Wintry Conditions Will See a Rise in the Number of Car Insurance Claims

With a deep freeze sweeping across large parts of Europe, drivers should be urged to make sure they are fully prepared for the wintry conditions, especially with the added peril of a shorter daylight hours. Figures show that drivers are twice as likely to be involved in a car accident and make an insurance claim during the winter months compared to the rest of the year, with the five worst days for road collisions occurring during December and March.

Statistics reveal that January 18th sees almost three times the number of claims, with an average increase of 68 per cent. The second week of December is also a bad time for car accidents, with the 12th December seeing an increase of 60 per cent from average claims and seven days later, the 19th December is witness to a 32 per cent increase. The other two days that feature in the top five worst days for road smashes are the 28th January and the 3rd March, both of which notice a 30 per cent increase from the usual number of average claims.

The winter months are particularly bad as a combination of higher traffic volumes and poor weather conditions delay commuters travelling to work. Over half of motorists, about 58 per cent, recently admitted to being late for work at least twice a week due to the weather, with 38 per cent of people saying they were delayed due to accidents interrupting the normal flow of their route. Road safety experts advise motorists that they need to take extra care and to allow additional journey time when driving in poor weather conditions. They need to change their driving style accordingly to suit the state of the roads and leave a greater gap between the car in front, avoiding braking suddenly.

Insurers have highlighted the risk of naming novice drivers or people who have recently passed their test to a car insurance policy. Allowing them to drive in icy conditions which leads to a collision as a result of their inexperience, would impact on the no claims discount of the policy holder not the novice driver involved in the accident. Any claim following an accident, whether it is the drivers own fault or not, will still affect their car insurance premium. Whilst the credit crunch tightens people’s budgets, safeguarding a no claim discount will be very important.

26/02/2009 11:51:04