Welcome to our First Newsletter

Spring Newsletter 2010.

GSI are pleased to announce  a new service we are providing to our customers. Our first attempt will largely focus on motor insurance, future editions will concentrate on other areas of interest.

We intend to send our customers, old and new, a periodical newsletter that will have:

• information about developments within our industry and issues that may affect them
• news about products we offer that may be of interest to them
• details of special offers
• Recommendations as to how to reduce Insurance costs
• Light hearted articles about our experiences,and those of others, in dealing with Insurance matters over the last 30 years

We trust you will find the topics both interesting and informative. If you are sufficiently interested in any product article please do not hesitate to phone us on 01474 359117 or respond via our website with the suitable links

Hopefully you will enjoy receiving these newsletters, which will also give you the opportunity to add your own comments, but in the event you do not wish to be included in future  mailshots please unsubscribe in the usual way.

Geoff Simmons

Ladies Beware !

Women drivers

Women had consistently higher increases than men in 2009; women in their 40’s can also expect their insurance to rise by 400% when they add their teenager/s to their insurance.

21-30 year old females seeing annual increases approaching 17% compared to around 13% for men of the same age. In monetary terms, premiums still lag behind young men, but they are catching up.

Motor Insurance Premiums rise by 20%

A new, quarterly car insurance price index  from a popular price comparison website shows that the cheapest car premiums rose by 12.7% in 2009 with most of the increases coming in the second half of the year.

Prices rose by 6.3% in the fourth quarter alone. As a result, the cost of the average policy has risen from £450 at the end of 2008 to £507 at the end of 2009.

Premiums rose for 17 to 24-year-olds by almost a quarter, to £1,489.

For drivers aged 65 and over the rise was just 15% to an average of £423.

55- to 64-year-olds pay the least at just under £376.

Premiums for men increased (20.1%) more than for women (19.1%).

About 1.6 million drive without insurance, which leads to an increase of £30 per policy for drivers who do pay.

Prolonged bad weather resulting in above average frequency of claims

Soaring personal injury claims being exasperated by no win no fee claim chasing firms and unreasonable replacement car hire charges

Increase in frudulent claims generally associated with a poor economic climate

Stagnating premiums over the last 5 years being brought about by price comparison sites and the like forcing Insurers to offer uneconomical rates to secure the  risk.

Prevailing low  interest rates not allowing Insurers to supplement their premium income with investment income

GSI comment.  “People must be realistic in seeking cheap insurance quotes. Firstly some of the rates that have been banded around of late would barely cover a windscreen claim let alone damage to the vehicle itself, damage to other vehicles or indeed a personal injury claim. Clearly this is not a situation that can be sustained. These figures show the upward pressure on pricing has well and truly broken through and cheap insurance is now a thing of the past.”

National No-Smoking Day

Geoffrey Simmons Insurance Consultants supports National No Smoking Day

If you’re a smoker, the resale value of your car is reduced significantly as is that of your home. While smokers get used to the smell of smoke, potential buyers of your home or car will notice it immediately.

We can’t help you give up smoking, but we can still insure you of course. Call us now on 01474 359117 and talk to one of our helpful, friendly advisers. If you pledge to give up smoking, we’ll give you free legal cover on your policy.

Angelina Jolie gives birth to twins

Les Brangelina twins et arrive.

Angelina Jolie gave birth in Paris to a boy, Knox Leon (5.03 pounds) and a girl, Vivienne Marcheline (5 pounds), by Cesarian section on Saturday night.

Brad Pitt was present at the birth.

Jolie and Pitt already have four equally unusually named children: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, and Shiloh.

They’re going to need a fair sized people carrier for that lot!

Driving on the right – Government to announce switch in time for 2012 Olympics

The UK Government will announce today its intention to harmonise driving with Europe by 2012, in time for the UK Olympics. The change has been suggested to help visitors to the Olympics negotiate the journey from the coastal ports to EastLondon with less difficulty.

Britain and Australia are the only major countries still driving on the left and the Government have been under pressure from the EU to come into line for some time.

Junior Transport Minister, Avril Duper, said “Although we understand that this may cause some problems initially, we feel that in the long term this decision will increase tourism and create jobs here in the UK. ”

From 2015, all cars sold in the UK will be required to be left hand drive, a move which will save European car manufacturers some 3.6 billion euros.

Drivers aged 18 cause 50 collisions every day

Latest research from the ABI (Association of British Insurers) highlights how vulnerable young drivers are to having a serious motor accident. Every day four people are killed or seriously injured in accidents involving young drivers. The findings reinforce the ABI’s call for a minimum one-year learning period for all learner drivers, and restrictions on the number of teenage passengers young novice drivers can carry.

The ABI’s analysis of insurance claims involving young drivers reveals that:

• Drivers aged 18 cause 50 collisions every day – nearly three times as many as drivers in their fifties.
• Inexperience affects young novice drivers more than older novice drivers: an 18 year-old driver with one year’s experience is twice as likely to make a claim as a 30 year-old driver with one year’s experience.
• Passenger restrictions in the first year of driving could significantly reduce the accident risk. In the USA such restrictions have reduced fatal crashes by up to 37%.

Nick Starling, the ABI’s Director of General Insurance and Health said:

“Every year 50,000 17 year-olds pass their driving test with less than six months driving experience. One in three of these drivers are likely to be involved in an accident within the first two years after passing their test. Too often these accidents end in tragedy. Introducing a structured minimum one-year learning period, and passenger restrictions will help today’s young drivers become tomorrow’s safer motorists. We urge the Government to act now to protect young motorists and their families.”

Calculate your VED now… and in the future

You can see what tax band your chosen vehicle is in and calculate your new car tax at the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA):

vcacarfueldata.org.uk

This only applies to vehicles registered after 1st March 2001. If you have an older vehicle, registered between 1974 and March 1, 2001, your car will fall into these tax bands, calculated according to engine size:

• Cars under 1549cc cost £115 per year.
• Cars over 1549cc cost £180 per year.

Prices correct as at 12th March 2008, but these are set to rise.

Petrol reaches £5.00 per gallon – without 2p budget increase

The price of a gallon of petrol is now £5.00 per gallon, having reached 110.9p per litre on some forecourts. In the face of the most recent rise in oil prices, Alistair Darling backed away from increasing fuel duty by an additional 2p per litre. This has now been “postponed” for 6 months.

Links to Car Tax information

 To see what Vehicle Excise Duty your car is subject to, visit the Government’s site at:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/HowToTaxYourVehicle/DG_10012524

These will increase as a result of the Chabcellor’s Budget statement today.