New Insurance Company To Offer Lower Premiums For Young Drivers
Thursday, 15 December 2011
With insurance premiums hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons, a glimmer of hope has emerged for young drivers, after a new company announced it would be offering reduced price car insurance policies for younger motorists.
The new insurance brand, headed by experts in the field, has already received backing from England football legend and father-of-four, Gary Lineker and Sir Martin Broughton, the chairman of British Airways and the venture has also received plaudits from well-known and respected figures in the insurance industry.
Ingenie has launched a new policy aimed at drivers aged between 17 and 25; the policies are adjusted every three months and the price is based on how well the individual drives. The company is using a high-tech telematics system, which relays messages to the driver's mobile phone to inform them about their driving habits; the idea is to encourage younger drivers to be safer on the roads in order to lower the amount they pay for insurance.
In recent years, policies for young drivers have become increasingly unaffordable and teenage drivers have been hit hardest by the rise in insurance fees; according to the AA, young male drivers were expected to pay an average of £2,400 per year for car insurance in October 2010, a figure which represented an increase of 46 per cent in 12 months.
With premiums pricing many young people out of the market, Labour has come up with a proposal to provide a solution: a system that provides low-cost insurance for drivers who make journeys only to college or work. The proposed premiums would offer cover for these journeys alone and the party believes that this would provide a lifeline for young motorists who have been put off using their car as a result of overpriced policies.
John Woodcock, shadow transport minister, suggested that young people were facing difficulties on several fronts with train and bus fares increasing, insurance premiums on the rise and increased difficulty in finding a job. He proposed a new system, which offers cover for specified journeys and stressed that new ideas should be enforced in line with increased road safety measures and greater road awareness.
Experts from the insurance industry claimed that Labour's proposal was an interesting concept but would be difficult to put into practice, especially as the high premiums offered by insurance providers reflect the likelihood of a young driver being involved in an accident. Statistics consistently show that young male drivers are most likely to cause or be involved in road traffic accidents, with figures from the AA suggesting a male aged under 25 is around five times more likely to have a crash than a man aged between 30 and 59.
A spokesman for The Association of British Insurers said that it was important to consider proposals to reduce premiums for young drivers; however, the main aim is to decrease the number of accidents involving young motorists and to make the roads safer for all those taking to the wheel. The association has already put forward proposals, including a second driving test, restrictions on the number of passengers young people can carry and new legislation for driving at night, but insisted that it is willing to listen to any ideas that make policies more affordable, while also promoting safe driving.
With so much doom and gloom for young motorists over the last few months, it seems like changes could be on the horizon. Premiums are unaffordable at the moment for most young drivers, but insurance industry experts and politicians are aware of this problem and they are working to reduce insurance fees, hopefully making life easier for drivers under the age of 25.
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