Flis

I must admit I read the article and thought that it covered most of the areas that people should be aware about or are subject to debate.

In my opinion the Insurance industry over recent years has partially caused some of the issues you identified. For example the premiums being charged to young drivers, although reflective of risk, have led to people not being totally honest with Insurers. As has been discussed before in this forum, the industry and government need to come together to discuss the whole issue of young drivers. Perhaps if they restricted new/young drivers to small capacity engines for the first two years of driving and they had to have green plates, this might help.

Also the way in which Insurers conduct themselves when pricing policies is geared towards obtaining new business and does not reward loyalty. Insurers will underwrite business at a level which is not really profitable and then over a few years at each renewal gradually increase their rates. This forces policyholders to shop around, hoping to find a policy at around the same premium as before. You therefore have a situation where approx 50% of policyholders are moving Insurer at each renewal, with all the various costs attached to this, including people not disclosing information. In an ideal world an Insurer should try to maintain good business (those with no claims/convictions), by offering loyalty rewards or premium guarantees.

Once of the biggest issues facing Insurers is the massive increase in personal injury claims. From what I have heard, every time there is a minor bump, people are claiming they have whiplash. If people are dishonestly claiming, this is doing nobody any favours, as we will all end up paying higher premiums.

Perhaps at some point you will get a rep from the ABI to come onto MS to do a webchat, when some of the issues identified can be discussed.

Hi Dacouch,

I spoke to a number of industry authorities while writing this article, so I have published with full confidence.

However, I'm delighted to be corrected if I'm wrong. My email address is below, please feel welcome to get in touch. If you want, ping me a phone number and I'll give you a call.

Cheers,

Felicity

You might think uninsured drivers know they're breaking the law but could you be driving without valid insurance yourself? From mileage to MOTs to modifications, Felcity King-Evans looks at how you might be gambling with your car insurance cover...

Click here to read Felicity's article 'Are you driving without cover by mistake?'