A group of collision repair businesses around the UK is to shortly launch an independent  quality assured repairer network.

Membership of the Vizion Network will be aimed specifically at the prestige vehicle market and will be restricted to repair businesses that have prestige manufacturer approvals, BSI Kitemark accreditation and operate the same repair management systems.

All Vizion Network businesses will have specialist prestige vehicle manufacturer trained technicians and each business will have its own BSI Kitemark for vehicle body repairing assuring they all adhere to the same processes.

Qulaity of workmanship will be supported by thorough BSI audit and inspection processes.

By using the same repair management system, customers of Vizion members repairers  will be able to benefit from the improved operational efficiency, transparency, and consistent management information.

Vizion’s founding members are Eamonn Dunne of Brooklands, Paul Austin of Balgores, Trevor Barefoot of Exway, Gene Clark of Clarkes, Julian Allen of Motorvation, David Perkins and Graham Eyles of Apollo Motor Group and Gary Lindsay of Autoflow.

Eamonn Dunne of Brooklands will be chairman of the Vizion Network and has stated:

“Vizion has been created to meet a market need. We can no longer afford to have a fragmented, clouded approach to vehicle body repair. Now, owners, insurers and fleet managers can specify a Vizion Network repairer and be confident that their prestige vehicles will be repaired safely and effectively to a consistent high manufacturer standard.”

Anyone interested in keeping an eye on developments of this network can start y accessing the website currently under ocnstruction by clicking here. 

This is my second article on providing an insight into the history of a particular insurance provider.

You may have heard of RSA, you may not, and to most, it makes little difference as long as the cover they provide meets UK legal requirements.

It is important to note that many of the insurers I will provide information about have diverse portfolios and do not offer only car insurance.

RSA has a proud heritage dating back almost 300 years. Following the merger of 2 of the largest insurers in the UK, Royal Sun Alliance and Sun Alliance, in 1996, the company was restructured to that of the present day.

The Sun was established in 1710 and is the oldest insurance company still trading under its original name. The company developed an international presence in the 18th Century with business ventures in mainland Europe.

The Alliance was founded in 1824, closely followed by Royal in 1845.

In the 19th Century, overseas activity started to increase with operations established in the US, Canada, South America, Australia, and Africa (and even China until it was nationalised).

In 1919 Royal merged with Liverpool and London & Globe followed in 1959 by mergers between Sun and The Alliance which increased their presence in the insurance markets further.

1965 saw the formation of Sun Alliance and London.

It was not until 1996 that the merger of Royal Insurance and Sun Alliance created Royal & Sun Alliance, now one of the largest insurance companies in the UK.

In 2001 MORETH>N was launched in an effort to bring a new approach to the consumer financial services market in the UK.

In 2002, a strategic decision was made to focus the group’s attention on general insurance followed in 2006 with changes to their operational structure to reflect the new strategic focus of the business. The Group was subsequently reorganised into three main operational divisions, the UK, International and Emerging Markets.

In 2008, the name changed to RSA.

Insurance companies levy a surcharge on policies where insured drivers have specific medical conditions.

Almost every health professional will, at some time in their career, find themselves having to advise an insurer or individual on their fitness to drive and this article is intended to offer a small insight into the considerations these experts take into account before making a recommendation.

It is firstly important to appreciate that assessment surrounds understanding and examining the capabilities a driver requires to drive safely and the effects of health-related impairments have on these.

Factors which must be considered are:-

• The effects of different forms of impairment has on an individual’s capability to drive
• How any risks can be reduced?
• Ways in which the personal mobility of a driver can be maintained, without compromising road safety
• Identifying the sensory inputs needed for safe driving, particularly an individual’s eyesight
• The capabilities of both the mental functions and that of the nervous system which are required for driving
• The effects that certain medication, alcohol and non-therapeutic drugs can have on driving.
• The consequences for the control of a vehicle where the driver’s movement from injury, surgery and musculoskeletal disease is restricted.
• The main forms of sudden incapacitation that can threaten a driver’s ability to retain control of a vehicle.

It is inevitable that for some individuals, more than one of these factors could affect their present state of impairment and irrespective of diagnosis, will determine any inherent risks whilst driving.

Health professionals advice on fitness to drive is derived from an assessment of a driver’s risk of having an accident which could be attributed to any health-related impairments that are likely to impair their ability to drive safely now and in the future and is just one of the factors that insurance underwriters will consider when assessing an individual for suitability for insurance cover and of course, an appropriate premium.

Car insurance companies often feign surprise when customers complain about the wide range of costs and fees which are enforced should anyone wish to change or cancel a policy mid-term.

Insurers will refund some of your premium payment on a pro-rata basis (you only pay for the time the policy has been in force) if they are not prepared to insure your new vehicle, but if you cancel the policy mid-term because you have sold the car, or simply want to switch to another insurer, they will impose cancellation charges to cover administration.

Costs can vary enormously and although one would think that the insurance representative simply needs to press a button and the rest is done automatically. This task should take a matter of seconds yet insurers charge anything up to £50 for pressing this button!

It is not always easy to establish this element of the cancellation charges so you may need to ask your insurance company’s customer service representative when cancelling the policy.

Whilst most insurers do include reference to administration fees being charged in the event of cancellation, not all do. As an example, Elephant.co.uk do not mention that you will be required to pay an administration fee on cancellation of their policy.

It is always worth asking the insurer to provide you with a full breakdown of any cancellation charges including any administration fee charged. If the fee seems excessive and unjustifiable, then contact their complaints department and if you are unable to resolve the matter to your satisfaction, consider taking the matter further.

Insurance premiums may be rising but some of the pain may be offset for people looking to buy new cars by manufacturers and car dealers offering some amazing deals at the moment.

There may opportunities for would be buyers to haggle with car dealers to negotiate better deals.

The bi-annual issue of new registrations is no longer a time for dealers to sit back on their laurels and wait for the money and purchasers to roll in through the doors in their droves. They are going to have to work hard to make those sales.

Discounts on the less favourable models, or those with larger engines are being heavily discounted. The price on the car window or roof is a starting point. Even of you don’t like to haggle, have a go. The time is right and you will have a very good chance of securing a deal that you will be more than happy with. It’s a buyers market at the moment.

Do your homework (just like you would with your insurance premium when it comes up for renewal). Don’t be afraid to play one dealer off against another.

Use the internet to research the prices on offer and extras that you may be able to get thrown in if you feel uncomfortable with negotiating the price.

The car insurance market is so competitive at the moment that many people, on shopping around at renewal time, can secure more competitive rates and associated benefits from alternative insurance providers.

Periodically however, particularly if a person has changed their vehicle near to their renewal date, been involved in an accident affecting their no claims bonus or in dispute with their insurer due to some kind of non disclosure of a material fact which may have affected their insurance premium of cover, there may be premiums outstanding due to the previous insurer.

If this is the case, beware that your previous insurer can legitimately withhold any evidence of no claims bonus until such time as they consider the matter to have been resolved to their satisfaction.

If you find yourself in this situation, whilst it may go against your principles, you are probably better advised to settle their bill now, and if the dispute is later resolved in your favour, request repayment of any overpayment made.

You also have the option of approaching the Financial Ombudsman Service for them to carry out an independent review of the dispute if you and your former insurer cannot negotiate a satisfactory settlement of the dispute.

Recent years has seen increases in the number of insurance aggregators appearing on the internet.

Insurance aggregators aim to establish a simple principle, namely working with a number of direct insurers and intermediaries to deliver a simple experience by allowing customers to complete a generic questionnaire to secure insurance premium quotes from a number of insurance providers.

The Comparison Consortium, established earlier this year to regulate and represent the online price comparison industry, has announced plans to develop a new code of practice for aggregators, in association with Association of British Insurers (ABI).

With input from the ABI, it plans to develop a code of practice for online insurance services and professional guidance for insurers which use them.

The working group will create an accreditation scheme for websites that adhere to its code of practice in order to offer regulation and professional standards to the industry as a whole.

Richard Mason, the current head of the Comparison Consortium said:

“Since the establishment of the Comparison Consortium earlier this year we have been working hard behind the scenes to establish strong working relationships with other industry bodies where we have a mutual interest. The establishment of this working group illustrates the growing level of respect for our organisation within the price comparison industry.”

There is no doubt that price comparison websites have, in short, “revolutionised” the insurance industry, and insurers have adapted pricing strategies for such websites but such initiatives have led to confusion for the customer due to the way prices are quoted online.

Price is of course an extremely important factor but will not always be the deciding factor. This should be left to individual choice, but all too often unfortunately, the customer finds themselves struggling to make a true comparison of the products on offer as the benefits offered by each policy are not clear.

The work of the Comparison Consortium is to address some of these issues and bring about greater clarity and transparency to the market as a whole, something which will benefit everyone, insurers and the customer alike.

The Insurance Times and its partner Norwich Union, have been visiting every corner of the UK having organised regional round tables discussing topics such as broker consolidation, regulation resulting from the financial crisis and outsourcing.

To end the series, a discussion hosted by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, the Channel 4 news presenter, was held in Birmingham, wherein Guru-Murthy asked the panel and audience if independent brokers are going to be able to survive the current climate of consolidation and economic difficulties.

From a customer perspective, there is probably no better time than realising the benefits offered by brokers as their expertise and market knowledge, particularly surrounding developments in the industry, could prove invaluable.

Whilst the temptation may be there, this is not really a good time to fnd yourself under-insured as this is actually a time to protect the value in both your home and business.

Therefore, from a broker perspective, you are probably more important than ever to your customers.

From an underwriting point of view, insurers need to feel assured that the broker knows their customer well.

The subject of commission payments and the apparaent power struggle between brokers and insurers was also discussed.

Not surprisingly, larger brokers continue to try and push commission payments up and Norwich Union, for example paid out 26% in commission in 2008, up 4% on 2006 across all ines of business.

Insurance companies are however looking very closely at the profit realised by their individual broker network partners and with individual reviews on a  case by case basis, some brokers could see commission levels squeezed. Something they claim they cannot afford.

It appears therefore that the days of brokers being in the better bargaining seat when it comes to negotiating commission levels is nearing an end and insurers are starting to stand their ground.

Personal injury claims cost the insurance industry an enormous amount of money year in, year out and the costs continue to rise.

Fradulent personal injury claims are so prevalent that personal injury investigation is one business that is bucking the trend and continuing to prosper as insurers look to assure monies paid out are appropriate and indeed legitimate.

In such economic climates as currently being experienced across the globe at the moment, insurers are bracing themselves for a steep climb in the number of claims, genuine and fraudulent, as the recession takes hold.

David Williams, claims director at AXA, says:

“Surveillance is highly sensitive but in the first 10 months of last year, private investigators saved AXA £39.86m. That’s 10 times the amount for the whole of 2004.”

The job is never going to be easy but it is clearly necessary and claims tend to be significantly reduced rather than rejected in their entirety.

There is of course the impression of shady characters, hidden cameras and tape recorders but in the main, investigators work on the theory that if people are not expecting to see it, they won’t, so it is unlikely you will even know they were watching you until the negotiations to settle the claim enter the final stages.

Remember, insurers will, in the end, pass all injury claim costs on to the customers, so the next time you hear a friend boasting about having conned an insurer by feigning injury, they have conned you really and you will end up paying for it.

In these times of credit and financial instability, the pressure is on, not only for customers, but for businesses as well.

Not a day goes by where you don’t hear/read about some business having gone into administration or ceased trading.

The insurance industry is no different to any other, and just as susceptible.

Throughout the year, the  Financial Services Authority (FSA) an independent non-governmental body, given statutory powers by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 monitor the trading activities of financial bodies and enforce breaches in the fight against money laundering and inpropriety etc. It will, if the need arises, issue health warnings etc. to consumers.

The latest warning was issued about A Razzaq Insurance Brokers, based in Oldbury, West Midlands, over concerns that there was  a risk that the company had not passed on all insurance premiums collected to the insurers, and was alerting customers to check the validity of cover arranged through the company.

The FSA said: “If you took out a motor insurance policy through A Razzaq Insurance Brokers then, without valid third-party insurance, you may be committing an offence if you use a vehicle on the public highway under the provisions of the Road Traffic Act 1988. If you are a customer of A Razzaq Insurance Brokers and are in any doubt as to whether you have valid insurance, you are strongly advised to contact the insurance company with whom you believe your policy is held, to check. If you discover you are not covered, you should take immediate steps to arrange new cover.”

You can keep up to date with the latest warnings about firms that may be in financial difficulty etc.  by visiting the The FSA Money Made Clear section of their internet website.