Breakdown Cover

Male Drivers Distracted By Skimpy Outfits Cause Summer Car Accidents To Soar

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:13:50 +0000

July’s summer heatwave caused road accidents in the UK to soar, as male drivers became increasingly distracted by womens’ skimpy outfits, new insurance claim figures show.

The new statistics published today by car insurance company Sheilas’ Wheels, show that 29% of male drivers admitted to being distracted by short skirts and low-cut tops in the Summer weather, leading to a record number of accidents on the road.

The figures highlight a growing trend in summer accidents that is getting worse each year. In 2009 male drivers made 16.4% more insurance claims during the Summer than in any other month.

Speaking on the recent findings, Behavioural psychologist Donna Dawson commented:

“Research shows that men are far more easily distracted behind the wheel than women.

“Men are more visually orientated and so distractions such as an attractive woman walking down the street can quickly take their attention away from driving and the job in hand.

“Testosterone also plays a part, as it makes men more prone to aggression, especially when frustrated by a confined space such as a car – and men are quicker than women to expose such irritability in hot weather.”

A spokesperson for Sheilas’ Wheels car insurance said: “In the summer but men are significantly more likely than women to claim during the summer months – often as a result of wandering eyes.

“We urge all motorists to keep their eyes on the road – regardless of outside distractions – and keep cool behind the wheel.”

“A car is a dangerous weapon in the hands of a distracted driver and a momentary lapse can lead to a lifetime of regret if a serious accident occurs.”

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The AA Has Yet To Sign Up With Warranty Code Of Conduct

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:16:20 +0000

Popular UK breakdown organisation, the AA, has come under fire this week for refusing to sign an industry code of conduct for after market vehicle warranty providers.

Established by the automotive watchdog Motor codes, the code of practice requires firms to use ‘plain English’ in the small print of their policies, and to ensure that their claims procedures are simple and easy to understand.

Every year the Financial Ombudsman deals with around 200 complaints regarding vehicle warranties. Customers of the companies who sign up to the code or practice (currently includes Warranty Direct and Warranty Wise), will receive free advice and help with any disputes they may have regarding their warranty service.

So far the AA, along with two other companies, Mapfre Abraxas and MB&G, have refused to sign up to the practice.

A Motor Codes spokesman commented: “It’s not through want of trying, It’s a simple process. We visit and ensure their processes are up to the standards required by the code.”

Air Con Issues Account For 1 In 60 Mechanical Vehicle Failures

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The M25 Voted Britain’s Most Depressing Road

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:44:00 +0000

The M25 has been singled out as the most boring and depressing road in Britain according to a Road to Freedom survey of 3,000 car drivers and bike riders conducted by Motorcycle News.

Following close behind in second place is the Birmingham stretch of the M6, with the A1 in London, and the M5 near Bristol in 3rd and 4th place respectively.

Potholes, traffic jams, and speeds cameras were the major factors in determining just how depressing the roads were.

The survey also revealed that 59% of motorists found driving in Britain to be stressful or very stressful, with 65% claiming driving had grown more stressful in the last 2 years.

Here’s the full top 10 of Britain’s worst roads:

The M25
The M6 along the Birmingham stretch
The A1 Holloway Road, London
The M5 near Bristol
The M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh
The A12
The M5 northbound between junctions 12 and 10
The A361 near Glastonbury in Somerset
The A30 near Bodmin in Cornwall
The A338 between Great Shefford and junction 14 of the M4

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AA European Breakdown Cover Guide

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:10:55 +0000

The AA is one of the largest and most well known breakdown organisations in the United Kingdom. Alongside their domestic breakdown service, the AA also provide European breakdown cover to give you that added peace of mind when driving abroad.

Breaking down whilst abroad or on holiday is never fun, and with recovery back to the UK costing around £1,000 it isn’t cheap either.

But by planning ahead and taking out European breakdown cover with The AA you can enjoy your trip in the knowledge that you’ll be covered for any breakdown eventuality.

The AA currently offer overseas breakdown cover for two different zone, UK/Ireland, and Mainland Europe. Their European breakdown cover is also available as a one-off policy (standalone), or as part of an annual policy providing year round coverage.

The annual policies come in two forms: annual multi-trip covering unlimited European trips of up to 90 days duration, or the more expensive annual long-stay for year long cover covering trips of over 90 days in length.

AA European cover includes roadside breakdown assistance with on the spot repairs or recovery to the nearest garage. As the AA don’t have patrols overseas they arrange immediate help either through local garages, or with the help of the national motoring clubs and affiliate associations overseas.

With an English speaking helpline available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the AA will provide you with car hire or transport costs for onward journey or to return home if repair is not possible; emergency overnight accommodation if you have to wait for repairs; vehicle repatriation and legal protection for accident claims or motoring offences.

Main benefits of European Breakdown Cover from The AA

24-hour English-speaking helpline can arrange and help towards the cost of:

Emergency roadside repairs or towing to the nearest garage in over 40 European countries
Up to £2,000 cover per trip excluding unaccompanied vehicle recovery and legal expenses
Alternative transport (inc. public transport) costs to allow you to continue your journey or get home
Emergency accommodation if you have to wait for repair work to be completed
Vehicle recovery to the UK if it can’t be repaired abroad, up to the current market value of the vehicle
Location of right-hand drive parts (excludes cost of parts)
Legal protection – up to £75,000 for representation on vehicle accident claims or motoring offences (excludes fines)

There are also no excess charges for AA European Breakdown Cover.

Types of European Breakdown Cover Available

Single trip cover

Single trip cover offers breakdown cover for your vehicle for the duration of your trip to Europe, up to a maximum of 365 days.

Roadside assistance (fix at roadside or tow to nearest garage)
Find and despatch spare parts free of charge (price of parts is not included)
Up to £1,200 for emergency car hire or alternative travel arrangements. (max £120 for car hire per day)
Emergency accommodation if your car cannot be fixed at the roadside (up to £500 max £40 per person per day).
Recovery of your vehicle back to the UK if it can’t be fixed (only up to the current market value of the vehicle)
Collection of vehicle from overseas if you have to leave it while it’s being repaired (limited to one person’s costs)
Legal protection insurance up to the value of £75,000 for help and advice after a traffic accident.
Insurance for vehicles of 11 years and under.

Annual Multi-Trip Cover

Annual multi-trip cover offers breakdown cover for a person in any eligible vehicle. The cover provides 12 months’ multi-trip cover for an unlimited number of motoring trips abroad, although each individual trip within the year cannot exceed more than 90 days.

Includes all the benefits of Single Trip Cover along with:

Up to 3 claims per year.
Unlimited trips to Europe (each trip should not exceed 90 days)
Free cover for a caravan or a trailer. (within the size and weight limited set out in the policy)

European Countries The AA Cover

United Kingdom Isle of Man Channel Islands Republic of Ireland, all islands of the Mediterranean and the following countries of mainland Europe: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (excluding the islands of Ceuta and Melilla), Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey in Europe plus Uskudar, Ukraine.

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Green Flag Membership Information

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:34:48 +0000

Founded in 1971 and known at the time as ‘National Breakdown’, Green Flag has grown to become one of the most competitively priced vehicle breakdown organisations in the UK today.

With close to 5 million customers, Green Flag claim an average call out time of 30 minutes with 86% of all breakdowns fixed by the roadside.

Green Flag’s cheap breakdown cover services are made possible due to the organisation’s reliance on a large network of independent vehicle breakdown and recovery agents across the UK and Europe.

When a customers calls Green Flag’s incident management centre for roadside assistance or other breakdown service, the closest Green Flag agent in the network is contacted and dispatched to the scene of the breakdown.

With over 6,000 independent vehicle technicians on call in the UK, and some 15,000 bilingual agents ready to assist across Europe, Green Flag customers, on average, can expect a patrolman to arrive at their location in under 30 minutes.

Unlike other breakdown organisations, Green Flag’s only business focus is on their roadside repair and vehicle recovery services. They do not offer insurance, loans or any other associated services or products, which the company believes allows the to focus more on their core business.

80% of inbound calls from Green Flag members requiring breakdown assistance are answered within 10 seconds
86% of non-critical vehicle breakdowns are fixed at the roadside
Average response time to call-outs is under 30 minutes
80% of call-outs are responded to within one hour

Green Flag Breakdown Services & Cover Levels

Green Flag offer their customers a number of breakdown cover options to choose from. Below is some information on each of the cover options along with their benefits and features.

Rescue

Roadside assistance – Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Local vehicle recover – If your vehicle cannot be fixed at the roadside, Green Flag will recover your vehicle to either a location of your choice or a suitable repairer – both within 10 miles of your breakdown incident.
No call out charges – Green Flag don’t charge for breakdown call outs.
Message service – Green Flag will send a free message to your friends and family to let them know what’s happened.
Cover at home – Should your vehicle breakdown at home, Green Flag will come and assist you.

Rescue Plus

Roadside assistance
Local vehicle recover
No call out charges
Message service
Cover at home – Should your vehicle breakdown at home. Green Flag will come and assist you.

Recovery

Roadside assistance
Local vehicle recover
No call out charges
Message service
Long distance recovery – Green Flag will take you and your vehicle home or to your preferred location.

Recovery Plus

Roadside assistance
Local vehicle recover
No call out charges
Message service
Cover at home – Should your vehicle breakdown at home.
Long distance recovery – Green Flag will take you and your vehicle home or to your preferred location.
Options if it can’t be fixed – If Green Flag can’t repair your vehicle locally that day they’ll provide you with a hire car or alternatives. For example, the cost for alternative transport or overnight accommodation.
Cash to collect your vehicle – Green Flag will provide you with the cost of a single standard rail fare to collect your vehicle.

Euro Plus

Roadside assistance
Local vehicle recover
No call out charges
Message service
Cover at home
Long distance recovery
Options if it can’t be fixed
Cash to collect your vehicle
European breakdown cover – Includes 90 days European cover (for vehicles less than 16 years old).

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Hybrid Cars Not Actually Saving Motorists Money

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:00:14 +0000

Many motorists choose to buy a hybrid vehicle because they believe running a hybrid car will save them money in the long fun. But new research published by the British Columbia Automobile Association suggests that those who buy a hybrid model continue to pay a premium rate for it.

The BCAA compared the purchase price, financing, and fuel costs of 16 hybrid cars over a period of five years and concluded that only one hybrid car cost less to buy and run over the five years than its petrol counterpart.

The hybrid vehicle that came top in their study was the Mercedes S400 Hybrid Sedan, which overall was found to cost £3,200 less to own and operate than other hybrid models studied.

The hybrids that came out the closest to their petrol counterparts in terms of initial purchase cost and running costs were the Toyota models (Prius, Camry and Highlander Hybrid), all the Honda models (Insight and Civic Hybrid) and the Lexus HS250h.

The Toyota Prius was found to have the lowest overall carbon emissions of any of the hybrid models studied.

Commenting on the findings, BCAA’s director of corporate communications and government relations, Trace Acres, said: “BCAA’s research shows that cost is not typically the main motivator for someone looking to purchase a hybrid.

“We believe that many consumers are willing to pay a bit more to go hybrid if it will reduce their carbon footprint.”

The spokesman added: “What we are seeing however, is manufacturers starting to offer price breaks for things like cash sales, so an environmentally conscious consumer may still be able to make a hybrid purchase work financially by shopping around.”

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Tom Cruise & Cameron Diaz Top Gear Video

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:36:47 +0000

As we reported yesterday, Hollywood A-listers tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz called in to the Top Gear studios during their recent promotional tour for new film Knight and Day.

Both actors took part in Top Gear’s Star In A Reasonably Priced Car challenge, with cruise at one point managing to get the Kia Cee’d on two wheels!

Both Cruise and Diaz finished with remarkably quick lap times, with Camron Diaz lapping the track in an impressive 1:43.2 which at the time made her the fastest star in a reasonably-priced car.

That was until Cruise did his lap finishing in 1:44.2, making Tom Cruise the new record holder for Top Gear’s star in a reasonably-priced car.

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz Are Top Gear’s Star in a Reasonably Priced Car

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Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz Are Top Gear’s Star in a Reasonably Priced Car

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:59:23 +0000

The BBC has confirmed that Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz will be appearing on tonight’s episode of Top Gear.

The pair, who were in London recently to promote their latest film Knight and Day, will take part in Top Gear’s Star In A Reasonably Priced Car segment.

The two stars will be racing against each other in a Kia Cee’d in a bid to complete the fastest lap time around the Top Gear track.

During their track time things didn’t go all that smoothly for Cameron Diaz who had to rescued by The Stig halfway into her lap due to a gearbox issue with the car.

A Top Gear insider, presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, said: “She looked flustered and clearly her time behind the wheel didn’t go exactly according to plan.”

After she joked: “I had several words with the gearstick. It was kinda ugly in there!” Cruise, however, seemed to have more success on the track in Dunsfold, Surrey.

Speaking at the London premiere of their new film Cruise said: “It was fun, very fun. I like fast cars and motorcycles – I’ve always loved them since I was a kid”.

“We’ve have never, ever had two bigger guests,” said a statement on the shows official website.

“For the past week, the air in the office has been alive with a sort of sweaty-palmed excitement.”

The duo will be hoping to beat the Harry Potter actor Ruper Grint who currently holds the record for the fastest celebrity lap time.

Top Gear airs tonight (Sunday) on BBC2 at 8pm.

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How Driving Over Potholes Could Save You Fuel

admin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 11:25:50 +0000

A new type of shock absorber currently under developed by American based Levant Power Corporation converts the bumps and rattles from vehicles driving on rough roads into usable electricity.

Known as GenShocks, the shock absorbers use the harsh impact from a bumpy ride to power a number of vehicle devices such as the car’s alternator, headlights, windscreen wipers, and sound system.

This in turn means that less fuel is needed in order to power these electronics, saving you money.

Normal car shock absorbers are designed to dissipate the energy of bouncing vehicles as heat, whereas these new shock absorbers use this kinetic energy to generate watts and putting the electricity to use powering the vehicle itself.

Levant Power Corporation’s chief executive, Shakeel Avadhany, said: “At the moment shock absorbers are a simple device, which allows a driver to maintain control when a car is driven over a pothole”.

“But they only generate heat, the GenShocks will also generate electricity,” he added. “We believe that they would cover their cost within 18 to 20 months”.

The new shock absorbers will look just like ordinary shock absorbers with an electrical power cord at one end. This power cord is then plugged into a power box that is used to regulate the electricity that is produced, making sure it is outputted at a voltage required by the vehicle.

GenShocks are expected to go on sale in the US in 2011.

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RAC Car Insurance Cover Guide

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:11:44 +0000

The RAC is without question one of the leading motoring organizations in the UK, and currently serves over 7 million members.

Providing services to both private and business motorists, the RAC serve a number of areas including roadside assistance, insurance, vehicle inspections and checks, legal services, and even up-to-the minute traffic and travel information.

Alongside their primary breakdown service, the RAC also offer car insurance through RAC Direct Insurance.

RAC Direct Insurance is a subsidiary of RAC providing a number of financial services including car insurance, caravan insurance, and home, life, and travel insurance.

RAC insurance offers customers a number of individual car insurance products that can be tailored to cover their specific needs.

By searching a carefully selected and trusted panel of leading UK insurers, the RAC can help to find the best car insurance deal that’s available. With policies including both comprehensive and third party, fire and theft cover, you’ll be able to sort and choose the level of cover that you need.

RAC comprehensive car insurance cover also includes a number of additional benefits such as audio and personal belongings cover, new car replacement for vehicles younger than 12 months old and liability to 3rd parties as standard. The RAC also offer a generous no claims discount that enables you to save money on your cover.

The RAC also offer customers a 24 hour claim helpline should they need to make a claim.

Benefits of RAC car insurance include:

Repairs Use a member from the RAC approved network for repairs and get a three year guarantee on any work completed
Windscreen replacement and repair
Personal belongings cover up to £150
Personal injury cover for you and your partner of up to £2,500 per person, per claim
Medical expenses up to £100 for each person following an accident
Audio equipment cover up to £500 for non-manufacturer-fitted equipment and unlimited for manufacturer-fitted equipment
New car replacement If your car is less than 12 months old and is seriously damaged RAC will replace it with a new car of the same make, model and specification
A courtesy car when you use one of RAC’s approved repairers

RAC Car Insurance Plus

RAC Car Insurance Plus is the RAC’s premium car insurance policy that offers members a number of extras to include in their cover. RAC breakdown members can upgrade for free when taking out comprehensive cover.

RAC Car Insurance Plus provides you with the following benefits:

Help with onward travel transport home after an accident for you and your passengers, anywhere in Great Britain*
Physiotherapy cover up to £400 per person in a vehicle to help you and your passengers recover after an accident
Up to £100 per seat towards replacement child car seats after an accident, even if there’s no apparent damage
If you’re hit by an uninsured driver, RAC will refund your excess and you won’t lose your no claims discount (providing the accident isn’t your fault)
If you lose your car keys RAC will pay for replacements, and cover the cost of changing your car’s locks too
If your car is vandalised you won’t lose your no claims discount
If you’re taken seriously ill on a journey, RAC will collect you, and your car, and drive you home or on to a destination anywhere in Great Britain

The amount of cover you get with RAC Car Insurance Plus is also raised:

Personal belongings up to £250
Medical expenses up to £250
Personal injury cover for you and your partner of up to £5,000 per person, per claim, (annual limit of £10,000)
Audio equipment cover up to £1,000 for non-manufacturer-fitted equipment and unlimited cover for manufacturer fitted equipment

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