Traffic Report 2 – Insurance Scams

We all have to carry car insurance. We know that. Most people obey the law.

However, it has become a permit to print money for the insurance business. All this searching websites, making comparisons, getting the best deals. You go with something that looks good, and find you are actually insured by a company you either haven’t heard of or don’t want to be insured with anyway.

You pay your fine and take your points, made ever more inevitable by the cancerous growth of speed cameras across our once fair land. You understand that they sit on your licence like a deadweight for 3 years. You have to declare them, you are aware of them. But after 3 years, your licence is cleaned.

BUT NOT FOR INSURANCE COMPANIES. No, they want to know how many points you have for FIVE YEARS. Why? Presumably to charge you more for longer.

I used to think loyalty paid, but obviously in the past decade, loyalty has become a historical quirk. I moved to CIS when my children were young drivers, as they were the only ones who offered to insure my youngsters at anything like an affordable price. Since then, I have moved insurer every year or two, paying to preserve my no-claim discount. Now we are told that is another racket, and we’d be better off not bothering with that extra surcharge.

They have records of everything, all insurance companies. Details of your car, and any car you are going to buy. All in their systems. Alongside your points and claims you have made or had against you.

On most proposal forms, you do not have to list such old claims (because they know), but when you have renewed or started a new policy, they can then charge you more because a) apparently you are a bigger risk and b) you didn’t tell them (because there was nowhere to tell them on the form and you knew that they know anyway!).

Racket? Don’t get me started.