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Confused.com Reveals 56% of Drivers Forget Where They Park

Confused.com has revealed that 56% of UK drivers have at some point, forgotten where they have parked their car, and 3% have picked up the phone to ask their breakdown service to help them find it. More than 50 in 2,000 drivers in the UK admit to making that call according to a new survey by car insurance comparison site Confused.com.

The Confused.com survey has revealed some of the gaffes of UK drivers, which have led them to phone for their breakdown service, like 25% of drivers have locked their keys in the car and 10% of drivers have had to call for their breakdown service to help them sort the problem out. Putting the wrong fuel in the car has happened to more than 10% of Brits, with half of those affected (5%), also calling for assistance from a breakdown service to put things right. A small number of UK drivers also admit to calling the breakdown service, not just when their car fails but when they get lost (3.5%), lose their car (3.5%) or the sat nav is playing up (2%).

Needing help changing a wheel (21%) and topping up oil or engine coolant (13%) are other reasons why drivers have called out their breakdown service.

When it comes to forgetting where they’ve parked, women fare worse than men with 63% of women owning up to losing track of where they parked, compared to 43% of men. A whopping 78% of women have run out of petrol, with 69% of men admitting that gaffe. 9% of men and 5% of women have called their breakdown service to help them when their fuel ran dry. This is assuming they’ve managed to put the correct fuel in the car in the first place: more than 14% of men have put the wrong fuel into the car, compared to just 8% of women.

Gareth Kloet, head of car insurance at Confused.com said: “This survey just goes to show how much people use and appreciate their breakdown cover, especially when they get themselves in a potentially embarrassing situation. Shopping around for breakdown cover by using a website like Confused.com can make it more affordable. Although it’s no substitute for remembering where you parked.”

According to the survey of 2,000 drivers, which was carried out at the end of May 2011, almost a quarter of men and just under a quarter of women do not have any breakdown cover.

Via EPR Network
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Confused.com Reveals The Unluckiest Make Of Car

Confused.com has revealed the unluckiest make of car in the UK by looking at 12 months’ worth of customers quotes and finding out which make and model had the highest accident rates.

Top of the list was Honda’s FR-V six-seater. 2,529 owners of this vehicle made 466 accident claims in the past five years. That’s a claim rate of 18.4 per cent, or almost one in five.

Next came Volvo’s XC90. Of the 3,886 drivers of this model who bought cover through Confused.com, 619 made claims for accidents – a rate of 15.9 per cent.

The Lexus RX had a claim rate of 15.5 per cent (574 claims out of 3,701 drivers), followed by the Mazda 5 (15.3 per cent, or 373 out of 2,431).

Also in the top 10 vehicles for claims were Honda’s Jazz and CR-V models, Volkswagen’s Touran, the Hyundai Santa, the Toyota Rav and the Mazda 3. Each had a rate of about one accident claim for every seven vehicles insured through insurers on the Confused.com panel.

Confused.com also looked at which cars were least likely to be involved in accident claims.

Apparently the ‘safest’ of all was the Mazda 2 TS TD – out of a total of 1,076 owners, only nine accident claims were recorded in the last five years. That makes a claims rate of less than one in 100. Also hovering around the 1 per cent claims-rate mark were Nissan’s Skyline, the Ford Focus RS and the Fiat Cinquecento.

Confused.com’s head of car insurance, Gareth Kloet said: “Car accidents are rarely a result of mechanical failures: they are more often caused by human error or just bad fortune. It could be that drivers of this model happen to be more careless or reckless than other motorists. Or it could simply be that this group of road users has been particularly unlucky in the period when the data was collected.”

Confused.com’s statistics show just a snapshot of accident-related claims made by owners of a particular make and model of vehicle. So it is worth stressing that if one particular car appears to have a relatively high rate of claims, it does not follow that this vehicle is inherently more dangerous than others.

This research reflects only the experience of Confused.com customers: other companies’ figures could show different trends.

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Confused.com Reveals The 10 Most Popular Car Games

Confused.com has revealed the 10 most popular games families play in cars on long journeys.

52% of UK car owners avoided the tailbacks on the Bank Holiday and stayed at home or used another method of transport, according to new research from car insurance comparison site Confused.com.

But for those who stuck with tradition, a car packed with kids, pets and picnics awaited. Gareth Kloet, head of car insurance at Confused.com said: “Keeping your kids entertained on long car journeys is always a challenge.Of course there are a lot of gadgets such as games consoles and DVD players that can help time pass more easily, but some families might prefer a more sociable solution.

“Car games that mum and dad can play with their kids have a long tradition in Britain – so we’ve tracked down 10 of the best to help you stave off boredom on those long trips.”

Classic games such as ‘I spy’ and ’20 questions’ made it on to the list, alongside more educational pursuits such as encouraging children to help with map reading and getting them to spot landmarks as they are approaching.

Many of the games which made the list focus on what things children can spot while they are travelling. These include the ‘yellow convertible mini’ game, where children have to spot a yellow car, a mini or a convertible, but get more points for spotting combinations of the three. There is also the ‘three for a pig’ game, where different amount of points are awarded for all the different animals that are spotted, and the alphabet game, where children aim to spot consecutive letters of the alphabet on road signs or registration plates. Children can also make a simple game out of counting cars, and trying to be the first to spot a certain number of a particular colour or make.

Other games to make the list were ‘I went to the shops’, where children try and list items while working through the alphabet, and ‘What can you do with?’ where players think of all the possible uses for household objects.

No doubt the most popular game amongst travelling adults is ‘sleeping lions’, where children have to try and keep quiet for as long as possible.

Via EPR Network
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Confused.com Uncover the Nation’s Amorous Auto Habits

Confused.com has revealed that almost half* of male drivers in the UK admit that they have had got frisky in their car, and almost 30% of women admit this too. However, having an argument is a more likely pursuit, with nearly 60% of men and almost 63% of women fighting with their loved ones while in the car.

Other popular pastimes while in a vehicle include dumping a boyfriend/girlfriend (10% of men and 8% of women), being dumped (6% of men and 5% of women), flirting with another driver (24% of men and 18% of women), eating something (73% of men and 76% of women) and having a nap (42% of men and 29% of women).

Men voted Audi drivers the sexiest women drivers (21%) and women agreed, also voting male Audi drivers top with 31%. Male BMW drivers are considered second sexiest by women, with 25%. Men’s second choice was female Mini Cooper drivers with 14%.

The city admitting the most car friskiness is Brighton with 68% of drivers admitting having done the deed in their cars, while only 22% of drivers in Worcester say they have got frisky while in their cars.

Drivers were also asked how often they have sex each week, with the highest average of 2.9 times per week among those living in Coventry.

Gareth Kloet, head of car insurance at Confused.com said: “The results of this Confused.com survey bring a new meaning to the UK being a nation of car lovers. Although this is not a rating question that insurers would ask when people are applying for car insurance, perhaps it’s something we should look at in the future, judging by how many people are getting frisky in their cars.”

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Diamond Reveals The Most Popular Hairdresser’s Car

Diamond has revealed that the Mini One is the most popular car among British hairdressers.

The term ‘hairdresser’s car’ has long been used to describe sporty little run-arounds popular with nation’s style conscious hair stylists. Women’s car insurance specialist Diamond decided to find out what hairdressers really drive and can reveal that the most popular, and therefore ultimate ‘hairdresser’s car’, is the Mini One.

Diamond looked at data from over 18,000 hairdressers to create a definitive list of the most popular cars amongst Britain’s hairdressers*. The Mini One is three and a half times more likely to be driven by a hairdresser than everyone else. The next most popular for hairdressers are the Vauxhall Tigra and Volkswagen Beetle, which are both more than three times as popular with hairdressers than the rest of the UK. Rounding out the top five are the Ford Ka and Mini Cooper.

Commenting on the findings, Diamond managing director, Elwyn Gedrych said: “It’s not surprising that the Mini One is so popular amongst hairdressers, as it’s stylish, modern and looks great. In fact, with two Mini models in the top 5, that certainly cements its place as the ultimate ‘hairdresser’s car’.”

Diamond also wanted to see if hairdressers like to show off their perfectly coiffered locks in a convertible car. It found that they’re happy to have the wind through their hair as they’re 33% more likely than non-hairdressers to drive one.

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Confused.com Launches New YMCA Advert

Confused.com has announced that the well-loved 70’s disco anthem YMCA is the soundtrack to the latest advert “Con-Fused-Dot-Com” featuring animated logo Cara. The new thirty second advert, focusing on car insurance, launched on Sunday 22nd May, with its peak spot taking place during the new ITV1 drama Vera.

The new advert is once again voiced by Louise Dearman who plays the lead in the popular West End hit musical, Wicked. Animated and produced by Hornet, with musical arrangement from Speckulation entertainment, the advert will feature living logo Cara singing the catchy anthem before being joined by a lively backing group of animated singers and dancers. Previous adverts featuring Cara include covers versions of songs from Queen and Diana Ross.

Mike Hoban, marketing director at Confused.com, said: “Confused.com is the UK’s first price comparison site and this advert is an entertaining way to remind people how easily they can save money on household bills.

“The new series of adverts have been so successful that Confused.com has added more than 2 million customers since the campaign launched.”

In addition to this thirty second car insurance advert, a thirty second advert focusing on home insurance and a sixty second brand advert are also launching. The new thirty second car insurance “Con-Fused-Dot-Com” advert can be viewed on Cara Confuseds page now.

Confused.com is also unveiling a new thirty second London region only radio advert on 1st June. Fans of Cara can keep up to date with her on her Facebook and Twitter pages.

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LV= Launches My Car iPhone App

LV= has launched a new iPhone app for motorists called LV= My Car. It is a multi-utility application that features five clickable options for users to chose from including a car profile function, traffic maps, local info maps and for LV= customers only, an accident toolkit and call LV= tool. Each option takes the user to a separate page and offers a different service.

The car profile function allows users to input information about their own car to be stored on the app. Users can either enter their vehicle registration number whereby a third party provider will determine the exact car make/model (plus other information) or they can choose to create their own manual car profile. Here they will be able to include relevant information about their car such as engine size, BHP, miles per gallon, tyre pressure and tyre size.

There is also the option to set a number of car related renewal reminders including road tax, MOT and service, parking permit, and insurance. These reminders can also be added to the iPhone calendar. Users are then alerted two weeks before the renewal is due.

Using the accident toolkit feature, LV= car insurance customers are able to fill out an accident report form and submit it to LV=. There are two sections to this feature; ‘during an accident’ and ‘after an accident’. The first section allows the user to make notes about an accident they have been involved in and this includes the other driver’s details and the opportunity to capture images of the accident.

The second section enables LV= customers to fill in an accident report form. Here they are prompted to note their personal information, a description of the incident, whether there was third party involvement, whether either party accepted fault, extent of the damage, injuries, witnesses, whether the police were involved and if there is a crime number. Once all of the relevant information is complete users can submit the form to LV= and a claims handler is guaranteed to get in contact within 24 hours. Customers also have the option to call LV= at this point rather than submit information via the app.

Drivers can also use the app to receive detailed local traffic updates and access a local information map which will highlight nearby amenities.

The launch of the application follows the launch of LV=’s first iPhone app for job hunters which was released in September last year.

Paul Wishman, LV= e-commerce director said: “We are delighted to be launching the LV= My Car app. We opted to create an app with a difference that offers a service that could be used in different situations. We have recently launched the LV= mobile site so the launch of the iPhone app is the next step in our mobile strategy.”

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Confused.com’s Car Study Reveals The Vehicles Used By William And Kate

Confused.com has conducted a study to get some insight into the vehicles used by people called William and Kate in the UK.

Drivers called Kate or William (aged 28-40) are more likely to get behind the wheel of a Mini (Kate) or a Rover (William) than the average British motorist, according to a study of 8 million drivers in the UK carried out by car insurance comparison site Confused.com. The traditionally British iconic cars are favoured by Kates and Williams, with Catherines preferring to get behind the wheel of a Citroen. Drivers called William also favour X-type Jaguars, according to Confused.com data.

The research, which was conducted from a database of quotes carried out through the Confused.com site highlighted a number of differences between the driving habits of drivers named William, Kate and Catherine.

The data, which included 28-40 year old drivers in the UK, was overseen by Gareth Kloet, head of car insurance at the company. Kloet commented: “The upcoming royal wedding has increased the interest in the names William and Kate dramatically. With Confused.com data to hand, we have found that William and Kate’s around the UK have very sensible car models, a driving attribute that would expect from the royals.”

Confused.com have also discovered a number of statistics relating to the type of home and family expected for a William and Kate in the UK population, referencing data from 2.5 million home insurance customers. The data showed that only 60 couples were called William and Kate as registered on their home insurance policies.

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LV = Reveals One In Ten Homes Built On Brownfield Sites Have Problems

LV= has revealed that over the next decade around half a million homes will be built on redeveloped ex-industrial sites that could pose risks to homeowners and their homes.

A new report from home insurer LV= reveals that around 125 million square metres of redeveloped brownfield land, earmarked for the building of 500,000 homes, is potentially at risk of flooding or contamination, which could cost homeowners thousands of pounds to address.

Brownfield sites are defined as land which has potential for redevelopment after previously being occupied by another permanent building, such as a factory or industrial works. Redeveloping brownfield sites is a cornerstone of the current national housing policy, with 79% of all new builds being built on recycled land in recent years.

Yet according to the LV= research, over one in ten (11%) new homes built on brownfield land have suffered problems as a result of the land the property is built on, affecting a total of 74,000 homes in the last ten years. The most common problem is flooding, but there are also cases of contamination, poor drainage and sewage problems.

One of the drivers behind the current policy encouraging house builders to redevelop land is the creation of affordable homes for first-time buyers. The LV= research shows that few (17%) prospective buyers are actually specifically looking to buy new build housing, rather many feel that this is the only option available to them through local authority shared ownership schemes as many of these properties are new builds. Others say they are persuaded to buy new build homes because of incentives such as deposit cash back schemes from developers or free white goods.

Currently, over a third (34%) of prospective buyers are unaware of the problems associated with former industrial land and a quarter (24%) do not check the previous use of the land a house is built on. LV= is advising potential buyers to check the previous use of the land a house is built on before committing to a purchase, by speaking to neighbours, checking old maps or commissioning a full environmental report to ensure they do not experience problems once they’ve moved in.

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Confused.com Reveals Mothers’ Day Holiday Habits

Confused.com has revealed that many mums may get more than flower and chocolates this Mothers’ Day as more than half of Brits have taken their mum (or mother-in-law) on holiday with them.

The travel insurance provider and comparison site also revealed that the vast majority of Brits would do it again. However, almost one in ten sons admit this is because mum will pay for everything with another reason sons are keen to take mum on holiday being so that she can babysit the kids.

56% of people in the UK have either taken their mums or mother-in-laws or even both on holiday with them, with 85% of Brits who have done so saying they would either take one of both or their mothers/mother-in-laws on holiday again. In addition to this 53% of the people surveyed agreed that their mother (or mother-in-law) was great company on holiday with 50% agreeing that she deserves a treat.

45% of adults have never taken their mothers or mother-in-laws on holiday with them, but of those who have, only 14% would not repeat the experience. The top reason* for refusing take them on holiday again is ‘We like different things’ (33%), with ‘She’s so annoying’ being cited as the second most popular given reason (13.5%). Other reasons for not taking mum on holiday include 10%, who are embarrassed by her behaviour, 9% who think the she would cramp their style and 6% who suggest she flirts too much with the waiters on holiday.

More women than men have taken their mothers on holiday with them than men (women 39% versus men 24%), but some men have ulterior motives for doing so: 9% of adult men saying they take mum on holiday because she pays for everything, whereas only 4% of women admit money is their motivation or taking mum on hols. 11% of men compared to 6% of women take mum on holiday because of her babysitting services.

Londoners are most likely to take mum on holiday (38%), with Northern Ireland (17%) the least likely to do so, according to the survey by Confused.com.

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LV= Asset Management named Best Small Bond Group at Lipper Awards 2011

LV= Asset Management, the fund management arm of mutual insurance, investment and retirement group LV=, has received recognition for the strong performance of its UK fixed interest team by winning the best small bond group category at the Lipper Fund Awards 2011.

LV= Asset Management qualified for this award by delivering strong risk-adjusted performance relative to its peer group across its range of bond funds over the three year period up to 31st December 2010. These funds include the LV= UK Corporate Bond fund, the LV= UK Fixed Interest fund and the LV= UK Index linked fund.

The award acknowledges LVAM’s industry leading fixed interest capability and highlights the team’s expertise across a range of different products.

Michael Wright, Head of Fixed Interest at LVAM commented: “We aim to deliver consistently good performance for our clients across the range of bond funds. We are extremely pleased to have won this award as it acknowledges our team approach to managing funds and recognises the superior returns we have achieved over the three years to 31st December 2010.

“The last few years have been an extraordinary time for money managers but the breadth of experience on the team has allowed us to draw on lessons from the past and make timely, well informed decision on behalf of our clients. Going forward we are confident that we can maintain this high level of performance by continuing to follow a pragmatic approach to stock selection.”

Ann Roughead, Managing Director at LVAM added: “LVAM has set out its stall as a low-cost active manager that does what it says on the tin – delivering attractive added value year in, year out. The LV= bond funds are great examples of what we are trying to achieve and this award will serve to reinforce our commitment to providing impressive and consistent returns for our investors.”

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LV = Reveals Drivers Lost £58.5 Million From ‘Unfair’ Parking Tickets

LV=, the car insurer, has revealed that drivers lost £58.5m last year by failing to appeal against parking tickets issued in ‘unfair’ circumstances.

In 2010, one in twenty (5%) motorists in the UK received a parking ticket where they had grounds to appeal. Despite this, only one in five (22%) drivers bother to contest a ticket once issued; but of those who do, nearly nine in ten (88%) claimants are successful.

When questioned, over half of UK drivers (53%) who do pay when issued with a ticket in unfair circumstances do so because they assume they will not win an appeal. Many drivers say they are confused about the procedure for appeals, with one in twelve (8%) not knowing how to initiate a claim.

The majority of ‘unfair’ parking fines are issued in areas where parking signage is unclear. Other reasons include misleading road markings, being issued with a fine while walking to a machine to buy a parking ticket and being fined when the car was broken down. A small but significant number of drivers report parking attendants actually fabricating evidence to support issuing the ticket (2%).

Most (49%) of tickets issued unfairly are given out on public roads but surprisingly one in ten (10%) are received in car parks of public buildings managed by local authorities, such as libraries, hospitals and GP surgeries. A similar number (9%) are given out in commercially operated car parks.

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Auto-motiveInsurance.net provides Free Online vehicle insurance quotes

Auto-motiveInsurance.net is a new insurance website. The new website is established to help millions of insurance consumers. At this hard time that many motorists are finding it so difficult to survive, many are losing their insurance policies due to increasing costs. So, people are looking for ways to tremendously reduce their insurance costs, but are struggling to find a solution.

Mr. Solomon, owner of Auto-motiveInsurance.net website had a goal to provide an answer to this chaos. Solomon is quoted as saying, “There are many people who are finding it so difficult to afford automotive insurance and are looking for ways to cut down on their insurance bills. Most insurance companies keep raising customers’ premiums every six months for no obvious reason. Moreover, calling multiple insurance companies to obtain a quote can be time consuming. We wanted to create a platform where prospective insurance buyers could find the best auto insurance quotes. I think our company mission, which is to save people money and time, fills a very real need of most customers. We provide free, no-obligation, online insurance quote tools that people can use to achieve this”.

As one customer said, “The greatest benefit that you would get from this website is that you would be able to get the vehicle insurance quotes free of cost. You just have to submit a form to get the free quotes from the company”.

The layout of the website is very simple. You can easily use the free quote form to get the best auto insurance price you deserve from virtually anywhere on this informative site. There is also a form you can use to get a quote from a specific insurance company. And there is an additional form that allows a shopper the ability to single out the best price from all of compared quotes from several insurance companies. It is up to the user to choose whichever one is appropriate for his need.

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Risk and Insurance Article Archive Announced at ClaudePenland.com/multimedia by Actuary

Claude Penland, Associate of the Casualty Actuarial Society with twenty years of insurance industry experience, announces his new article archive at ClaudePenland.com/multimedia.

All pieces are written by Claude Penland, with many additional risk and insurance articles planned. Informative pieces in the archive include:

-10 Prominent Influenza Pandemic Models: Death, Disease and Economic Loss Modeling

-20 Insurance Trends to Watch

-More Insurance Trends to Watch for Actuaries, Underwriters and Claims Personnel, Part 2

-2011 Web Trends, Including Social Networking and Venture Capital

-An Exciting Time to Consider the Microinsurance Market

-Annual Property and Casualty Reinsurance Salary Survey

-Handy Executive Recruitment and Job Hunting Tools

-Health Insurance Compensation Survey at Top 10 United States Insurers

-Life Insurance Salaries at the Top Among CEO’s, Chairmen and Others

-Pension Risk Trends: Companies, Governments, Accounting, Oh My

-Predictive Modeling for Actuaries: Eight Great PowerPoint Presentations and Articles

-Property and Casualty Insurance Salaries in the C-Suite

-Recent Activity Among Insurance Company Startups and Branch Operations

-Recent Activity in the Global Reinsurance Market

-Recent Activity in the Takaful (Islamic Insurance) Market

-So Why Do Job Hunters Use Executive Recruiters?

-Social Networking for Insurance Professionals on LinkedIn, Parts One, Two, Three, Four and Five

-Ten International Emerging Risks for Insurers and Reinsurers

At ClaudePenland.com, Claude Penland, casualty actuary and webmaster, writes at least six times daily about international risk, insurance, financial and web trends. To subscribe to Claude’s daily digest, visit ClaudePenland.com/subscribe.

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Confused.com Launches New TV Advert

Confused.com has launched its latest advertisement featuring its animated logo Cara singing the classic hit ‘Chain Reaction’, originally penned by the Bee Gees and made famous by Diana Ross. The sixty second advert first aired on 15 February during coverage of the Brit Awards, this year hosted by James Corden.

Following the success of Cara’s first single, ‘Somebody to Love’, ‘Chain Reaction’ is once again voiced by West End star Louise Dearman. Animated and produced by Hornet, with musical arrangement from Spekulation entertainment, the advert will feature living logo Cara singing the catchy anthem before being joined by a backing group of animated singers and dancers.

The Chain Reaction song, originally recorded by Diana Ross, has been selected due to its popularity with music lovers worldwide and was a popular hit in 1985 on her album ‘Eaten Alive’. Confused.com, the UK’s leading car insurance price comparison site, has worked closely with its creative agencies on this advert to ensure it recaptures the energy of the Diana Ross original.

Mike Hoban, marketing director at Confused.com, said: “Confused.com was the first site to offer price comparison. Our latest advert reminds customers of Confused.com’s leadership position in a fun and entertaining way. With 20 million users, up two million since our first advert, Confused.com is once again demonstrating it is the people’s choice for comparison sites and we are really proud of this.”

In addition to the sixty second advert, a thirty second version is also being launched. The new advert can be viewed on Cara’s page on Confused.com and on Confused.com’s You Tube channel.

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Insurance Social Networking, Predictive Modeling and Microinsurance Presentations Available

Three insurance-related presentations and videos have been released for immediate viewing at ClaudePenland.com/multimedia. All presentations are free to download and share.

The first presentation is called “LinkedIn Social Networking for Insurance Professionals”. LinkedIn is the most active professional social network in the world.. According to their press materials, they have over 90 million international members, with roughly half of those members residing in the United States. If you work in insurance or reinsurance as an underwriter, attorney, accountant, actuary, actuarial analyst, risk manager, claims professional, financial analyst, agent or other insurance role, this presentation will list for you some of the more active insurance-related jobs and discussion groups on LinkedIn.

“Microinsurance is Exciting” is the second presentation. Microinsurance is generally designed for low-income businesses and individuals who aren’t typically covered by traditional insurance. It is usually sold at low premiums and low coverage limits / caps. It has a potential eventual annual premium of $40 billion worldwide.

A third presentation is titled “Predictive Modeling for Life, Health and Property & Casualty Actuaries”. This predictive analytics presentation provides eight examples of strong industry presentations and articles where actuaries can apply predictive modeling to life insurance, property and casualty insurance and health insurance / actuarial data.

These presentations were authored by Claude Penland, a casualty actuary and webmaster with twenty years of insurance industry experience. On ClaudePenland.com, Claude writes at least six times a day on the international insurance-related and web-related issues that he explores daily, and regularly posts interesting presentations, videos and articles at ClaudePenland.com/multimedia.

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Substantial Presentations on Insurance Trends, Emerging Risks and Pandemic Modelling Released by Actuary

Claude Penland, casualty actuary and webmaster, has produced at ClaudePenland.com/multimedia three informative PowerPoint presentations and videos foractuaries, actuarial analysts, underwriters, financial analysts, accountants, consultants, claims personnel and others in the insurance and reinsurance industries.

The first presentation, “10 Influenza Pandemic Models”, profiles models from the Society of Actuaries, Milliman, VirSim, Risk Management Solutions, Military Science, INFORMS, Los Alamos, open source alternatives and others.

The second is entitled “40 Insurance Trends for 2011”. Forty insurance trends are considered, including healthcare, health plan grandfathering, asset quality, Takaful, microinsurance, emerging risks, insurance industry job losses, predictive analytics use, as well as other global insurance and reinsurance trends.

The third presentation is called “10 Emerging Risks for Insurers and Reinsurers”. These risks include infrastructure, cyber attacks, space weather, nanotechnology and municipal bankruptcies.

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Consumers Can Now Research Specific Providers in the New Reviews Section of CarInsuranceRates.com

Car Insurance Rates has eliminated the need for visitors to go elsewhere to research individual auto insurers online. The site has added an entire section devoted to insurer reviews to help inform visitors’ coverage decisions.

CarInsuranceRates.com (CIRS) has revamped its site to include a section dedicated to reviews of specific providers. Visitors can find information on most major carriers, including Allstate, Farmer’s, AIG, Nationwide, and more. The reviews include information on the carrier’s history, financial standing, reputation, and customer satisfaction ratings.

“After our visitors review car insurance rates on potential policies through our free quote-request system, they typically want to conduct research on individual providers to see which insurer is best-suited for them. Rather than having to go to several different sites to investigate prospective carriers, shoppers can now look up all the pertinent information they need by simply navigating to our new insurer review pages,” explained CIRS spokesperson Nathan Ackerman.

At present, nine reviews are available to visitors, and CIRS hopes to expand the section in the future as additional providers join its referral network. To access the reviews, visitors have only to click the logo of the carrier in which they are interested. The reviews are user-friendly, concise, and informative.

“The new review section is also part of our ongoing effort to make Car Insurance Rates a one-stop-shopping site for auto insurance coverage. These reviews don’t just contain information a consumer would find on the insurer’s official site; they also offer valuable policyholder satisfaction and financial rating information that may otherwise be hard to find. Thanks to this new section, our visitors can now visit only one site rather than dozens in comparison shopping for policies,” Ackerman added.

Via EPR Network
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Financial, Financial Information, Financial Services, Insurance, Insurance Services

Young Drivers Face Catch-22 Conundrum Reports Tiger.co.uk

The recent publication of The AA’s 2010 Insurance Premium Index has again highlighted the growing problem of increased car insurance costs for younger drivers. The Index estimated that insurance for 17-22 year old drivers increased by over 58% in 2010. This equated to a massive £829, increasing average premiums for this age group to over £2,250 – more than the cost of many first cars.

The team at Tiger.co.uk, a motor insurance comparison site, has highlighted another statistic about young drivers that also needs to be considered. The Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB) has estimated that 5% of motorists – over 1.2 million – are driving without insurance and 20% of these (243,000) are 17-20 year olds.

The same organisation estimates that the high level of uninsured driving has contributed towards the extraordinary level of inflation in car insurance premiums, adding about £30 to the cost of policies for legally insured drivers.

When viewed together these statistics lead to a worrying conclusion: as car insurance becomes increasingly unaffordable for younger drivers, so they may be increasingly tempted to drive without any insurance at all. This, in turn could lead to a rise in uninsured drivers’ compensation costs, again fuelling further increases in car insurance premiums.

A spokesperson for Tiger.co.uk commented: “The relationship between escalating insurance premiums and the growth of uninsured driving is inescapable. It could well lead to a “Catch 22” situation whereby having more uninsured drivers contributes to increased premiums causing drivers, particularly young drivers, to risk driving without insurance – which is of course a criminal offence. We would recommend that young drivers take the following steps to try and get cheap car insurance:

• Use car insurance comparison sites like Tiger.co.uk to make sure you get car insurance quotes and compare policies and get from a wide range of insurers.

• Consider taking the Pass Plus exam after passing your driving test – premiums can be reduced by up to 30%.*

• Have a look at ‘pay as you drive’ policies such as those offered by Insure The Box and Coverbox – both of which are available via Tiger.co.uk’s comparison service (the only car insurance comparison site to offer both of these insurance brands).

• Choose your car carefully – go for something in a low insurance group.

• Drive carefully and build your no claims discount as this can significantly reduce your premiums.”

The spokesperson also reminded young drivers shopping for cheap car insurance:
“Don’t be tempted to get an older driver to “front” your policy for you. This practice of having an older more experienced driver as the main driver on a policy is illegal and can lead to insurance being void.”

Via EPR Network
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Financial, Financial Information, Insurance, Insurance Services, Investment

Expanding Insurance News, Web Trends Website Announced at ClaudePenland.com

A rapidly growing insurance news and web trends website was recently created and launched at ClaudePenland.com. This six-month-old website was conceived by Claude Penland, an established casualty actuary with twenty years of industry experience.

Claude writes at least six times a day on the international business issues that he explores daily. These global topics include insurance news (4InsuranceNews.com), insurance startup companies (InsuranceStartups.com), insurance mergers and acquisitions (WhoBoughtWho.com), insurance trends (InsTrends.com), reinsurance news and trends (ReinsuranceTrends.com), web startups (1000Startups.com), web trends (WebTrendInfo.com), web development, pension risk (PensionRiskNews.com), catastrophe risk (CatRisky.com), Solvency II European insurance regulations (SolvencyDeux.com), Takaful (TakafulMe.com), predictive analytics (PredNews.com), risk management (TheRiskNews.com), odd business ideas (OddBusinessIdeas.com), plus finance and investment.

New topics are frequently added to ClaudePenland.com and there is an interesting quote posted every Friday (FridaysQuote.com). 27 separate RSS news feeds are offered.

On ClaudePenland.com/multimedia, informative PowerPoint presentations and YouTube videos authored by Claude Penland are often featured. These include diverse presentations on worldwide topics such as catastrophe risk trends, actuarial news, predictive analytics, the China/Hong Kong insurance markets, reinsurance, social networking startups trends, Solvency II European insurance regulations, Europe’s insurance markets, insurance startups, Bermuda’s insurance market, executive recruitment, the Takaful market, web trends, India’s insurance market, job hunting and technology, web development, insurance mergers and acquisitions, as well as pension risk trends.

All presentations are free to download and share. Claude’s “40 Web Trends for 2011” presentation was recommended highly recently at ClaudePenland.com/recommendations.

At ClaudePenland.com/salary-surveys, compensation surveys are provided pertaining to insurance and reinsurance C-level executives. These surveys were generated from publicly-available U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. They include property and casualty insurance (CasualtySalarySurvey.com), life insurance (LifeSalarySurvey.com), health insurance (HealthSalarySurvey.com), and also property and casualty reinsurance (ReinsuranceSalarySurvey.com).

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