The recession has hit the insurance industry particularly hard and no sector has to date escaped. Aggregation has been a prominent feature of the market for a long time. Before the recession Insurance Brokers were the main target with the number of independent providers reduced by more than half as aggressive agglomerators swooped on books of business up and down the country.
The recesssion has brought with it major troubles for large bank owned brands such as Churchill and Direct Line and it looks like RBS will finally be forced to sell it’s crown jewels
Recent activity has also seen many large re-insurance companies going for a song!
However you really know the recession has hit home when you can pick up forward thinking Insurance Websites for peanuts….

Here is an Advert from this weeks insurance news

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The Caravan Insurance Organisation, the UK’s largest caravan insurance website where you can compare covers, prices policies and specialist schemes from just about every UK Caravan Insurance Company, has had a makeover..

The site is now very easy to use and you can get instant quotes for touring caravans, static caravans, mobile homes and even park home insurance!

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By Insurance blogger Dave Healey

If you’ve just bought your first classic car you will need to consider not just where, but also how you are going to insure it. If you are new to classic cars you will probably not even be aware that specialist car insurance policies for classics exist, which are peculiarly different from standard car insurance policy covers as offered by those seen on TV.

As a classic car owner it matters not if you drive a perfect condition Ford Capri 3 litre from 1970, a beat up old Morris Minor from the Sixties or a sleek E-type Jaguar in British racing green, it is essential that you find the best classic car insurance cover for your cherished motor, that covers your individual risks at prices that won’t break the bank!

If you have not owned a classic car before it is important to realise that there are basic differences between what is known as a standard car insurance policy and the cover offered under one defined as classic, from a specialist car insurer.

The first thing to establish is whether your car is eligible for cover under a classic policy. One way you could do this is ask the previous owner whether it was covered under a classic car insurance policy and with which insurance company.

Different car insurance companies have different definitions of the age and type of vehicles that can be covered under this type of cover.

What might be easily covered with one provider may be excluded by another. Fortunately most online classic car cover providers provide this information on the first page of their websites, so it is fairly easy to surf around and check your eligibility with different insurance companies.

You should check that both the eligibility of the age of the car in question and also whether there are policy restrictions for your individual driving circumstances, such as your age that would prevent you from applying for cover.

The major variation between a standard policy and those offered by the classic car specialists is in the way that you use your classic vehicle, and in particular, how much you drive it. The large mainstream insurers and price comparison sites will offer cover for older cars but will charge an additional premium because of its age. They will also load the premium if replacement parts for the vehicle type are known to be expensive.

More importantly you will only be offered the current market value replacement if the car is covered under a mainstream policy and is deemed to be a write-off when you claim.

With a standard car insurance policy on a replacement like for like basis, the value of the car is often set by the market value at the time of a claim, typically taken from one of the car price magazines such as the UK’s Glasses Guide. The amount you will be probably receive for a write-off will be at the current market value of your car which is an annual depreciating amount. Inevitably, if you own a classic car and insure it under a standard policy contract, this leads to under valuation and under insurance of the true value of the car. You will also probably not be offered the salvage and a repairable classic car may often be deemed a write-off because the cost of repair is uneconomic to the Insurer.

If you purchase a specialist classic car insurance policy you will be offered a choice of either an agreed valuation of the classic cars worth or a policy based on market value.

An agreed valuation amount is the amount that the insurance company will pay out in the event of a claim that results in a write off. This is a major benefit of insuring classics under specialist policies because it ensures that you are not just properly covered but will also receive the specialist repair services that your classic will require should you claim. It should be noted that even agreed valuation polices can change and you should ensure that the value is guaranteed for a certain period of time to avoid fluctuations in market values.

Classic Car insurance polices are therefore tailored to the needs of cars considered to be collectable and effectively the valuation is a rating factor for the condition of the car.

The other major difference between standard and classic policies is in the way that you are allowed to use your car under the terms of the agreement. Originally this type of vehicle insurance was designed for drivers who do not use their classic cars much.

All classic car policies have a limited mileage clause which only covers the vehicle for an agreed amount of miles per year. Depending upon which specialist car insurance company you use, there will be a limit to how far you can drive your classic. Some providers will only cover a couple of thousand miles per year under the policy, but many specialist providers are now offering cover up to ten thousand miles per year. These policies reflect the fact that many drivers now use modern day classic cars as their main form of transport.

As with all car insurance it is important to compare both covers and prices when shopping around. There are many specialist classic insurance providers available online today and many specialist schemes that are targeted at particular classic owners. Compare the premiums offered by these with those from the price comparison sites, but if you want to avoid disappointment if you need to make a claim, be sure to understand the difference in policy covers.

The Internet has made it very easy to Compare Car Insurance that was previously only available from specialist car insurance brokers on the high street. You can find those offering special deals and bespoke schemes for your particular classic by searching for schemes to compare for your particular model or vehicle type classic car insurance.

Article first published: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert

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The British Government although to be applauded in some social areas, seems to have totally got things wrong with it’s policies towards infrastructure, and those policy relationships with transportation, movement of goods and people and subsequent business development and economic growth.

Anybody who has been stuck in a gridlocked traffic jam on the M25 while trying to get to a work meeting…will know exactly what I mean.
Yeah and they don’t exactly provide roadside toilets (latrines to you guys over there), and what with all the closed circuit TV cameras covering every bush….!

Now I’m not one of those who would like to see less cars on the road, in fact, like J Clarkson I’d like to see more – on a lot more, better built roads and motorways.
And I’m certainly not advocating that you vote for Cameron and his policy less party!

The man would have us all on pushbikes!

But the latest announcement of UK Government transportation policy in mid week, borders on economic and social lunacy and demonstrates that the mandarins in Whitehall have little understanding of causality and it’s consequences, and it logically follows that their plans, if they actually have any, lack any inherent vision.

What am I talking about?
Why? the stupid decision to slap a minimum

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There’s been a lot of positive talk in the UK housing market over the last few days or so……..Onward Christian Soldiers…..

Relaxation of the credit stanglehold?
Total net lending to individuals rose by

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Well Today InsuranceBlogger is going to break one of his golden rules and write a post that really is hardly connected to Insurance or the Economy…
And I just can’t resist it……

Now being the world’s top insurance blogger brings with it a certain sense of responsibility, however today all that goes out the window …..

Well unless you are of European, African, Hispanic or Asian origin ( That’s you USA!) you would have failed to notice that one of greatest battles on this planet will take place next year in South Africa, and as revenge and for the first time since 1950 England will put the USA to the sword in the very first round!

Bring it on!

Sporting Event InsuranceLabels: sporting event insurance, World Cup

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A text message reading “Thatcher has died” has sparked a minor diplomatic incident in Canada.
The author of the message was the country’s transport minister John Baird, who was announcing the death of his pet cat.
However Canada’s prime minister Stephen Harper was mistakenly informed that the message referred to the the 84-year-old former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

According to BBC News, frantic calls were placed to 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace, while rumours circulated among politicians attending a black tie gala event in Toronto.

A Canadian government aide even began preparing an official statement commemorating Mrs Thatcher’s passing.

Luckily the identity of the “real” Thatcher, a 16-year-old grey tabby, was quickly clarified.

Fortunately the old moggie has pet life insurance an element of Cat Insurance which will cover the costs of  the state funeral.

In Memorium we were going to publish a few pictures of Thatcher’s 11 year in office achievements…..so here’s some treasured memories anyway!

1981 Riots in every town in the UK

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Incredibly Car Insurance companies in the UK are struggling to make a profit and 2010 is likely to see a large reduction in the supply of car insurance, with many famous brands and suppliers predicted to disappear from the high street and our television screens as the market adjusts to cater for the massive losses, according to analysts from car insurance comparison website Car-Insurance.tv.

Recently released figures show that the UK Motor Insurance market has been consistently losing money since 2004 when the total UK profit from underwriting car insurance policies was

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—————————————————–Blogger Template StyleName: Snapshot: MadderDesigner: Dave SheaURL: mezzoblue.com / brightcreative.comDate: 27 Feb 2004——————————————————

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UK Insurance Companies have been using credit scoring to determine policy acceptance, flag potential claims risks and load premiums for over ten years now.

What this means for the consumer is that if you do not fall into the credit/lifestyle brackets determined by the credit rating companies and identified by the Insurance Companies as the most profitable people sectors for their particular products, you will be either declined cover or offered it at a loaded rate commensurate with the amount of extra risk that the lifestyle group that you fall into presents, and designed to deter you from taking up cover.

In other words if you aren’t what the insurance companies are looking for…. they don’t want your business!

Here are the examples of the Experian Groups of type of person that YOU are! These are used for what is known as ‘customer segmentation’. For Insurance purposes these are then grouped into four quadrants.

Low Conversion / Low Risk of Claims – An Insurance Company’s desired customers
1. Wealthy Retirement
2. Mid Life Affluence
3. Surviving Singles
4. Elderly Deprivation

Low Conversion / High Risk of claims – An Insurance Company’s least preferred customers
1. Ageing workers
2. Happy housemates
3. Credit Hungry Families
4. Advancing Status

High Conversion / High Risk of Claims – The customers an Insurance Company would like to be rid of
1. On The Breadline

High Conversion / Low Risk of Claims – An Insurance Company’s most preferred customers
1. Gilt Edged Lifestyles
2. Modest Mid Years
3. Successful Starters
4. Flourishing Familes

So…..which one are you?

In the UK credit scoring was first introduced in the household and car insurance markets in the late 1990′s.
It is important to remember that credit scoring in the UK as carried out by ‘big brother’ credit scoring company Experian plc, is postcode and not people centric.
Where you live is the database primary key!

Nothing much has changed in the last decade with regards the database structures with the exception of the amount of data that Experian holds on each and every one of us and how the data Experian holds on each and every one of us is used!

When a customer applied for home insurance in the 1990′s, the insurance company collected the data regarding all new policyholders and sent the extract overnight to Experian. Experian then took the extract and applied it to its credit scoring database and sent the file back a day or so later with the credit scores for the applicant attached. The Insurance companies could then use the database to see the likelyhood of claims by the type of people they’d underwritten the policies for.

At renewal those likely to make a claim could have their premiums loaded to discourage renewal and in theory protect the fund.

That is if you believe the Experian categorisation of propensity to claim!

When I first was asked to design these systems I thought that propensity to claim by lifestyle had some merit, for example young drivers, but to judge someone by the house the live in, job they do, credit cards they hold, and nowadays even by the school reports they were given… as being rational variables in a model to determine propensity to claim….was complete and utter bullshit… and I still do!

Yes Big Brother Experian even holds your school reports these days and it won’t be long before they get your medical records as well………

Thanks to the Internet and Experians new offshoot company Hitwise, all these things can be done online and the decision to offer insurance made instantly.

If you’d like to see an interesting if flawed analysis by Experian of the UK Insurance Industry online for 2009, but more importantly an excellent demonstration of how Experian data is used by UK Insurance companies to bracket and categorise each and every one of us before deciding how much to charge us in premiums…… – watch this!Labels: Credit Scoring, Experian, Insurance companies, Premium Calculations, premiums, UK Insurance

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