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Archive for the ‘Auto Insurance’ Category

All savvy business managers working in the motor trade industry endeavour to make savings in their everyday business operations. Indeed, keeping operational costs as low as possible in a bid to increase profit margins, without compromising on the quality of the service offered, is integral to a successful business.

A great way to minimise costs, without cutting corners, is to invest in tailored motor trade insurance with the help of a price comparison site such as Staveley Head Motor Trade Insurance. Shopping online with Staveley allows you to compare product features and prices from a number of motor trade insurance providers across the country, meaning it is easier to track down the best deals.

Before you sign up to anything, it is important to carry out a self-assessment of your business and risks concerned with your daily operations that require insurance cover. This way you will be able to make an informed decision of the exact policy you require and you will be able to raise questions in any discussions with brokers. Perhaps one of the main things to bear in mind here is whether any of your staff will be driving customer vehicles or if you are going to be solely responsible for handling these vehicles. Of course, you will have to take out a policy that covers you accordingly.

When you start contacting brokers, be sure not to accept any unnecessary add-ons to your motor trade insurance policy as failure to decline them could mean you end up paying extra money for features that you will never use. To sum up, before purchasing your insurance policy be sure to check out what is on offer at a range of experienced and reliable brokers and double check the details and terms and conditions of the policy before going ahead.

We have all been made fully aware that the availability of fossil fuels are in decline, with this being blamed for the constantly increasing cost of fuel to which motorists are being subjected. However, according to some, this problem dwarfs in comparison to the damage which car emissions are causing to the environment.

For decades car manufacturers have been looking for ways to combat both of these issues. Toyota was the first to act when they released the hybrid Prius model in 1996. However, the fact that hybrids still relied heavily on their fossil fuel engine’s meant that they were only ever going to be a stop-gap measure.

Nissan now claims to have come up with the ultimate solution to the problem in the form of their new Leaf model which is the manufacturer’s first mass produced all electric vehicle. It is capable of doing 100 miles between charges and has a top speed of 92 mph; but is this really the answer to our problems?

The positives

The first positive thing you notice about the Leaf feels almost like a belittling statement to make about the car which is being hailed by some as the messiah of the motoring world…but it looks quite nice. This is a shock, because traditionally electric vehicles have for some reason looked very different from conventional vehicles, which has done nothing to aid adoption.

The REVAi, introduced in the early part of the new millennium is a prime example of this. Part of the reason why it looked so different was its size, which made the Toyota IQ look like a tank. This isn’t the case with the Nissan Leaf, which has managed to achieve a much better range between charges than the REVAi without compromising the room available for its inhabitants, with it being big enough to accommodate five fully grown human beings. It is also capable of reaching normal speed limits on the road; something the REVAi was only capable of doing when going down hill with a gail force wind on its back.

The one stumbling block which had initially been anticipated was the price, with motoring experts expecting the purchase costs to reflect the masses of research and development which had been behind the model. However, these fears were abated when Nissan revealed that the initial selling price would be $32,780. After government tax breaks offered to motorists who purchase an environmental model such as the Leaf, this price would drop to $25,280, which is just $9,000 more expensive than a brand new Ford Focus.

This additional expense will soon be recouped, with Leaf owners standing to make further tax savings through scheme’s such as New York’s ‘Energy Reduction Plan” which eradicates toll road charges for drivers of environmental vehicles. Additionally, the average driver stands to make a saving of $1,500 per year through fuel savings alone. This differential will obviously increase in the coming years with fuel prices projected to rise even further.

Another area which has become a far more prominent problem for motorists again in recent years is insurance, with average auto insurance prices rising by over 40% in the past 12 months. A similar problem has afflicted the UK market, with an increasing number of British drivers looking for cheap car insurance on moneysupermarket.com’s price comparison service. The price comparison site is advising customers that a number of insurance companies will now offer annual discounts of up to 10% for owners of environmental vehicles, which is another benefit to owning the Leaf.

The negatives

The major obstacle that electric cars face is the electric charging point infrastructure in the country which is woefully unprepared. The government has recently pledged $400 million towards funding the construction of electric charging points across the country, but it is slow work and is unlikely to be enough to create a sufficient number of charging points right across the country.

The initial wave of construction is therefore likely to concentrate on densely populated areas, which will mean that electric vehicles would be no closer to being able to travel across far distances across the country than what they are now.

Even if the recharging station infrastructure was sufficient, it would be highly inconvenient to have to wait for half an hour every 100 miles for your vehicle to fill up. At present, filling your car tank with gasoline takes no longer than a couple of minutes and it is therefore unlikely that people will be willing to accept this additional inconvenience until they have no option.

Is the time right to go green?

With the rising price of fuel and insurance, there is no doubt that now is the time for motorists to start making changes. However, it would appear that electric vehicles are a step too far thanks partly to the lack of recharging point infrastructure, but largely due to the fact that the majority of motorists would still prefer to pay the additional expense which comes with gasoline rather than deal with the inconveniences that come with electric motors.

It would therefore seem that hybrids are about to become the order of the day for motorists. Volkswagen is currently in the middle of launching it Bluemotion range, which includes a very reasonably priced hybrid Golf. It is the disproportionately high price which has prevented the Toyota Prius from becoming a mainstream vehicle since its launch, and this could therefore be the key to hybrids vehicles finally becoming main stream.

As was mentioned previously, these are a stop-gap measure and the reality is that motorists are simply not ready for electric vehicles yet. In the meantime, it appears that hybrids have not yet reached the peak of their popularity.

So what’s the big deal about car insurance? Sure, it’s legally required, but plenty of people drive without car insurance. In fact, research estimates that approximately 14% of all drivers are uninsured in our country. Most of these uninsured drivers are young (under the age of 25). Studies have shown that approximately 25% of people in Mississippi, Oklahoma, California, and Alabama are driving uninsured. That means that a staggering one out of four drivers on the road in those states (and others as well) aren’t insured.

But what are the consequences of driving while uninsured?

First, let’s discuss the financial consequences. If you get pulled over by a police office while driving an automobile without being covered by car insurance, you can be facing some seriously high fines. Additionally, your car insurance premiums (when you do take the step and get insurance) will inflate due to your having been driving uninsured.

But we’re not just talking about money—your freedom could be at stake, also. Some states in our country could actually sentence you to serve jail time if you’re caught driving without adequate car insurance.

So, say that you don’t get pulled over by a police officer. What could go wrong? For one thing, if you’re involved in an accident while uninsured, who’s going to pay for the property damage or bodily injury that the other motorist/vehicle has incurred? If you don’t have the funds to pay for these damages, you may find that some of your belongings are repossessed in order to cover the costs.

So you’ll want to think long and hard before you take the risk of driving without having adequate car insurance. It only takes fifteen minutes to get a car insurance quote, and it can take much, much longer to deal with the consequences of driving uninsured.

If you’re getting ready to spend some time in front of the computer or on the phone shopping for auto insurance quotes, hold on. Before you do anything, make sure that you avoid these all-too-common car insurance mistakes:

1. Withholding information

No one likes to be lied to (or have the truth conveniently omitted), and that’s true for car insurance companies. Before you think it’ll be fine to “forget” to disclose information about that speeding ticket or that one car accident you were involved in, know this: It will come back to haunt you. Sooner or later, your car insurer will find out about the information you’ve withheld, and it will result in your rates going sky-high—higher than they would have if you had told the truth to begin with.

2. Getting the wrong level of auto insurance

Many drivers decide to simply purchase their state’s minimum requirement when it comes to car insurance, but this isn’t necessarily the greatest idea. If you get into an accident that causes $20,000 worth of damage to the other car, but your minimum coverage only covers $15,000, you’re going to be facing a costly bill of $5,000. Talk to your insurance agent and do some research to decide if going with the minimum will be a good idea for you—or if it could be a costly one.

3. Not asking about discounts

Let’s face it: If your car insurer offers a variety of special discounts, they may not make them totally public. After all, they’re in the business to make money. So do yourself a favor and ask about the various discounts that your auto insurance company offers. Some types of discounts that could be available include: good driving record discount, good grades discount for students, loyalty discount, and more.

These are three all-too-common auto insurance mistakes that you do not want to make. What other mistakes can you think of that fellow drivers should avoid?