To kick of this month we focus on the policy features and benefits that make up the increasingly popular green car insurance.

There are a small but increasing number of insurers who offer solely environmentally friendly insurance products. In addition there is a growing number of insurers who are adding a “green element” to their policies, most notably ibuyeco and the Co-operative who have carbon off-setting elements to their policies.

You can check out how much carbon dioxide (CO2) your car uses by using a free carbon footprint calculator. Insurers will offset 100% of your carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at no extra cost. Your carbon footprint is offset by a number of different projects helping you to be carbon neutral. Most UK car insurance providers don’t offer you these benefits.

Motorists who drive hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, VW Polo Bluemotion or Lexus can also take advantage of carbon neutral policies. Drivers who are concerened avout the state of our planet can now benefit from quality green car insurance that is both competitively priced and better for the environment:

• Competitive pricing
• Save money with a low emissions discount
• Courtesy car with comprehensive cover
• Option to add on legal expenses up to £75,000
• Knowledgeable and friendly staff

Sorting out your car insurance can be a daunting and complicated task, so Homeapproved have teamed up with Gocompare Car Insurance to help make it easier for you. From the type of cover available to how to get the right quote at the right price, you can find out all you need to know with Go Compare.

5 star rating system
Use their special 5 star rating system to help you choose the right policy.

1. Get your quotes
2. Select your important policy features
3. Choose the right policy for you

50.8% of customers who provided their car insurance renewal price made a saving; their average saving was £201.26 with Gocompare.com (January – June 2009).

We have recently updated our information on obtaining an online car data check.

As part of our commitment to offering motorists the very best information associated with owning and running a vehicle in the UK, we can provide below a useful guide to obtaining an online car data check.

Obtaining a car history report (before you buy!) can sometimes reveal facts about the vehicle’s past i.e. previous accidents, turned back or ‘clocked’ odometer, failed emission test, flooding, number of owners, etc. To instigate a vehicle check you will often need just the vehicle’s VIN number – (definition: The manufacturer’s serial number as shown on supporting documents).

There are a small number of legitimate and trustworthy companies offering this service in the UK. One of the industry leaders of this service is Experian. AutoCheck can help to narrow the search and will save you time. Once you have identified a few possible cars all you need to do is to enter the registration numbers into AutoCheck and you will receive lots of very useful information. AutoCheck Is Very Comprehensive…..

HomeApproved is delighted to announce the launch of Co-Operative car insurance. The only provider in the UK with a customer-led Ethical Engagement Policy, reflecting their customers’ views on a range of ethical issues. You could save you as much as £191*. Compare their car insurance prices NOW!

With The Co-operative motor Insurance, customers get more than they expect, for less – that’s because what many insurers charge you extra for, The Co-operative Insurance include as standard.

Awarded Best Motor Insurance Provider 2009 by Your Money and the Platinum Motor Insurance Claims Satisfaction award 2008 by Consumer Intelligence.

*Based on independent online research by Consumer Intelligence during May 2009. 10% of customers achieved this saving with The Co-operative car insurance.

This month has seen Homeapproved launch its new Van Insurance Quote section.

Our online commercial vehicle quotes are sure to deliver a great policy, at an ultra competitive price. Policies will provide the right level of driver and commercial vehicle cover for businesses across the UK.

Visitors to the website can choose from two of the most well known insurers – Direct Line and Budget. All levels of van insurance cover can be purchased online:

Fully Comprehensive Cover
This offers the best and widest cover, including the loss of or damage to your van. It usually includes extras such as personal injury and medical expenses.

Third Party Only
This is the cheapest and most basic insurance. It covers damage to someone else or their property, but not to your van.

Third Party Fire & Theft
The same as third party cover, but also covers theft of your van or damage by fire.

You’re never too young to learn to drive, according to Mercedes-Benz World. Its academy aims to cut accidents involving the most vulnerable road users.

Learning to drive is one of the most satisfying and challenging things you ever do. At first it can seem deceptively simple, but learning to drive is a lifetime process – you never stop learning – you adapt your knowledge and skills as you grow and develop through life. The Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy offers several programmes for people at different life stages.

For young drivers they offer Pre-Road, Licence and Post-Licence Sessions. All of them offer various products to suit your needs. Being a good driver is much more than just passing the driving test. Their goal is for you to develop skills that go beyond controlling the car and mastering traffic situations.

Fact: One in five new drivers has a crash within six months of passing the test, according to Brake, the road safety charity. A further 70 per cent report near misses. In 2006, 300 newly qualified drivers and their passengers were killed and 10 times as many were seriously injured – not to mention the casualties among those they plough into.

Mika Hatakka, a Finnish psychologist and key player in many EU projects designed to improve (make safer) the training of drivers says, “The UK is one of the safest countries in Europe to drive,” he says. “Your death rate is the lowest after Malta, the Netherlands and Sweden. But one of the black spots is still 17-year-old drivers. It’s not a problem just for the UK – everywhere the youngest drivers are the most at risk.”

“The Swedes,” Hatakka says, “reduced the age at which people could start driving by a year, giving them 18 months to practise before taking the test at 18. The average number of hours they had spent behind the wheel before passing rose from 50 to 120 – and the accident rate dropped by 40 per cent.”

That’s a lot fewer poignant bunches of wilting flowers at the roadside. If 16-year-olds are going to clock up more hours before being let loose on the roads, they will have to do so off-road, in places such as the old Brooklands circuit where the Driving Academy (which teaches pre- and post-licence skills) is based.

Sainsbury Motor Insurance

Sainsbury’s Motor Insurance is urging parents not to buy second-hand child car seats because it is impossible to know if they are safe or whether they have been damaged in an accident.

Latest research reveals that some 713,000 child car seats (around 14 per cent) currently in use are given by a friend or family member or even bought second-hand and that around a quarter of a million (5 per cent) may need replacing because they have been involved in an accident or minor bump.

Recent analysis of the online auction site, Ebay, confirms that trading in second-hand car seats is a reality, with some 131 “used” child car seats for sale on the website. Sainsbury’s motor policies offer new-for-old replacement seats after an accident as a standard feature, even when there is no perceived damage.

In addition to the importance of using a brand new child car seat, Sainsbury’s also warns that parents should make sure that they choose one that is compatible with their car and ensure that it is fitted correctly. Some two-thirds of child car seats are not fitted correctly. Below is useful advice when buying and installing child seats:

Is the child seat suitable for my child? It is essential that the child restraint is suitable for your child. Check the packaging before you buy.

Safety Standards : ISOFIX
ISOFIX stands for “International Standards Organisation FIX”. It is a standard for installing child seats into cars and is intended to make fitting child seats quick and simple.

When cars are manufactured, ISOFIX points are built into them. Child seat manufacturers also build ISOFIX fitting points on their child seats. This will enable ISOFIX child seats to be simply plugged into the ISOFIX points in the car.

ISOFIX is an essential development because many people find it difficult to fit child seats correctly, and many surveys have found that a high proportion of the child seats are not fitted securely enough.

ISOFIX is designed to solve all these problems. The ultimate aim is that any ISOFIX child car seat you buy will fit your car simply by plugging it into the ISOFIX points.

An article which appeared in today’s Daily Mail shows that drivers are 23 times more likely to crash when they text at the wheel.

The study has revealed that dialling a mobile, or using or reaching for an electronic device increased risk of an accident sixfold. Experts used cameras to continuously monitor drivers and truckers for more than six million miles.

It found some spent as long as five seconds looking at their phone as they texted before crashing. At 55mph, this is enough time for a car to cover the length of a football field.  Overall, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting – far higher than previous studies had concluded.

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in the U.S. also concluded using a headset was not substantially safer than a hand-held device, because answering and dialling still take drivers’ eyes off the road. Voice-activated systems were far less risky, it decided.

An institute spokesman said: “Talking and listening to a cell phone allowed drivers to maintain eyes on the road and were not associated with an increased safety risk to nearly the same degree. These results show conclusively that a real key to significantly improving safety is keeping your eyes on the road.”

The risks of texting applied to all drivers, not just truckers, the researchers said. Last night a spokesman for the road safety charity Brake called for greater action to clamp down on those who use mobiles at the wheel.

Sarah Fatica said: “Brake is not at all surprised by this research and hopes that all drivers will take heed and turn their phones off before getting in a car. “It’s simply not worth risking someone’s life to send a text message.

“We are calling on the Government to invest more funds in road policing so that legislation can be enforced and those drivers who continue to flout the law are caught and punished.” The research follows a study last year which revealed that motorists who write text messages while driving are more dangerous than those who drink or take drugs before getting behind the wheel.

Tests showed that reaction times deteriorated by 35 per cent while sending a text, compared with a 12 per cent drop for drivers at the legal alcohol limit and 21 per cent for those under the influence of cannabis.

At the time, RAC Foundation director Prof Stephen Glaister said: “We need to ensure that text devotees understand that texting is one of the most hazardous things that can be done while in charge of a car.”

Last year waitress Philippa Curtis, 21, was jailed for killing a woman in a car crash after she sent text messages and made calls while driving on a dark dual carriageway. She failed to notice 24-year-old Victoria McBryde, who was waiting in her car for the RAC after one of her tyres burst

It is with some degree of sadness that we at Homeapproved UK Car Insurance learned of the impending demise of Insurancewide.

Insurancewide have been in litigation with HM Revenue and Customs, regarding the partial VAT exemption accorded to Insurance Companies and their intermediaries. The claim against the Company is in the region of £650,000.

On the 15th May 2009, the High Court ruled that the Company will not be required to pay VAT on internet based commissions and HMRC have the right to appeal. On June 19 2009, they informed the Company that an appeal will be lodged.

This matter has cost the Company over £470,000 in the five years of the case, and it is estimated that defending the appeal will cost a further £180,000. If HMRC were successful, then they would have a claim against the Company for a sum in excess of £650,000.   

Insurancewide was the original insurance comparison website, launched in 1999 and has historically enjoyed considerable success working with such prestigous brands as AOL, Tiscali, eBay and Yahoo.

Trader Media (who run autotrader) are also invovled in the same legal battle. Insurancewide is  due to close on 31st August 2009 – unless it gets help!

The vast majority (89%) of British consumers do not believe that paying more for their car insurance results in the delivery of a better product or service from their insurance provider according to a market survey conducted by Datamonitor.

“These findings are extremely worrying for UK insurers,” said Liz Hartley Datamonitor’s Principal Consultant for Financial Services Consulting.

“It shows that British consumers do not see any point of differentiation among providers, and essentially believe that car insurance is a price-based commodity. It is therefore important in this economic climate – particularly given that premium rates are currently hardening due to weak investment returns – that insurers look to reinforce their value proposition with consumers.”

This view is supported by other findings from the study. Compared to the US, for example, where over half of car insurance policy holders automatically renew their policies each year, only 9% of British consumers actively allow their policies to roll over, while 44% claim that they shop around for better deals each year.

According to Datamonitor, these inherent high rates of customer churn mean that, for UK insurers, the cost-to-serve will continue to rise. However, it appears drivers in Britain do see comprehensive car insurance as being an essential insurance to hold and maintain, even during the economic downturn, and are not willing to compromise the features and perceived benefits that they currently receive.

Indeed, only 5% of survey respondents claimed that they would look to trade down to third-party-only cover in an effort to save money, and 13% said that they would look to reduce their premiums through increasing excess amounts or through reducing the total sum insured.

“This is reflective of the open and competitive insurance market that exists in the UK generally,” said Ms Hartley.

“It is a buyers’ market and, as such, consumers do not believe that they need to compromise when negotiating their insurance policies; indeed, there is almost an expectation of ‘more for less’ each year.”

Datamonitor said the price mentality adopted by British consumers is in part being fueled by the high penetration of price comparison websites in the UK, with 34% of respondents claiming to have used a site of this type to find the best priced car insurance, compared to only 23% of respondents who used a comparison site to find the best priced house and contents insurance.

“The economic downturn and the high cost of motoring in the UK generally mean that consumers will continue to spend a disproportionate amount of time looking for savings on their car insurance policies,” said Ms Hartley.

“However, over the medium to long term, the onus will be on car insurance providers to actually begin to re-establish value in their proposition through understanding the need states and drivers that are important to consumers, and marketing their products accordingly. At the moment, nearly every car insurance marketing campaign in the UK centers on reduced price, and the essential benefits of the product, such as safety, security and well-being, are lost.

“These messages and the underlying importance of needing to have car insurance have to be re-emphasized, along with the reassurance that, if people do need to make claims, they will be treated equitably and fairly.”