Fuel Economy Figures

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Coversure

Today’s media bug bear of choice seems to be the fuel consumption figures that car manufacturers provide. Many people claim that these figures are unachievable, as car manufacturers basically “cheat” to come up with them. The Guardian newspaper even posted an infographic here showing various ways this is done, from pumping up tyres, or using ones with specially low rolling resistance, to putting low friction oil in the engine.

A lot of these “cheats” aren’t terribly complicated though. So surely ordinary folk can save fuel by applying these methods to their own cars? Continue reading →

Data Protection and Hacking

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Coversure

Earlier this week it turns out that Facebook, Twitter and Apple have all been hacked, with claims that customer data has been taken from them. While this may, or may not be true, if such large and tech savvy companies such as these can fall victim to hackers, then surely every business can, large or small.

So what does this have to do with insurance? Continue reading →

Leaner Drivers – Should We Change the Rules?

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Coversure

The car insurance industry has come in for a lot of criticism over the last 12 months, due to rising premiums across the board, and the high costs of insuring younger drivers.

Possibly as a riposte to this, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has recently published a number of proposals it would like to see in order to improve road safety and lower insurance costs.

Naturally these suggestions are almost entirely driven by risk assessment, which is what premiums are based on, but will they work, and how will they be policed? Continue reading →

New EU Tyre Labels

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Coversure

In a recent survey, Continental tyres discovered that 70% of people were still unaware of the new EU tyre labelling legislation that come into effect on 1st November 2012.

So what exactly is it?

From November last year, all tyres for sale must now be labelled in a similar manner to the picture at the top of this post, showing how a tyre performs in three different categories. Continue reading →

Squatting in Commercial Properties

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Coversure

At the start of last month new legislation was introduced to make squatting illegal. Those charged with this offence could potentially face a large fine of anything up to £5,000 or even be sent to prison for up to six months. All well and good so far, but there’s a bit of a loophole: the new legislation only applies to residential properties. Continue reading →

Students Beware

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Coversure

After the joy and sorrow of A-level results over the Summer, a new adventure begins for many young people – Fresher’s Week.

Often it’s the first time these students have ever been away from their parents for any significant length of time, and the first time they’ve set foot properly in the world at large on their own.

While this is a great experience in growing up, some students are not always fortunate enough Continue reading →

Motoring on the Cheap

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Coversure

Recent figures from the DVLA have revealed motorists are hanging on to their cars for longer than they were twenty five years ago. The average age of a car on Britain’s roads today is seven and a half years, compared with six and a half in 1987.

It’s obvious why people are doing this, but is it a good thing? Are people just kidding themselves??

We look at safe and viable ways of budget motoring. Continue reading →

The Safest Car in the World

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Coversure

Recently, the new Volvo V40 recorded the highest ever scores in the Euro NCAP* crash tests.

These days most cars are meeting the NCAP five star standard for passenger protection, but the new Volvo also has a further trick up its sleeve… Continue reading →

Replacing your Tyres

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Coversure

Recently, one of our colleagues was involved in a high speed car accident, which could have turned out very seriously. Fortunately, they were OK, although the car certainly wasn’t.

Why are we blogging about this? Because the accident was down to fitting a pair of new tyres incorrectly, due to a simple, and avoidable error. Continue reading →

Black Box Technology for Cheaper Premiums

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Coversure

There was an interesting article published in a couple of newspapers recently concerning Aviva looking into black box technology to bring insurance premiums down.

On first glance, there’s nothing unusual about that, and it may appear that Aviva are coming late to the party, but the aspect that stands out, is that instead of having a black box installed, Continue reading →

Coversphere

Insurance Related Issues