Car insurance fraud is nothing new in the UK and if you don’t want to become a victim of it make sure to learn some basics.
UK car insurance fraud is a type of problem that involves all insurance users, not just the person involved in a fraudulent scheme as a victim. Car insurance fraud always involves additional claims within the pool and when there are more claims filed the insurance company has to increase premiums for all their customers in order to transfer the risks and costs of those claims settled. So in the end it’s us, the usual customers, who are paying for every fraudulent claim settled by our providers. But what is fraud in the first place and what are the most widespread forms of auto insurance fraud in the UK?
Car insurance fraud in general refers to any activity that leads to obtaining money from the insurance company in an illegitimate manner. Car insurance fraud can involve vehicle damage, personal injury or both. There are many types of car insurance fraud out there and the schemes tend to evolve with time as insurance companies discover previous methods and make everything to prevent them. And while fraudsters think of new ways to make their scam schemes work simple drivers have to deal with increased costs and robust claim review just because a small group of people is exploiting car insurance possibilities.
The most common type of UK car insurance fraud in the last couple of years was non-disclosure of claims or convictions. There’s a reason to do that because with every claim filed and every additional entry to the driving record the car owner is charged with higher premiums. And taking the overall dramatic increase in car insurance rates just over the last year it’s evident that a lot of drivers are willing to cut their rates at all costs. Another widespread practice is “fronting”, which involves a lower risk driver such as a parent or a car owner with good driving record to be written as the main policyholder for a car whose main user is a high risk driver. It’s yet another way to pay those suits just a little bit less money.
Insuring your bar or tavern
When trying to insure your bar, tavern or any other place that sells alcohol, the most important thing is to plan everything ahead. By selling alcohol to the public your business automatically engages in a higher degree of risk that has to be assessed right from the start.
So when you’re looking for a way to manage the risks that your bar or tavern will face during operation you have to ask some questions first:
What is the approximate value of your bar, including the property, fixtures and contents?
The best way to evaluate these costs is to consider the value of replacing your entire bar, including the equipment, coolers, the décor, stock, property, building and all other things if your business would get destroyed overnight.
What part of the business turnover will the alcohol take?
The insurance company will certainly require you to provide reports of your sales. In overall, if the alcohol takes about 50% of your overall turnover or more, the cost of insuring your business will be more expensive. So make sure you know the exact percentage of alcohol sales in your bar.
Will you feature any recreational activities at your bar?
Featuring certain recreational activities may give you a hard time getting your bar insured with some companies, and if you will still manage to find a policy, the rates will be higher. Insurance companies assess recreational features such as dance poles, trampolines, pyrotechnics, rock walls, swimming pools and any other distractions as quite risky features that will raise the likelihood of an insurance claim.
Will you hire someone else?
If your bar will feature additional workers besides you, you will certainly require workers’ compensation insurance with your small business insurance policy, and it maybe even important to get group health insurance as well.
Car insurance money saving tips
Rarely do we encounter a person who is perfectly happy about their insurance rates. Most drivers often find their insurance policies to be overpriced and complain about their insurance companies. Even if the rates are adequate to the contents of the policy most people will still want to reduce the price of having their vehicles insured. If you’re one of them, we have good news for you – making vehicle insurance cheaper is possible and is perfectly legal. All you have to do is employ a couple of methods that will help reduce the rates effectively. Here’s what you have to consider in order to make your policy cheaper:
Modify your policy
One of the main reasons for insurance policies being expensive is that they carry a lot of coverage that the user doesn’t really need. For example, you’ve financed your car through a loan and were obliged to purchase an expensive fully comprehensive policy. And when you’ve paid out your loan the policy was kept intact with the same high premiums. However, if the policy would be analyzed some coverage options would look unnecessary and some coverage amounts – excessive. Once you modify your policy and exclude the things you don’t need it will apparently become less expensive. Still, you have to be cautious with your choices and make the changes only if you’re confident in your choice.
Get your discounts
There are different discounts offered by insurance company even if you don’t know much about them. Discounts are used to stimulate new sales and encourage loyal and low risk customers to stay with the same company. The extent and conditions of these discounts may vary from company to company but with most companies you will find the following discounts: good driver, loyal customer, multiple vehicle, multiple policy, good student, senior citizen, low mileage and many others. Ask your car insurance provider about the discounts, see if you can opt for any and make your policy more affordable.
Factors that influence insurance rates
When it comes to owning a car one of the most annoying things is of course insurance. The necessity of having a valid insurance policy just to be able to drive legally in most states of the US is definitely something that irritates a lot of drivers. Of course, we all understand that having your car insured is very important since simple coverage can save you a lot of money in case something happens on the road. Still, a lot of people feel that their insurance providers are ripping them off simply because they don’t know how insurance rates are calculated. If you want to be prepared for the debate with your insurer knowing what influences car insurance rates might help you a lot.
First thing you have to understand about factors that influence insurance premiums is that insurance companies are all fixed on one thing: risk. Every variable that lets the company determine the risk of insuring a particular client will certainly be used when calculating quotes. And that’s exactly what we have to deal with these days when our rates are calculated – insurers use a set of parameters that may seemingly be irrelevant to insurance yet let the company determine how high is the risk of a particular customer to file a claim. So what’s being taken into consideration when calculating rates?
Premium rates rising fast
There’s an increasing disconnect between what the TV ads are saying about the rates for insuring your vehicle and the quotes floating into your inbox. The marketers would have you believe there’s no problem in finding really cheap insurance (but only with their company, of course). Yet the insurance industry itself funds the Insurance Information Institute as a research body. It regularly publishes studies. Mostly, they are uncontroversial. So it came as a surprise when it revealed a steady rise of some 10% in the premium rates between 2008 and 2010. The latest straws in the wind are also suggesting a further rise of some 4% this year. When you consider the rate of inflation has been zero – there has been a recession, after all, and many prices actually fell – it’s a disgrace the insurance industry has been pushing up its prices.
Yet, when a talking head does appear above the parapet to talk for the industry, the message is always the same. The rates are going up because the repair and medical costs have been rising faster than inflation. Indeed, when you look at all the evidence on medical costs, you can believe what these insurance apologists are saying. Then you have to ask yourself about the value of the US dollar. It’s been falling steadily over the last three years. So the cost of all those imported spare parts from foreign manufacturers has also been rising. If these same insurance companies were not announcing increased profits to their stockholders, you would almost feel sorry for them.