Posts filed under 'insurance'
These days our lives are rich with data downloaded from the internet. No longer is your home overrun with a CD’s, DVD and paperbacks but instead all stored on various gadgets including laptops, computers and mobile phones.
Research done by swiftcover.com has discovered that 42% percent of all digital content in the UK is uninsured. Spending an average of £453 each on gadgets and downloads, there a huge £300 million worth of music, video and video games that goes uninsured each year.
James Barclay, home underwriting manager at swiftcover.com, said: “It’s staggering that we take downloading content for granted these days without a second thought for its monetary worth. Clearly it’s important to recognise how much gadgets such as PCs, laptops and MP3s are worth however people should not ignore digital assets such as music, videos or even e-books, as they often have a substantial value.”
With all this digital content now being downloaded and stored on PCs, Laptops and Mobile phones, it would be beneficial for anybody spending a lot of time and money on downloads to think about insuring their digital content. Even though some download sites may let you re-download a certain amount of content, the cost of replacing your entire collection could prove to be an unnecessary expense.
With swiftcover.com home insurance you get £500 cover free for your digital downloads.
November 18th, 2010
Ministers are considering plans to introduce a ‘graduate licence’ scheme under which learner drivers will need to drive under supervision for at least 12 months, and they could be restricted from driving at night. swiftcover.com has said that if this scheme was introduced we could see insurance premiums for younger drivers reduce by at least 10%.
Younger drivers tend to pay higher premiums for their car insurance as they are the riskiest drivers on the road. The Daily Mail recently reported that 1000 people a year are killed in crashes involving drivers aged 17 – 25
Craig Staniland, underwriting director for swiftcover.com “Introducing a scheme that would limit the time young and newly qualified drivers spend on the road, particular during potentially dangerous periods such as at night, would enable teenaged drivers to get valuable road experience under safer conditions and help instil a great sense of responsibility and safety. If this also cuts the number of road accidents involving young people, not only would it save lives it would also bring down the cost of insurance premiums for younger drivers.”
November 9th, 2010
People lying about their claims history when buying insurance costs up to £1 million each year in lost premiums, and many of those who lie will go on and attempt to make fraudulent claims. The unfairness of it all is that law abiding drivers are the ones who end up paying higher premiums to subsidise people who lie.
But swiftcover.com is now using a new system which will automatically check the claims history of motor insurance applicants. The system will be able to compare the claims disclosed with a database holding the details of 22 million drivers, so if the amount of claims disclosed does not match the details on the database then they will be asked to check that their application is correct.
Steve Gaywood, swiftcover.com’s Counter Fraud and Compliance Manager, explained
“It is not fair that safe, law-abiding drivers should pay higher premiums to subsidise people who lie about their previous claims to get cheaper insurance. swiftcover.com’s new check will help us identify people that have not fully disclosed their claims history and ensure that they are charged the appropriate price for their insurance.”
This new system will help keep insurance costs lower for drivers who are open and truthful about their claims history.
October 4th, 2010
The number of car insurance scams is on the rise. The insurance fraud bureau estimated that around 30000 accidents were staged last year, costing insurance companies millions.
According to the Guardian, Birmingham is now the UK’s top fraud hotspot. Fraudsters usually brake suddenly on a clear road or on a roundabout causing the driver behind them to crash into the back of their car. The fraudster ends up claiming for personal injury and for the car damage, and it often looks like the innocent person who crashed into the back of them is at fault. The fraudsters tend to target single mums or the elderly who are less likely to cause any issues.
Police and insurance companies are continually investigating insurance scams and aiming to cut down the amount of fraudulent claims.
Click here to watch BBC’s recent documentary on crash for cash claims.
September 10th, 2010
These days you can save time and make life easier by using the latest technologies such as the internet. According to swiftcover.com seven out of ten people are now doing their banking and setting up their insurance online, whilst four out of ten people are doing their shopping via the internet. However there are still those things which people find a waste of time.
According to car insurer swiftcover.com these are the UK’s biggest wastes of time:
• 29% of people said commuting to and from work
• 26% of people said telephone sales callers
• 25% said doing chores or the housework
• 23% said long queues in shops were the biggest waste of time
• 16% said doing paperwork, i.e. banking, filling out forms etc
• 14% cited slow drivers as the biggest waste of time
Tina Shortle, marketing director for swiftcover.com, said:
We live in a fast-paced world where we want things to happen immediately and demand instant gratification, which is why the growth of online retailing has been so quick – the internet is fast, simple and convenient, letting us decide what we want to buy and when we want to buy it.
August 4th, 2010
swiftcover.com won the Marketing Initiative of the year award at the 2010 British insurance awards for the success of the Iggy Pop marketing campaign. The awards were held at the Royal Albert Hall.
The innovative, multi-strand marketing campaign incorporating both digital and traditional strategies helped increase sales by 38.5% in 2009 and increase brand awareness by 90%.
Marketing director Tina Shortle explained how great it was to win the award:
It is great to win such a coveted award, particularly one that is chosen by our peers and key figures in the insurance industry. We are also pleased that the award acknowledges the work we are doing to engage with the public, both our existing policy holders and potential customers. swiftcover.com believes that building stronger relationships with consumers is vital for a successful insurance market.
August 2nd, 2010
swiftcover.com is celebrating its 5th birthday by giving away free car insurance to seven customers. The promotion began on Monday 26th and will end early next week.
To stand the chance to win all you need to do is buy a car insurance policy by visiting www.swiftcover.com. Your name will then be entered into a prize draw to win free insurance for a year!
Tina Shortle, marketing director for swiftcover.com, says:
It has been an amazing first five years, so we wanted to celebrate by rewarding the people who have made it all possible – our customers. We look forward to the next five years of offering cheap, hassle-free insurance to UK drivers.
There are still a few days left of the promotion so buy now for your chance to win!
July 30th, 2010
Adventurous holidays are becoming more popular according to research done by swiftcover.com. They found that when it comes to extreme holidays 23% of people would go white-water rafting, 17% would like to drive a fast car around a race track and 16% would do a parachute jump. There is a definite shift in holiday habits, and while luxury holidays are still very popular, more people are choosing something more exotic and adventurous. However dream holidays such as these do come at a price. Some people choose to save for their dream holidays which could take years, some will pay on their credit cards and 4% of people say they would marry a rich man or women!
Roman Bryl, Travel Underwriting Manager for swiftcover.com, says:
If people are venturing farther afield they do need to make sure they have the right travel insurance that covers them for more exotic destinations beyond Europe and provides adequate cover for things like medical emergencies, which can be very expensive. Backpackers should consider insurance such as swiftcover.com’s Gap policy, which is specially designed for their needs.
July 27th, 2010
A common debate which has been going on as long as I can remember is whether woman or men are better drivers. If you ask a group of men what they think they are likely to say men are better drivers, however many organisations and insurance provides are specialising in products for female drivers.
A recent survey done by confused.com found that women take longer to pass their driving tests. The average women needs 21 lessons before they are able to pass the test, whilst men take 17 lessons on average. Females were also found to be more nervous before a test so this fact could be down to nerves rather than bad driving.
A study which came up last year found that women take 20 seconds longer to park than men. However it is thought that this is because men have greater spatial awareness and coordination which helps them better assess where the car is moving to.
When it comes to road safety it seems that men have a bit to learn according to figures from the road safety charity Brake. More than 80 per cent of all drunk or drug charges, careless driving convictions, speeding offences and convictions for neglecting traffic signs were brought against men in 2008.
This is probably a debate which will never end but all these facts show that its not just females who need to shop around for car insurance, males should also think about shopping around for the cheapest cover.
July 19th, 2010
On Sunday 23rd May thousands of runners gathered at the starting line, ready to run the 2010 Edinburgh Marathon. Many of the entrants ran for charity, raising millions for a number of good causes. Included in the crowd of more than 9000 runners, was the purple and orange stuck man, who took part in the race with a fantastic finish time of 3:49:09. The stuck man was promoting swiftcover.com’s recently launched iphone application called stuck. Stuck allows users to post twitter-style comments when they are stuck, whether they have a song stuck in their head, stuck in traffic or …stuck behind a slow person in a race. Other races on the day included the Scottish half marathon and the Hairy Haggis team relay. The crowd of spectators, the runners, and all the people organising the event made the day a great experience for everyone.
If you fancy entering the race next year then keep an eye out on the 1st September when entries will be open to the public.
June 17th, 2010
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