Mulsanne….. I am not too sure on the name I think it is a bit shiek is. But I suppose the only people that will be able to afford this Bentley will be a Shiek.

The rest of the figures are impressive though. This beast has a 6.75 litre engine that will get the Mulsanne from 0 to 60 in around about 5 seconds. Now this is impressive considering that this will be probably the good side of 3 tonnes weight.

I would love to see something that heavy pull away with that much grace. I would love to drive one as well so if Bentley are listening please allow it happen.

Many people are trying to rent a car for some time, whether it’s a fancy event, a trip or just a business issue. Car hire companies have grown from small time dealers that were renting cars to a impressive industry that specializes in any makes and model you could possibly imagine.

Usually cars are grouped in categories which gather similar vehicles (often grouped by size, and engine capacity). We have few standard groups, like: A, which contains small cars like Toyota Aygo, or Ford Fiesta; B, which focuses on mid-size cars like Honda Civic, Ford Fiesta or Toyota Auris; C, represents a mid-upper class vehicles, eg.: Honda Accord, Ford Mondeo or Volvo S40. higher groups have higher standards but also cost more.

Car lenders are usually charging clients per day and apply a standard rate depending on a contract length. Sometimes when you want to hire a car for longer than few days lenders could give you a large discount depending on how many days you’ll choose to take. You can even use voucher codes if you have any at hand to lower the cost of the hire.

To start you would need a valid driving license that you held for at least a year (standard requirement), second ID document, eg. passport, an estimated deposit money and you could drive away in any desired car right away! But beware of what’s written in small on the contract, as very often companies are protecting their cars value by applying a mileage limits (you’ll be charge extra after breaching the limit stated in the contract). This is one of the very few downsides, as there is more good than bad about car hire service.

The feature that is the best for me is that I can drop the car in almost any point of the country without any additional charges. And this is how it should be everywhere!

In general you don’t usually think of GPS Vehicle Tracking Systems until you have the need for it, i.e. in the unfortunate event of your vehicle being stolen, currently vehicle manufactures usually only offer GPS vehicle tracking as an add-on to a standard package as a chargeable addition extra, however it comes highly recommended as the chances of recovering your vehicle increases considerably.

Additionally GPS vehicle tracking systems are commonly used on Hire Vehicles to track your whereabouts should you breakdown. Up on calling the breakdown company and giving your registration number the roadside assistance team can identify exactly where you are and get a repair vehicle out to you.

Vehicle tracking systems vary, generally for businesses with a fleet of vehicles you can view your fleet locations, speed and status throughout the day. This would then allow you to ensure your fleet is most productive, better respond to customer deadlines and cut fuel costs. They also allow you to plan routes, give customers better response times and keep them updated with times of delivery and pickups.

With some of the advanced GPS tracking systems you can use and manipulate the data to check the speed of the vehicles, the numbers of stops the driver has made and estimate fuel consumption allowing you to make informed managerial decisions.

You are in your garage and ask your wife to drive the car out of the garage. She accidentally puts the car into reverse instead of first gear and jams you up against the back wall, breaking your leg.

You are self employed and end up having to take 3 months off work recuperating.

Can you claim for injuries?

In short, yes! Accidents like this happen more often that you might think.

You are, in fact, entitled to claim against any person driving the car that caused your injuries or the accident, and this includes your wife as she was a named driver on your insurance policy.

As the accident was the fault of your wife, you are entitled to claim against her for the personal injury you have suffered. You need to remember however that as she is insured under your car insurance policy, indemnity will be paid by your insurer, and your no claims bonus at next renewal will be affected.

The fact that she was driving under your insurance policy is completely irrelevant.

However, as an alternative, if she also has her own insurance policy for another car which permits her to drive other vehicles under the Road Traffic Act, you also then have the option of claiming against her under that policy rather than under yours.

You may want to therefore explore that avenue as well to see which would have the least financial impact on insurance premiums at next renewal.

It’s really nice to be able to get your car repaired after an accident without incurring any further expense but it will not always be in your interest to submit that claim to your insurer and ask them to meet the repair costs.

That is not to say that you shouldn’t inform them of the accident, irrespective of fault.

In short, you need to consider the future financial implications of actually claiming from your insurer.

Unless you have protected your no claims bonus, your insurer will knock at least 20% off your no claims bonus when your policy next comes up for renewal. They may even load your premium or increase your excess for any future claims when it comes to renewal. You just never know as insurers change their underwriting strategies all the time.

Take a 25 year old male with an Astra Convertible. He is employed in an administrative job, enjoys maximum no claims bonus (not protected) and has no medical conditions. He has had a minor incident and damaged one of the headlights.

He has a policy with no excess or even £50 excess. The cost of the part may be say less than £100, and with fitting the total repair costs will be in the region of £150-£200.

The best insurance premium he managed to obtain at last renewal was £369 but if he claims via his insurers, that premium at next renewal would increase to £575, some £206 more than the previous year and that’s before taking account of any annual premium increases imposed by the insurer or possible premium loading for the incident.

The premium differential will increase further for younger drivers, particularly if they only had 2 years no claims bonus at the time of the incident. They risk losing up to 40% no claims bonus.

The recommendation therefore is to check with your insurer when you inform them of a very minor accident to establish how much your premium will increase by before instructing them to meet the costs.

Any person involved in a rear shunt is probably going to have suffered some kind of whiplash, even if they did not feel the need to make a claim previously.

Irrespective of whether you did, or did not, make a claim previously, and again, irrespective of whether you were successful or not on that occasion, makes no difference.

You are in fact entitled to make a claim for damages for the personal injury you have suffered from this second accident as the fact that you have had a whiplash injury before does not preclude you from claiming.

You need to be aware however that it may affect the amount of compensation you may receive. It s for this reason that you should always get yourself checked out by your doctor or your local Accident and Emergency Department following an accident where there is suspicion of an injury. It is also a prerequisite that you inform the police of any accident involving personal injury.

Most motor insurers now offer legal protection as an add-on to their policies, so get in touch with your insurer and submit your claim. Failing that, there are many legal advisors offering no win, no fee services.

There will be occasions when, following a car accident, the injured need to be taken to a hospital and undergo medical treatment.

There may also be occasion unfortunately, when that medical treatment provided will not meet the exacting standards expected/demanded, or some of the actions and treatment taken causes other complications.

It is with this in mind that The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has launched PEOPLE First offering people injured by negligent parties a free advice service for help.

People First will be guided by an independent consumer panel made up of specialist professionals which includes former chairman of the Health and Safety Commission, Sir Bill Callaghan and Neal Stone of the British Safety Council.

The service will provide information, support and guidance to victims of negligence, through a new resource made up of easily understandable fact sheets and a new website to help victims of negligence when they are at their most vulnerable.

The fact sheets will offer advice on issues such as what to do after an injury at
work or hospital, who to contact after an injury, how to find rehabilitation, who to turn to after an injury and how to navigate your way through the insurance small print.

Anyone involved in an accident and sustained an injury has a set amount of time before which they must commence action against the responsible third party.

As an example, if you were run over on say January 25th 2007 at which time you did not consider your injuries sufficient to warrant submitting a claim against the person that caused the accident but it now turns out that these injuries have now started to cause other problems, you have until January 24th 2010 to commence action through the Motor Insurers Bureau.

Whether pursuing a claim against someone who was insured at the time or not, you would be well advised to seek professional help and advice and appoint a legal representative to pursue the matter on your behalf as such matters can often become complex and technical.

Be in no doubt, there will be a few hoops you will be asked to jump through and a few hurdles to overcome that could manifest themselves due to the time lapsed since the accident requiring professional intervention probably.

Even if you don’t feel injured at the time, or there is nothing hurting, get yourself checked by your GP at the very least as soon after any accident as you can. This will assist any future claim by formally recording any potential medical problem.

If you have been involved in an accident and sustained losses, it is important to comply with the insurer you are claiming from to assure the smooth processing of your claim.

You will greatly increase your chances of successfully claiming if you take the following steps immediately following the accident:

• Ensure you contact the police in the event you or any other person involved in the accident has sustained an injury. If you are unable to make the call, get someone else to do it.

• If you are the driver or insurer of the vehicle, report any injury resulting from the road traffic accident to your insurance company.

• If you are a passenger in a vehicle and are injured in a road traffic accident, get confirmation in writing from the insured driver that the insurer of the vehicle has been informed.

• If you were driving a company vehicle, ensure notify your employer.

• Make every effort to record all expenses incurred as a result of the accident.

• If you are self-employed, keep evidence of any income that is lost as a result.

• Ensure you report any injury (even if it seems trivial to your doctor because the full extent of the injury may not be immediately apparent.

• If you subsequently go to court to get compensation for the injury, the initial medical report will provide evidence to support your claim.

• Gather evidence about both the accident and your injuries. Take photos if possible.

• If the driver is not insured, or you are a victim of a hit-and-run accident you still may be able to obtain compensation from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau.

It is pretty much everyone’s nightmare to find themself involved in an accident.

Today’s “living” pressures offers little room for time consuming unplanned events but to ensure any car insurance claims run smoothly, some of the following tips make be of use.

Firstly, remember, it’s only a car; the welfare of the people involved in the accident should take immediate priority.  Call the police and ambulance services if someone is injured.

Circumstances permitting, immediately after the accident, make sure you:-

• Remain calm
• Obtain full details of the other drivers involved including:-
• Their name(s), address and telephone details
• Their insurance company and policy number if it is available
• The make, model, colour and vehicle registration numbers
• Get the name, address and contact details of any witnesses
• Write down the circumstances surrounding the accident – the time,   weather conditions, road conditions (whether some traffic control system was faulty etc.)
• Get the name, address and contact details of any witnesses
• Notify your own insurer.

It may help your claim if you are able to get photographs of the accident and damage to any vehicles involved. This information could prove important if liability is disputed and possibly vital, if the claim ever went to court.