It’s a common theme and thought at the moment for many people in the current economic climate.

Downgrading to save money on fuel, insurance premiums and road fund licence fees makes sense. Cars are luxuries that few of us can afford to be without nowadays, but luxury they remain.

With this in mind, rather than do away with the car completely many are turning to downgrading their car for smaller, less expensive models, albeit a short term decision for the lovers of the big SUV’s and hot hatches etc. hopefully.

Here are a few that aren’t quite as hot but still offer performance of note that you might like to consider:-

The Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart is a good smaller, hot hatch offering 147bhp from its 1.5 litre engine. With it coming from the same stable as the Evo, there is some real pedigree. It’s quite a lot cheaper than the Golf GTI and Focus ST, lower insurance grouping and turns in 40.9mpg.

The Ford Fiesta Econetic is arguably the best supermini on the road and is now more eco-friendly. It turns in a staggering 76.3mpg enabling you to travel some 755 miles on a tank of fuel. Even greater news is the fact that it is only group 4 rated for insurance and with only 98g/km of CO2, you pay absolutely no road tax.

Driving around in town and needing a small car to park in those oh so tight spaces and you could be a lot worse than the Toyota iQ. It may be small and only around one foot longer than the Smartcar but you can still fit 3 adults in it.

Again, with CO2 emissions of only 99g/km means no road tax to pay.

How long have you had car insurance with the same company?

If the answer is years then you could be paying more than you need to. Start shopping around. There is a wealth of aggregator internet sites offering comparisons between literally hundreds of insurance providers.

Even if you are not IT literate, or have a phobia of computers, don’t simply pick up that phone wasting your time and money by randomly phoning insurance companies.

You really should do some research because without it, you will have no idea how competitive the companies you contact are or whether they are offering the best deal for you.

Yes, many people still prefer to speak to a person rather than do things on-line but you may be doing yourself a dis-service and greatly reduce your chances of getting a really good deal.

If you can’t face doing it yourself, get your kids to do it, they love anything to do with computers and will be more than happy to do it for you. Just give them the information and send them on their way.

Get them to look at the various comparison sites such as confused.com and gocompare.com to see who are going to be among the cheapest companies for YOU. No two individuals are the same so don’t just assume that if your twin brother gets a good quote from one company that they will be best for you. They might be, but you will never know unless you do the comparison. Who is to say that his deal is still the best on the market now? Insurance companies are constantly reviewing their premiums and it may have changed.

Don’t play into your insurance companies hands and just pay your renewal premium.

Shop around, and don’t be afraid to go back to your current insurer and offer them the opportunity to match, or even beat the best quote you have obtained.

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.

There have, over the years been many incidents whereby insurers have deemed it more financially prudent to concede a claim and make an out of court agreement to settle a claim that fight the case in court.

High Court Litigation can cost an extortionate amount of money and even insurers think twice before taking such action.

There are however such instances, when priciples are involved, and it is from this angle that some peole are now pushing for a fighting fund to be set up and managed by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) to avoid settling test cases too soon.

The man behind the request, Declan Treanor, chief executive of Garwyn Loss Adjusters has called on insurers to build a “fighting fund” to avoid settling test claim cases prematurely.

Mr Treanor is coming at it from the position of ensuring all companies, irrespective of their size, should have access to money to allow them to challenge any case, particularly where winning a relatively small case, there will be a long-term benefit to the industry.

Mr Treanor also said that at the moment, whilst smaller insurers had less money to take a case to the High Court, the larger companies had sufficient resources to pick their fights.

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.

It’s drifting towards those summer months and the optimistic people, hoping for a hot, dry summer will soon start to bring out those cabriolet motors or start searching for such a car in preparation for soaking up the sun whilst out on the open road.

It’s the recent all too brief glimpse of the sun that manufacturers and garages are hoping will help boost the sales in new and second hand soft tops, cabriolets and T Bar design motors during the next few months.

Just like other motors however, the ladies are able to secure better insurance premiums than the men.

A 24 year old young lady with 4 years no claims bonus can expect to pay between £334 and £800 for comprehensive cover on a 1600cc, Vauxhall Astra Cabriolet built in 2002.

The poor 24 year old male can expect to pay between £360 up to as much as £1,100 for the same vehicle and cover.

Unfortunately gentlemen, until such time as you can clean up your act and bring the insurance claims costs etc. down to the same level as the female drivers, our lady friends are going to continue enjoying lower insurance premiums.

Realistically, this is unlikely to happen so unfortunately, premiums for men will remain higher than for the ladies for the foreseeable future so we may as well get used to it.

In the UK, there are probably more adults that drive than do not.

Whilst car insurance premiums tend to lower as one gets older, there comes a stage when age starts to have a negative impact on premiums, particularly when medical conditions start to manifest themselves, affecting our well-being.

As an aging nation, the proportion of older drivers that are likely to give up their licences either compulsorily or voluntarily, whilst upsetting for the drivers is inevitable and it is important to understand their reasons for making such decisions.

Medical professionals have guidelines which must be followed and if a newly presented condition or a change to an existing illness/disability or its treatment, in particular with medication, is likely to impair driving either temporarily or in the longer term, you need to be informed.

Deciding whether a driver needs advice about fitness to drive requires the health professional to understand the capability requirements for driving, and the conditions and treatments that may impair it.

Health professionals need to be just that, professional and unbiased when considering fitness to drive and therefore need to avoid making vague or insecure recommendations about fitness to drive. Such decisions will be for your protection as well as other drivers and 3rd parties as if too lenient, could lead to a crash where their advice may be questioned, particularly when issues of liability for injury or damages arise.

It is of course, not an exact science as medical conditions can manifest themselves in many different ways but some groups of medical professionals, such as those treating diabetes or epilepsy, and optometrists are reported to have a more consistent approach give advice more consistently.

You are looking at buying that tidy little motor but have a tidy little problem – the cost of your insurance premium.

The reason is that your car insurance is due for renewal just before your birthday!

Consider waiting to renew your policy until after your birthday. For drivers under the age of 25 years old this can save you quite a bit of money.

Basically, the younger you are, the better the chance of saving more money.

So when your policy is next coming up for renewal or you are buying your first car, check out some of the aggregator websites. Have a look at comparethemarket/beatthatquote or moneysupermarket and get some insurance premium quotes based on your current age and another based on your age after you have had your birthday.

That said however, it is important to remember that it is illegal to drive a car on the public highway without a valid insurance certificate and anyone caught breaking the law can look forward to getting some penalty points on their licence, so please do not be tempted to drive your car whilst it is uninsured.

If need be, lay your car up from the date your current policy expires but remain disciplined and don’t use the car. If you are caught driving it without insurance, the loading your insurers will impose on your policy will, in all likelihood, absorb any saving you were expecting to make.

A new study by Admiral has revealed that men are likely to spend up to three times more time in their cars than in their homes.
It is not clear whether this has any impact on car insurance premiums for men but however unlikely, it could well be a contributory factor as roads become more congested and commuting takes longer.
This seems to be more of an issue for men in London than in other parts of the country with as many as one in five men in London are having to endure this but in Wales the ratio drops right down to one in twenty five men.
Admiral managing director, Sue Longthorn, said: “Perhaps men are taking some time out on the road to relax and get away from pressures at home. However, overall it’s a sad reflection that people are spending so much time away from their friends and family, whether by choice or not.”
The report polled 3,000 individuals and further suggested that nearly two thirds of people would rather drive on their own than travel with a passenger.
With the ever increasing demands of work related activities, it is important to remember that tiredness can kill so drivers are asked to ensure they take sufficient breaks whilst driving.