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Confused.com Reveals That Brits Fork Out Nearly £8bn A Year On Over-Priced Parking Places

New research released from car insurance expert Confused.com, has revealed that the cost of parking has grown from being a necessary inconvenience, into a leading factor in the deterioration of UK high streets.

Parking prices rose 12.5% over last year alone, forcing Brits to spend close to a whopping £8bn a year on parking their cars, but this parking spending spree might be about to grind to a halt. Confused.com has found that over-priced parking is now proving to be too great a turn-off for the majority of UK shoppers with over two thirds (69%) of Brits reporting they intentionally avoid shopping areas with high parking prices.

If the retail sector, and indeed Britain, is to return to economic prosperity, the consumers’ road to the high street needs to be as simple as possible. An overwhelming two thirds (65%) of Brits confess that more affordable parking would see them return to the high street.

However, the hope of parking without paying extortionate rates looks to be a faraway fantasy across the country as more than three quarters (78%) of Brits currently spend up to £150 on parking each month. While this might seem steep, it’s a far cry from the prices people in the Knightsbridge area of London face. Drivers in the city centre have to live with the country’s most expensive car park which charges £36 for 3 hours parking – an average of £12 an hour.

While the overall cost of motoring is rising, motorists need to look around for the ways they can save on daily necessities. Confused.com has launched Confused.com Parking mobile app.

The Confused.com Parking app could save drivers hundreds of pounds a year by allowing them to check out the prices of nearby car parks. For example, shoppers using Birmingham’s Royal Angus street car park twice a week, could save themselves £888.00 a year by making the five minute (1.3 mile) drive down the road to the Livery Street multi-storey car park. This cost of laziness is symptomatic of the entire country with motorists in Birmingham, Bristol and Edinburgh all guilty of paying over the odds in the name of convenience.

With so much being spent going on parking charges, it’s unsurprising that more than 3 in 5 (64%) Brits list the price of parking as a key consideration when deciding where to go shopping. With over half (57%) of all parking spaces in the UK being ‘pay-to-park’, a staggering 82% of people start the spending before they even make it to the shops.

Moreover, British shoppers are frustrated that the car parks they’re forking out for simply aren’t up to scratch. More than one in five (21%) Brits feel that the current services don’t offer enough space, and with a paltry third (33%) of UK car parks offering over 100 spaces, it’s not surprising that 60% of motorists spend between 6 and 20 minutes every trip searching for a space.

Gareth Kloet, Head of Car Insurance at Confused.com, said: “In today’s difficult financial climate, people have had to find ways to save every penny possible. Over-priced parking charges are a problem that every motorist in the country has to deal with, but hopefully our Confused.com Parking app will help people throughout the UK save money when it comes to parking their cars. The fact that the app is so easy to use should also help them save time by finding parking spaces more easily.”

Via EPR Network
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Confused.com Unveils Its Improved Motorbike Insurance Offering

Confused.com has teamed up with Vast Visibility to broaden its online bike insurance service.

Confused.com now goes to 35 insurers to compare motorbike policies for its customers. These include MCE, Bikesure, Carole Nash, and most of the other leading providers in the UK.

The motorbike insurance quotes service has been re-launched as a much slicker experience, helping to make it easier for bikers to find the right policy at the right price.

Confused.com compares policies for a range of motorbikes, including mopeds, scooters, classic motorbikes, sports bikes and quads and with every motorbike policy bought, customers can still claim 1,000 Nectar points.

Alex Higgs, Head of motorbike insurance at Confused.com, said: “We are delighted to be in partnership with Vast Visibility, working together to provide an even better service for motorbike insurance customers.

“We can now offer an even wider range of policies and a wider range of prices. With the list of questions nearly 20 per cent shorter, getting a quote through Confused.com is now easier and more intuitive than before. And, as ever, we will continue to make improvements.

“Having helped bikers compare insurance deals since 2008, we have a loyal base of valued customers, and hope to help an ever-increasing number of bikers save money in the future.”

The service shows prices for all three levels of cover – fully comprehensive, third party fire and theft, and third party only. This gives the customer even more information with which to make an informed decision. In addition, policy features can be compared side-by-side to aid with the decision of which policy to buy. At a glance, it’s possible to tell which policies feature helmet cover, breakdown assistance, legal cover and so on.

Once a bike insurance customer has compared policies with Confused.com, then comparing prices the following year becomes easier too. Confused.com sends the customer their best prices at renewal time, so they can see at a glance if it’s worth allowing their policy to renew automatically, or if they’d be better off comparing policies again.

Also, for the first time, motorbike insurance customers are able to complete their quotes over the phone. This is useful in case they get stuck, and means that it is now even easier to get quotes. Another way bikers could keep their motorbike insurance premiums down is to read Confused.com’s motorbike insurance articles, which are full of top tips and useful pointers.

Via EPR Network
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Confused.com Reveals Young Male Drivers Pay Almost Double For Insurance Compared To Women

Confused.com/Towers Watson have revealed that the cost of car insurance for young men continues to go through the roof, with 17-20 year olds paying almost double what women drivers of the same age are paying.

Male drivers in the 17-20 year old age group are suffering as female drivers pay£1,771 less than the men UK-wide: it currently costs an average of £1,959 for women aged 17-20 to insure a car compared to £3,730 for men. These are the findings of the Confused.com/Towers Watson Car Insurance Price Index (Q4 2011), which is based on more than 4 million quotes.

Young people are feeling the impact most, with car insurance for young drivers seeing huge rises from the previous year. Regionally the picture is even more surprising: young men passing their driving tests in inner London can expect to be quoted an average of £5,523 to insure their car if they are aged 20yrs or younger which is more than 48% higher than the average for this group and 5.7% more than they paid in Q4 of 2010 meaning taking the time hunting around for the cheapest car insurance even more worthwhile. Their counterparts in Manchester and Merseyside fare even worse, with average costs of £5,724 facing them to insure their cars when they throw away the ‘L’ plates, a shocking rise of 10.6% year-on-year (Q4 2011 compared to Q4 2010). A 17-20 year old female in inner London can expect to pay £3,261 on average: a rise of 4.4% year-on-year, and they are paying an average of £3,307 in Manchester/Merseyside – a 9.9% rise year-on year. A high cost, but this is still more than £2,000 less than men of the same age.

When a driver adds another person to their comprehensive policy, average costs come down, so a 17-20 year old man pays £3,907 (UK average) as the only driver, but when they add on another driver the costs fall to an average of £3,345, a saving of more than £500. For 17-20 year-old women the UK average is £2,046 if they are the only driver and this falls to £1,819 for 17-20 year olds with another driver on their policy.

Comprehensive car insurance for women across all ages and regions fell marginally in quarter 4 of 2011 (-1.3%), but prices continued to rise for men, although by just 1% in quarter 4. Year-on-year, it was 61-65 year old men who saw the biggest jump in costs, with a 7.4% increase, bringing the average premium for men of that age group to £504. For women drivers it was the 26-30 year olds who saw the steepest jump in prices with 7.2% hikes, giving an average of £789.

Gareth Kloet, Head of Car Insurance for Confused.com commented: “From December, EU legislation will mean that insurers can’t use gender as a factor in setting prices. The differences highlighted in our report show that there is still a huge disparity between what men and women are being charged for their car insurance. Insurers clearly still have a long way to go to comply with the new legislation. It’s more important than ever to shop around and we’re committed to making it easier for people to save money on their car insurance.”

Via EPR Network
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Confused.com designs new pothole warning sign

Confused.com has designed a new road sign, specifically to alert road users to the UK’s two million potholes*. The road sign is the first of its kind and the car insurance expert is petitioning to urge the Department for Transport to introduce it to roads across the UK.

A constant source of frustration for drivers, the sign has been developed in response to recent findings that even with sufficient budgets; it would take councils at least 11 years to repair the UK’s damaged roads**. With this in mind, 82% of drivers would like to see a road sign dedicated to potholes.

Mike Hoban, chief marketing officer at Confused.com said: “Although repairing these roads is obviously the long term solution, something needs to be done now. Currently the UK’s road signs include warnings for wild horses, wild animals, cattle and even toads but potholes aren’t considered worthy enough? A pothole road sign is a vital step in preventing accidents and reducing insurance claims whilst road maintenance continues.”

The road sign design was inspired by local pothole crusader Ted Relf, a plumber from Kent, who made national headlines in April 2010 when his home made warning sign against potholes was removed by the local council.

Ted Relf commented: “We all moan about potholes and now we have the chance to do something about them. I created my own pothole sign last year because I was concerned for the safety of drivers on my road. I fully support the introduction of an official pothole road sign and urge the nation to sign the petition at Confused.com.”

The pothole road sign has been produced in accordance with the signage guidelines set by the Department for Transport and is the brainchild of Phil Baines from Central St Martins, University of the Arts London. Baines, designer and signage expert, added: “Warning road signs are there as a safety measure to warn drivers of potential dangers, and potholes certainly fall within that category. Given the scale of the current problem I would welcome a specific pothole sign being added to the Traffic Sign Manual.”

Via EPR Network
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