It is possible to get a quote and advice from insurance brokers about choosing from among a number of products to get one that suits your circumstances. They can shop around on your behalf to find the best quote available from the companies they deal with. Alternatively, you might want to do your own research and buy a product directly from the insurer over the phone, face to face or via the internet. Both direct providers and brokers can be easily found in the phone book or by searching the internet.

As insurance is priced according to how likely the driver is to make a claim, a lot of information can be asked for when applying for insurance. Commonly, this will include the vehicle details, what the vehicle will be used for, where the vehicle will be kept, the ages and occupations of the people who will be driving the vehicle, any penalty points on your license or convictions for driving offences, any no-claims bonus and how long you have been driving for, and any recent insurance claims. It is essential to answer all the questions honestly and in detail. Once all your details have been taken, you will be offered a quote and, if you accept the quote you will be sent insurance documents.

You will need to take a good look at your existing policy and decide if you are paying for items you don’t really need. You also need to do a bit of research about the discounts that are available to you. Anything that reduces your risk to insurance companies will lower your cost, so living in a safe place and taking a driving class helps. It also matters how often you actually drive the covered vehicle. They will not always tell you about these clauses, so always ask.

There are three key documents when you take out a policy of motor insurance, the certificate, the policy and the schedule. The certificate contains details of the vehicle insured, the driver named to use the vehicle, the use of the vehicle which is insured and the dates for which the policy is valid. This is the document that provides legal evidence of insurance cover and is required should an accident occur, when the vehicle needs to be taxed or if you are asked to produce it by the police. The policy sets out in full the terms and conditions of the insurance cover.


The schedule gives details specific to your policy such as excesses, no-claim discount and which parts of the policy apply in your case. You may be given an insurance cover note when you first take out an insurance policy. The cover note acts as a certificate and temporary policy while the full documents are produced. It is very important that you check the documents to see that the details are correct and to get them amended if you find anything wrong.

If you do not have a car at the moment, you may be able to defer the discount for up to two years, but you would need to check with your insurance company. If you passed your practical driving test more than a year ago, check that you will be eligible for the discount on offer from your insurance company before you take the course. You should check which company offers you the best discount.

You could save more money on your insurance than you actually paid for your Pass Plus course, effectively getting your training for nothing. When you contact the insurers, you need to check that a Pass Plus discount is available to you.

The following insurers offer motor insurance benefits to car drivers who have passed Pass Plus:

 4Counties Insurance
 AA Insurance
 Adrian Flux Insurance Services
 Aviva
 Churchill Insurance
 CIS
 Click4Gap (enter voucher code ‘PASSPLUS10GAP’)
 Direct Line
 Endsleigh
 i-Kube
 Privilege
 Provident Insurance
 Quinn Direct Insurance Ltd
 RAC Direct Insurance
 Royal and Sun Alliance
 Swinton Car Insurance
 Tesco Motor Insurers
 Young Marmalade
 Zurich Insurance

The card is not required by law to cross borders within the European Union and some other countries. This is because all EU countries and certain other countries comply with the first directive on motor insurance, which says that every insurance policy issued in the EU must provide the minimum insurance cover required by law in any other EU country.

The countries that do not need a Green Card are Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland
On the other hand, the countries that that require a Green card are Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Moldova, Morocco, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Tunisia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

You can get a Green Card from a number of insurers. However, they are not legally bound to do so. If they will not, you may wish to make enquiries with other insurers or ask about getting border insurance at the point of entry into the country. The Green Card document itself is only proof that the minimum third party liability cover required by law in the visited country is in force. You should check with your insurer to make sure that your UK policy cover is fully in force when you travel abroad whether or not a Green Card is issued.
Within the countries where frontier inspection is no longer required, the Green Card is still the insurance document most readily recognized and understood by national police forces. As you may need to produce evidence of insurance other than at a border, for example after an accident, you may consider it advisable to carry a Green Card to avoid any inconvenience.

The Green Card system is administered in the UK by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), at Linford Wood House, 6-12 Capital Drive, Linford Wood, Milton Keynes, MK14 6XT.Its telephone number and fax are 01908 830 001 and 01908 671 681 respectively.

Third Party Fire and Theft Cover provides the same cover as third party only and also insures you should your vehicle be damaged by fire or stolen. A Comprehensive Cover, on the other hand, provides the same cover as third party fire and theft. However, it also covers you should your vehicle be damaged in an accident.

Many additions to this level of cover are available from insurance companies including providing a courtesy car while your car is being repaired, legal expenses insurance to recover your uninsured losses such as your excess, roadside recovery schemes, and vehicle repairs in case of breakdown.

If you have an accident that causes damage or injury to any other person, vehicle, animal or property, you must give both your own and the vehicle owner’s name and address, along with the registration number of the vehicle, to anyone having reasonable grounds for requiring them. If you do not give your details then you should report the accident to the police as soon as possible within 24 hours. You must also report the accident to your insurer, even if you are not intending to make a claim.
Any accident with an uninsured driver should be reported to the police. You should also report any accident to your insurer, who will advise you further as regards any claim. Additionally, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) ensures that compensation is available to the innocent victims of uninsured drivers or hit and run untraced drivers.

All UK policies provide the minimum cover required by law in other European Union (EU) countries or the minimum cover required by UK law if that is greater. This cover doesn’t automatically include theft or damage to your car. Most people want the same protection they have in the UK when traveling abroad, for example comprehensive or third party, fire and theft. This could, in addition to the legal minimum of third party liability cover, include accidental damage to, or theft of or from, your own vehicle, depending on the policy cover.

According to the seriousness of the offence, the level of the maximum fine can go upto 5,000 UK pounds, and the automatic endorsement of an offender’s license with six to eight penalty points. The courts can order the immediate disqualification of the offender. The police also have wide powers to stop vehicles and inspect certificates, and this leads to around 300,000 convictions for uninsured driving every year.

Driving without insurance can be punishable within the fixed penalty system. The fixed penalty of 200 UK pounds and six penalty points allows a more thorough enforcement of this offence.

The possibility of a fixed penalty gives the police an extra option for dealing with the offence concerned, but it does not prevent the police’s ability to prosecute in appropriate cases when they consider that to be the best course of action. The police have the power to seize, and in some cases, destroy the vehicle that is being driven uninsured.

Any vehicle seized under these powers will only be released on payment of the fixed penalty and must show a valid insurance certificate. The vehicle will only be released to the registered keeper of the vehicle or, if there is no registered keeper, to the person appearing to be the owner. The police can dispose of vehicles not claimed within a set time. The Road Safety Act 2006 makes provision for harsher sentences for those who kill or are involved in accidents while driving uninsured.
The UK Department for Transport has worked out an effective way to control uninsured driving. Provisions in the Serious Organized Crime and Police Act 2005 enable the police to use their access to the Motor Insurance Database in conjunction with their Automatic Number Plate Reading equipment.
There is also a plan to enforce a continuous insurance enforcement scheme provides a new fixed penalty for people who ignore official reminders that their insurance has expired. The scheme is expected to come into force during 2011. This will apply to vehicles that are not declared as being off the road through Statutory off Road Notification (SORN) and not insured. Continuing offenders will risk having their vehicle seized and destroyed.

However, if a motor vehicle is not used on a road or other public place, there is no requirement to purchase insurance cover for ‘on road risk’ as long as a SORN declaration has been made.

In order to tax your vehicle, you must have insurance cover that covers you against third party claims for death or injury and damage to property caused by using the vehicle, covers your use of the vehicle for taxing purposes, and is valid on the day the tax disc comes into force. The insurance policy for your vehicle may allow you to drive any other vehicle with the owner’s permission. However, your policy can not be used as evidence of suitable insurance to tax any other vehicle. If your insurance cover for taxing purposes is not clear, you may need to provide additional evidence. Please contact your insurance company for advice.
Insurance certificates and cover notes are usually a printed or laser-printed document, or a plastic credit card style document. The unacceptable documents are policy schedule, renewal notice, and receipt for payment, unstamped amended certificate or cover note, foreign certificates, photocopies or faxes and so on. In case of lost, stolen or damaged insurance certificate, you will need to get a duplicate insurance certificate or cover note from your insurance company.

You can not tax your vehicle until your insurance certificate arrives or your insurance cover for your vehicle has been updated on the Motor Insurance Database. You must keep your vehicle off the road in the meantime. If you are taxing your vehicle using the DVLA vehicle online service, then you’ll need to wait until MID has updated before applying. You can check online to see if your insurance has updated. If you want to tax your vehicle at a DVLA local office or Post Office® branch, you’ll need to take your insurance certificate.

An MOT test is needed every year for cars, motorcycles, motor caravans and light goods vehicles that are more than three years old. It also needed for passenger carrying vehicles with more than eight seats and taxis, excluding private hire vehicles that are more than one year old. You must produce an MOT test certificate that’s valid on the day the tax disc comes into force. A certificate that expires on the last day of the month can not be used if the tax disc is to start on the first day of the following month. The certificate must be original, a photocopy is not acceptable.

In place of a lost, stolen or damaged MOT certificate, you will need to get a duplicate from any MOT testing station for the fee of £10. You’ll need to provide the vehicle registration mark and reference number shown on your registration certificate (V5C). If your vehicle is exempt from MOT testing, you will need to fill in form V112 ‘Claim for exemption from MOT testing’ to produce instead of the MOT certificate. A list of exempt vehicles is shown on the V112 form.

You may need to take out travel insurance even if you are traveling within the UK. This is especially important if you are taking special equipment such as wheelchairs or if you are likely to need medical attention, which may cut short your holiday. It is important to declare your disability or illness when arranging insurance, even though standard travel insurance doesn’t cover any illness or health problem that existed or was diagnosed before your holiday began.
The insurance company may ask for specific details, or your doctor may need to complete a form stating that you are fit to travel. You may be asked to sign a form stating that you are not awaiting treatment, for example. If you need to take expensive disability equipment with you, make sure that it is insured for loss or damage. Mobility aids, including wheelchairs and scooters, are unlikely to be covered by standard travel insurance policies. You may have to pay an extra premium. Sometimes your household insurance may provide cover for these items.
Most insurance companies offer cover to disabled people that meets their needs. However, some insurers do not cover people who have a severe medical condition or a history of mental illness. You may need to arrange cover with a specialist insurer. A specialist insurer may be right for you if you are traveling outside the UK for a long period of time.
Travel insurance companies have a duty to ensure that, as a disabled customer, they do not treat you less favorably than other customers, for a reason related to your disability, unless they can justify that treatment. If you are not happy with your insurance company, most complaints are normally handled by the insurance company. If they have a customer complaints service, the duties of the DDA require them to take reasonable steps to make this accessible for disabled people to use. The Association of British Insurers has consumer information relating to all types of insurance – including travel and what to do if things go wrong.

If you can not resolve matters with your insurance company, the Financial Ombudsman Service can provide you with a free, independent service for resolving disputes with financial companies. They provide information in various formats including Braille and audiotape.
The law allows insurers to apply special conditions or premiums to disabled people in a particular set of circumstances. For example, they can charge a disabled person a higher premium if they can show that there is a greater risk in insuring a disabled person than a non-disabled person.

General insurance only pays out when an insured event occurs. It includes home insurance (contents and buildings), car insurance, travel insurance, private medical insurance, pet insurance, accident, sickness or unemployment insurance to protect your income, mortgage or loan payments also called Payment protection insurance, critical illness insurance, and long-term care insurance.

Thus general insurance includes everything. Many risks are there that can be covered with the help of general insurance. You may keep yourself having any general plan or policy. In this way, a general insurance may secure anybody from their loss, which can occur or cannot occur. Many risks are there that can be covered with the help of general insurance.
There a large number of insurance deals on the market. Hence, it is worth shopping around and comparing key points such as suitability for your particular needs, cost, flexibility, risks if you miss a payment or wish to cancel or switch, and terms such as the policy pay out date and other restrictions.

When you contact an insurance provider, they will give you details of the service they offer. This can normally be found in the ‘about our service document’. Buying your health insurance from the same insurance company that provides your other insurance policies will get you a discount. All insurers will normally offer a discount if you buy more than one policy from them.

Once you have discussed what you need and answered all the questions about yourself and what you want to insure, the intermediary, insurance company or the firm selling you the insurance will give you key policy information. This sets out the essential facts. You can check whether a firm or individual is FSA authorized by using the FSA online ‘Check our Register’ service. You can buy insurance after getting advice, or based on information after shopping around. Read our related article to understand the difference between buying with or without advice and the relative pros and cons.

It is good to look through your health insurance policy at least once a year or as often as you think changes have occurred in your health or that of your family member. This will help you confirm you always have sufficient coverage. While doing this routine check you can also find out you have coverage you no longer need.

Even if you already have enough qualifying years to get a full basic State Pension, you have to pay National Insurance until you reach your State Pension Age if you work for an employer and your wages are above a certain level, and you are self-employed and do not have a small-earnings exemption certificate.

You can decide to stop paying NI contributions if you are paying voluntary National Insurance contributions because you are not working, and you have enough qualifying years to get a full basic State Pension. If you stop paying voluntary NI contributions, this may affect any bereavement benefit that your widow, widower or surviving civil partner is entitled to.

You will need to have enough qualifying years in your working life to give your widow, widower or surviving civil partner full rate bereavement benefit. This is normally about 90 per cent of the qualifying years in your working life.In the past, married women and some widows could choose to pay a reduced rate of National Insurance contributions as an employee, or choose not to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions when self-employed. This was called the married women’s or widow’s election. Although this stopped in 1977, women who were already paying the reduced rate could continue to do so.

Reduced rate contributions do not count towards the State Pension, and you can’t get Home Responsibilities Protection for any period covered by a Married Women’s or Widow’s Election. You will stop paying reduced rates if you get divorced or your marriage is officially cancelled, stop being entitled to certain bereavement benefits, or ask to stop paying the reduced rate.

You will also stop paying reduced rates if for two tax years in a row you have not earned enough to pay, or been treated as paying, National Insurance contributions as an employee, or not been self-employed.

Your insurance company will send a loss adjuster who will assess the damage to your home. The loss adjuster may not be able to come immediately if there has been a lot of flooding in your area. When you contact the insurance company, make sure you find out how long it will be before the loss adjuster is able to come and survey the damage, whether the company will organize and pay for cleaning and redecorating your home, and who will be your contact for your insurance claim at the company.
You will need to record the flood damage so you can show it to the insurance company. The loss adjuster will need to know how much damage the flooding has done for their assessment. Use a permanent ink pen to mark the highest level that the flood water reached on the walls of each room. Take photos or make a video of the flood damage, if possible. Draw up a list that describes in detail all the flood damage to your home. If your insurance covers you for food thrown away because it has gone off, or is contaminated, make a list of this as well.
You should keep a detailed record of all phone calls to your insurance company and anyone cleaning up or repairing your home. This will help when you speak to your insurance company about your claim. When you make calls make sure you make a note of who you spoke to, the date and time you made or received the call, and the agreement you have made. It is also important to keep copies of all letters, emails and faxes you send or receive. Also, keep all receipts of any emergency repair work you have done, like fixing electric fittings, so you can claim back the money. Make sure you do no throw anything away until the insurance company tells you to.
If you own your home Contact your insurance company and tell them your home has been flooded and you want to make a claim. If you have moved to alternative accommodation, give the company your new contact details. You may have one insurance policy to cover damage to the structure of your home, like walls, ceilings and floors, and another to cover its contents. If you have policies with two different insurance companies, you should phone them both.

If you rent your home, contact your landlord to make sure they have contacted the company that insures your home. You’ll need to contact your insurance company if you have contents insurance. Tell them about the flooding and say you want to make a claim.