Archive for January, 2010

British Insurance Brokers Association approves of terrorism compensation

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by admin January 27, 2010 in Insurance News

The British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) has welcomed the announcement from the Government that they will compensate British victims of terrorism abroad .

Graeme Trudgill, BIBA’s Technical and Corporate Affairs Executive, said: “We have been liaising with victim’s families since 2004 and are delighted that the Government has finally committed themselves to this important change. We are also very pleased that many travel insurers, over the last four years, have agreed to include terrorism cover in their travel insurance policy wordings.”

Mr Trudgill added it is estimated that about a third of policies still do not have any terrorism protection at all and BIBA is urging insurers to include this cover as soon as possible because travellers will rely on their insurer helping them if they are caught in a terrorism incident abroad.

According to Peter Staddon, BIBA head of Technical Services, this scheme is not a replacement for travel insurance, it is purely after the event compensation . Read more…

Car insurance premiums driven up 19.6% in 2009

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by admin January 27, 2010 in Insurance News

Car insurance premiums have seen their largest ever annual increase in the last 12 months, rising by 19.6 per cent, according to research by Consumer Intelligence. The average car insurance premium is now setting drivers back £564.69, the research shows, pushed up by the increasing trend of ‘compensation culture’, which has caused a rise in personal injury claims, and fraud. UK drivers have paid an additional £2.1billion in car insurance premiums during the past 12 months, with young drivers facing the most significant increases. Young drivers’ car insurance is traditionally more expensive than for more experienced drivers, but has risen by an average 24.87 per cent in the last 12 months, from £1,275 in January 2009 to £1,489 by the end of last year. Comparatively, car insurance for the over 65s saw the smallest increase in cost, rising by about half as much as for young motorists’ premiums. M

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Green Car Insurance offering 10% discount for Blue Monday

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by admin January 25, 2010 in Insurance News

The Green Insurance company is offering a 10 per cent discount on its car insurance to help consumers through what is statistically the most depressing day of the year.

For one day only, Monday 25 January, Green Insurance company car insurance customers can get 10 per cent off their premiums to cheer them up.

Today has been deemed ‘Blue Monday’ – the most depressing of all the days – by Dr Cliff Arnall, a researcher at Cardiff University; he bases his claim on the weather, debt levels, left over Christmas cheer wearing off, failed New Year’s Resolutions, low motivation and the sense of needing a change.

The Green Insurance Company is urging drivers to ‘go green’ on Blue Monday by choosing environmentally friendly car insurance, which offsets 100 per cent of customers’ emissions.

The Green Insurance Company has planted more than 300,000 trees since it opened for business in 2007, and will plant a further 120,000 trees in 2010. In

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Upset Win For Republicans Could End Health Care Reform

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by admin January 25, 2010 in Insurance News

Yesterday’s stunning upset win by Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts’ special election to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat on the Senate sent shock waves through the nation.  Massachusetts usually a staunchly Democratic state elected Scott Brown, a state senator, despite a visit by President Obama on Sunday, campaigning for Democratic candidate Martha Coakly.

Brown has vowed to become the 41st vote need to uphold a Republican filibuster in the health care reform debate.  Unless the committee in charge of reconciling the House and Senate bills can come to an agreement before Brown can take his seat in the Senate, it will likely kill the current versions of health care reform.

Anger over the state of the economy and health care lead to high voter turnout in the special election despite inclement weather.  It also raises the specter of large losses by Democrats in the mid term elections this November.

Democratic leaders will have to seek Republican input and a bipartisan compromise if they still want to move forward the Obama administration’s goal of health care reform.  This will probably end any chance of a government run health option and any future bill will likely be much more scaled down from the two current versions.