drive teaches learners on how to drive in an eco-friendly way. Driving lessons in Bedford with a Txt-Drive driving instructor cost from just £12.00 (call FREEPHONE 0800 8600 983 or visit www.txt-drive.co.uk for more information). Txt-Drive uses FULLY QUALIFIED driving instructors & give driving lessons in Bedford in the new BMW Minis.
Posted in Bedford, Driving, Driving Instructors, Driving Lessons, Driving Tests, Eco-Safe Driving, Txt-Drive | No Comments »
July 27th, 2010 Administrator
Millions of parents are said to be breaking the law in order to save money on car insurance for their children.
New figures suggest that 41% of parents deliberately lie when filling out policy applications.
Parents are claiming to be the main drivers on the policy, when in fact it is one of their children who is the main driver, or owner of the car.
The practice known as fronting potentially offers large savings but could lead to prosecution.
‘Risky move’
Research by Co-operative Insurance found that 41% of parents were actually fronting policies at the moment, and 61% would do so in the future.
Typically, insurance companies identify the practice when a car is registered to the parents’ address in say, Manchester, but the car seems to spend most of its time in Leeds, where a child may be studying at university.
The industry is warning that it is an extremely risky practice.
“The view that motor insurance fronting is harmless and does not hurt anyone could not be further from the truth,” said Tim Franklin, of Co-operative Financial Services.
“Parents who believe they are helping their children to save money by fronting are not only risking prosecution, but harming their chances of obtaining insurance in the future.”
Costs
Tom Dunn is a 17-year-old who is learning to drive in Milton Keynes.
But that could be the closest he ever gets to owning a car for himself, because he acknowledges that he cannot afford to pay for the insurance.
“I think I would be able to buy a second-hand car, but I do not think I would ever be able to buy the car and pay for the insurance,” he said.
In a test to see how much Tom would have to pay to insure the car he is learning in – a Vauxhall Corsa – the cheapest was £4,000. That was assuming the car was kept on a private driveway.
Some parents are trying to reduce such costs by any means they think is legal.
Tom’s driving instructor, Bryan Greenall, said he was seeing more and more parents who are tempted to break the law by fronting their car insurance.
“I basically tell them to make sure everything is above board and legal. You do not want to be going down the route of something that is not legal, even though you do not know it is not legal,” he said.
Premiums
At the Motor Insurers’ Bureau – set up to compensate victims of uninsured drivers – they insist the high cost of insurance should never justify lying on an application form.
They say the premiums being charged are not excessive.
“Yes, £4,000 is an awful lot of money but it accurately reflects the risk posed by young drivers,” said Ashton West, the bureau’s chief executive.
Mr West is keen to stress that fronting was an attempt to obtain money by deception, and therefore amounted to stealing.
And it was not just a criminal record parents could be saddled with. Insurers could refuse cover, and deny insurance in the future.
“If you cause injury to a third party, you will have to pick up their costs as well,” said Mr West.
“That could be hundreds of thousands of pounds, and those consequences could stick with you for the rest of your life.”
To see for ourselves whether parents were aware of the illegality of fronting, the BBC spoke to some as they parked up in the centre of Milton Keynes.
Within the space of 15 minutes, we spoke to three parents who told us they would be perfectly happy to put themselves as the main driver on a policy, even when it was not true.
“Anything that saves money is a good idea,” one woman said.
When asked whether she knew it was illegal, she said, “I had no idea.”
Another woman admitted to actually having fronted in the past.
But she too was unaware of the illegality, or of the consequences.
The survey says hard times may be forcing parents to try and save money on insurance. But it warns that if they do so illegally, the ultimate price could be prosecution.
From : BBC website
Bedford driving school Txt-Drive offers the PASS PLUS course to newly qualified drivers in Bedford. The PASS PLUS will usually reduce the insurance by one year no-claims (this can be a saving of HUNDREDS of pounds). The course gives further experience to the driver & allows them to develop their driving skills – which they have learnt when learning to drive on their driving lessons.
Posted in Bedford, Driving, Pass Plus, car insurance | No Comments »
July 26th, 2010 Administrator
SWEEPING changes on how young motorists are taught to drive will be introduced before the end of the summer in an attempt to cut the carnage on our roads.
Tough new rules will force learner drivers to undertake compulsory training before applying to sit their driving test.
The new process could cost them up to €700, the Irish Independent has learned.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) last night said details of a Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) system would be announced within weeks. It will include a requirement that all learners take a set number of lessons from a qualified driving instructor.
The changes will also oblige a learner to keep a logbook detailing the hours spent practising. Only motorists who pass an approved syllabus will be allowed to sit a test.
The move comes after last week’s horrific road accident in Co Donegal in which eight people died — the worst single collision in the history of the State.
Eight young men were travelling in a Volkswagen Passat when it collided with a Toyota Corolla. Seven passengers were killed and the driver remains in hospital. The driver of the Corolla, a 66-year-old man, also died. Gardai are still probing the cause of the crash.
But statistics show that inexperienced drivers, particularly men aged 17 to 24, are most at risk of dying on the roads.
Despite the number of road deaths falling to a record low, Ireland is one of the only countries in the EU that does not have a formal programme on how people are taught to drive.
The current system allows anyone who has held a learner permit for six months to apply for a test. During that period they must be accompanied by a qualified driver, but once they pass they are free to drive alone.
The changes will only affect new learner permit holders. Anyone who holds a licence now will not be affected.
“This system is in place in the UK, Germany, Northern Ireland and France. There’s very few places that don’t have it. It’s very similar to getting a pilot’s licence, you have to do your hours,” RSA chief executive Noel Brett said last night.
“We have done the syllabus and are working on the regulations needed. It will include a number of hours of training, and the syllabus will also cover the responsibilities of drivers.
“The first step will be to get the permit, then engage with an approved instructor and cover the syllabus. Drivers will clock up practice hours and have a logbook signed by the accompanying driver.”
Curfew
However, some aspects of GDL systems used in other countries will not be introduced. A curfew on learner drivers and a ban on carrying passengers were “not needed” here, he said.
Last year, the RSA issued a public consultation document setting out a range of options for a GDL system.
It said: “There is evidence that the best approach to learning to drive is a mix of compulsory lessons and supervised practice. Compulsory lessons would involve learners taking structured lessons set out in a programme specially designed to meet the needs of learners.
“The number of lessons would depend on the ability of the learner working through the programme but would be of the order of 20 hours.”
Driving lessons cost €35 per hour — meaning the total for 20 hours would be about €700.
The RSA would not confirm how many hours of training would be required when the plan was formally rolled out.
The changes are awaiting final sign-off from the Department of Transport and will be announced before the end of the summer.
- Paul Melia
Irish Independent
From : Independent.ie
Posted in Driving, Driving Instructors, Driving Lessons, Driving Tests, Road Safety | No Comments »
July 25th, 2010 Administrator
On July 17th, the international community celebrated Europe’s biggest and most glamorous AIDS charity event in Vienna. In honor of the occasion, Diane von Fürstenberg, Calvin Klein and Kenneth Cole teamed up with BMW MINI to fight HIV / AIDS.
How cool do these BMW MINIs look? Would love to see a new version of the classic Paul Smith ‘multistripe’ MINI – but maybe with his ‘tangled multistripe’ on the BMW MINI. How about a RMC Martin Ksohoh (Red Monkey jeans) desgined BMW MINI?
To be honest none of these designer BMW MINIs compare to the Txt-Drive BMW MINI!!!
Txt-Drive driving school in Bedford use driving instructors from Bedford for their driving lessons in Bedford. The driving instructors are local to Bedford so can offer you lots of help & support when on driving lessons & prepare you for your driving test in Bedford. Unfortunately Bedford’s Txt-Drive driving school does not use the Calvin Klein designed BMW MINI – but you can book driving lessons in Bedford with our Txt-Drive BMW MINIs from just £12 per hour. Our driving lessons are very competitive & provide GREAT value for money!
If you would like to book a Bedford driving lesson with a Txt-Drive driving instructor, please call : 0800 8600 983 (FREEPHONE), text DRIVE to 80039 or visit www.txt-drive.co.uk for more information.
Posted in BMW Mini, Bedford, Driving, Driving Instructors, Driving Lessons, Driving Tests, Txt-Drive | No Comments »
