Hi. Please go easy when I ask this! I am asking for advice before I take out any insurance. Sainsbury's are doubling my insurance quote (from £500 to £1000) for an sp30 speeding offence. This is for a named driver, and resulted in 3 points and £60 FPN. I ask if I should include this, as on the quote for it asks if you have had any CONVICTIONS in the last 5 years. I was under the impression that an FPN was not a conviction, as you can only be convicted of something by a court. When you try and add a conviction it asks you this: ''Please select any convictions this driver has had in the last 5 years from the drop down list below. You will find the exact conviction type including any codes on their driving licence'' Am I under any obligation to declare the 3 points?, as it specifically asks for convictions. Thanks guys.

Its fund managers carried out two huge derivatives deals in 2008 and 2009, to stop the fund becoming insolvent if share prices fell further. But the vitally important deals were carried out without the explicit approval of senior directors. The FSA said the firm's supervision had been "unclear and inadequate". The regulator did not dispute the merit of the two deals, which affected the investments of 114,000 life insurance and pension policies. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19994565

Hi, I'm in a pickle and none of it is my fault. here's the snippet from the long post below to catch your attention... " I'm wondering if I can LEGALLY pursue recompense directly from the driver of the 4x4 that ploughed into me? After all, it was HIS actions that caused the damage to my property ( motorcycle ) and since his 'paid for' representetive ( insurer ) has shown they are only looking after their own pockets, with no regard for my own, I need to find a way to regain the shortfall. Surely HE is still legally open to prosecution and accountable for causing damage and financial loss to my possessions, since it was his action that created the damage in the first place." On the 24th August, I was on my loved and cherished motorcycle, I was stationary at a mini-roundabout giving way to a vehicle on my right ( obeying the highway code ), when a 4x4 driver following on behind me decided for whatever reason, ( perhaps too busy chatting to his recently picked up passengers ) that he wasn't stopping. Not seeing my bright flourecent yellow jacket, or white helmet, or illuminated brake light, he ploughed into me at approx 30mph. Of course I go fltying like a rag doll and my bike is punched forwards hard and ends up on it's side 15 metres away ( with me about 8 to 10 metres away once I'd bounced my head off his bonnet )........ Clearly a case of his driving with undue care and attention ( for which he's being prosecured ) and me being the completely innocent non-fault participant. There's the background. Next morning ( after ambulance police etc as it was evening ) I call Bennetts Bike Insurance (the people who I bought my insurance from , who sold me a policy underwritten by Aviva ) and let them know what happened. They put me through on phone to their claims handlers ( Minster Law ) who then start the injury side of things rolling and arrange a company called BLD ( Biker Legal Direct ) to come collect my damaged bike. ( we're getting there, bear with it ). I check the bike over beforehand, noting down broken parts, checking up on their replacement costs using the parts numbers etc so I'd have an idea of what was happeing or likely to. A few days later, ( bank holiday Monday ) BLD arrive and take bike away for assessment, and offer me a hire bike for my use in the meantime, but of course I'm battered up and can barely move let alone attempt to ride a motorcycle, so have to pass. 18 days later, I get a phone call from BLD telling me the at-fault parties insurer has written my bike off as uneconimical to repair ( protecting their pockets ) and classed the bike category B ( never to be used on the road again, salvage for parts only ) and then go on to tell me the third party insurer placed a pre-accidnt value of my motorcycle at just £800 ( including the just fitted £165 luggage box ), so actually only a pre-accident BIKE value of £635 !!! for a just mot'd, fully serviced, in tip top condition ( better than 95% same year and miles condition bike with new luggage sytsem fitted etc ) which is a RIDICULOUS! figure to state. I've searched high and low and based on the prices that much rougher condition bikes are being sold for, mine ought to be closer to £1,500-£2,000 pre-accident value, due to it's near immaculate physical and mechanical condition, plus the fact it's a desireable year, colour and model as it's become collectable. It's not my personal opinion, but a fact that to find the same model, registered year, with the same or near as same mileage on it, in the CONDITION my bike was in, is almost impossible. It was an on going restoration nearing completion as the bike model and year is considered a modern classic ( apreciating in value as they are so rare and was the first year production of that model, and same colour as in the literature sales brochures etc ) Also not taken into account was the fact it had literally just had a full service and had just had ( 20 miles before accident ) a new £100 drive chain fitted. In all, I'd spent around £600 - £900 on the bike ( all parts, no labour costs ) in the last year alone in my ongoing mission to bring it up to totally new showroom condition. The advice I've been given is to find a number of adverts of the same model and year bike for sale, in the same condition, for sale at dealerships, and send the links and prices off to the third parties insurer. The PROBLEM I have with that ( apart from having to fight through this when I'm a victim in this ), is that it's impossible to find a dealership selling an 18 year old bike in their showroom, that is in the same condition as mine is/was with similar mileage. They just don't appear! heck, it took me three years of searching just to buy my bike back in 2004. Dealers only keep vehicles up to a certain age in their showrooms fo rsale. Choosing to search private sellers, is also not much better, as again, the problem is, I've not yet found a bike of same age, in same condition with similar miles for sale at all. You're meant to search your own local area as that's where you'd be buying a replacement from, yet the only bike even close to mine condition and age wise is over 240 miles away and I'm unable to verify that by seeing it in person with it being so far away. ---- I'm going to side-step the whole ABI obligations thing that the third parties insurer isn't meeting ( in them not repairing my bike to the condition it was prior to accident or offer enough funds for me to replace my bike in a LIKE for LIKE condition, putting me in the same position possession (vehicle ) wise and financially that I was prior to the accident ) --- This thought popped up... We have ( vehicle ) insurance cover because the law say we need to. Insurance is basically an entity or person willing to step in financially ( for the yearly fee we pay them ) to compensate any person that we might cause financial loss or damage to. They are not legally accountable for causing damage, only the person who causes damage to others possessions can be legally accountable fo rthat action. So... If the person/people ( in this case, the persons appointed and paid for/contracted insurer ) is unwilling to meet the full costs of repair or adequately compensate and avoiding their obligation to adequately recompense a victim ( me, in this case ) because it would cost THEM ( the insurer ) too much money, then surely I ought to be able to legally go after the person who caused the damage in the first place, since his 'representetive' is clearly not going to deal fairly and properly, becuase they're looking out for their own pockets with no regard for my property or finances. Leaving it as is, would mean me ( the innocent party ) is left severly out of pocket and having endured the emotional stresses and strains of what has happened, left to find my own way to find a replacement bike ( without my own transport to do so ), and to suffer the financial costs in doing so ( when I had no intention of looking for another vehicle or wish to incurr the costs involved ) I'm wondering if I can LEGALLY pursue recompense directly from the driver of the 4x4 that ploughed into me? After all, it was HIS actions that caused the damage to my property ( motorcycle ) and since his 'paid for' representetive ( insurer ) has shown they are only looking after their own pockets, with no regard for my own, I need to find a way to regain the shortfall. Surely HE is still legally open to prosecution for causing damage and financial loss to my possessions, since it was his action that created the damage. Would it be a small claims court affair? ( less than £5,000 ) and how would I go about it? I haven't even gone into how the estimate for repairs that BLD produced was pushed up nearly £1,000 by them including items on the estimate that where NOT damaged in the accident.... thus the estimate reaches a repair figure beyond what an insurer would class as acceptable or viable, and therefore writes the vehicle off as uneconomical to repair. The whole process is twisted and shady I think.

The 9 Best Kept Secrets your Insurer would not like you to Know. (Try to avoid) 1. The Courtesy Car. Many insurers offer a courtesy car if you use their “Approved Repair Centre” this would reasonably appear to be something they pay for. NOT TRUE. The cost is borne by the repairer with no additional revenue or supplement, so even before the repairer lays a hammer on your bent motor he has to recoup the cost of that car somehow. 2. The Insurer Approved Repairer. This is a garage who has agreed with an insurer in exchange for a supply of their policy holders damaged vehicles, to a stringent service level agreement which includes a range of free services and at a discounted rate, typically 30% below normal high street rates. So every time you visit one, they will be paying back to your insurer a hefty chunk of your repair bill in discounts and rebates. Ask yourself who benefits from that? Also remember that you are not obliged to use them, as a policy holder its your choice who repairs your own vehicle, there are however a few exceptions to this rule, where its written in the small print. Approved Repairers will always try to the best they can but their hands are tied and they have split loyalties when it comes making decisions about how your car is repaired. 3. Repair Methods. Each time you visit an “Approved Repairer” the method of repair to your damaged vehicle will be strictly controlled by that insurer and every decision taken in that process will only be driven by one criteria and I’m sure you know by now what that will be. Exactly.. COST. Example:- Someone has bumped into the back of your brand new car and now its at your insurer “Approved Repairer”. The bumper has a nasty crack in it and as we know all bumpers are designed to take a 5mph impact without sustaining damage so to protect you and your passengers it should be changed. But your “Approved Repairer” will be made to repair it so it looks good as new but obviously won’t be. Silly, as chances are, your insurer will get all the money back form the other insurer as it wasn’t your fault. But you’ll never know this. 4. New Parts. A large number of insurers will instruct their “Approved Repairers” to fit NON-GENUINE parts to your vehicle and some of them do it without telling you. If you look closely in the small print you may see they reserve the right to fit “Equivalent Parts” or parts of an equivalent quality. Reason being, obviously COST. When your car sustains damage you would want it put back to pre-accident condition and if FAKE parts are used that’s never going to happen. No one will guarantee that those parts will perform or deform in a subsequent accident exactly as the original equipment would. But you’ll never know this. 5. Insurer Paint Deal. A large number of insurers have agreements with vehicle paint manufactures and insist that their “Approved Repairer” takes on that paint type and uses it to paint their policy holders vehicles in and yes you’ve guessed, every time one gets painted the insurer gets paid a rebate by the paint company. So in effect every time you crash they get paid. How does that benefit you? 6. Total Losses. You may find yourself in the situation where your vehicle, after an accident becomes beyond economical repair and deemed Total Loss. Hopefully your insurers will agree a reasonable settlement with you and you can buy a new car, but what happens to your old one. One would hope that your insurers dispose of it ethically but do they? Typically it will be sold to a major salvage company who will then sell in an online auction to the highest bidder and vehicles categorised C or D can be bought and repaired by anyone to any standard including cutting two cars in half and welding them together which is perfectly legal and put back on the road with no real checking or testing apart from a ‘Vehicle Identity Check’ done by VOSA which only confirms the chassis number matches the V5. Vehicles bought by eastern European countries can be taken away and repaired to be re imported with a new identity. Some insurers will even dispose of their CAT D total losses into various outlets and decide not to actually categorise them first. So when they are repaired and sold they appear “Clean”. So if you buy a second hand car be sure to get it checked thoroughly first. 7. Insurers & Accident Management Company’s. Insurers are now increasingly referring their own policy holders, for a referral fee, to accident management companies on discovering they have been involved in a non fault accident. This then results in the accident management company hiring the policy holder a like for like vehicle and arranging repairs and advising them of their rights to claim compensation for any personal injuries sustained in the accident. The cost of all this then goes to the “at fault” insurer resulting in a much higher bill for them and a commission coming to the clients own insurer who in turn will charge their own policy holder extra on their premium next year because they have been involved in an accident. 8. Claims & Underwriting Exchange. This is a list, unavailable to members of the public, is compiled and kept updated by all UK insurers with details of every motor claim including policy holders name and vehicle registration and date of incident and if there is any personal injury involved. So when you come to renew your motor policy and forget to mention that last incident you were involved in even though it wasn’t your fault, your new insurer will still put you on cover and take your money but should you make a claim they may throw it out when they check the CUE. 9. Insurer’s Penalty Excess. Some insurers will charge you an additional insurance excess if you exercise your right to use your own repair centre to repair your vehicle. They should however point this out to you at the inception of the policy as it is NOT a normal caveat and as such should be brought to your attention when you buy the policy, If it is not that could be MIS-SELLING. So be extra careful when buying on-line and check that you are able to use your own repairer, otherwise you could be faced with an extra unwanted bill. Insurers that do this include Aviva Direct, Esure, Sheila’s Wheels and Swift Cover.

8months ago I purchased a 4year old Jaguar XKR from a Jaguar main dealer and tried to move the insurance over from my old X300 Jag to the new (4yo) XKR. The broker (Footman James) told me that I could not use the old insurer as it had been on a "classic insurance policy", and gave me a quotation (from Royal Sun Alliance) which I had to accept at the time (of £3,000pa which I paid in full). I also had an extended warranty from Jaguar - which still has 4months to run at the time of writing this. Stone damage to to the window-screen means that it needed replacement but the insurance company (Royal Sun Alliance) is refusing to use the manufacturers part to replace the windows-screen with (which is heated and has sensors built into the glass controlling the automatic rain wipers). If I accept this non-manufacturer part then this will void my extended warranty. If I sell this car back to the dealership and it does not have manufacturers fitted parts it could cost me a bundle - if they agree to take it on? I'm furious that with a full-comp £3,000 policy that I'm having problems of this nature. Before I take this further - perhaps to the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club (as I'm a member) is there anything else I can do?

hi there; i know most pple out there are quite experienced in these sort of matters. i need some advice please. i had insured my car with Auto direct and last month i got a letter that i need to pay extra to my premiums because i made a claim. i have not made any claim whatsoever. when i phoned them, they said that i had an accident and the other vehicle is making a claim against me. i did not have any accident and to make it worst they've cancelled my insurance and they are threatening to take me to court for not wanting to pay the extra premium plus admin costs. any advice will be very much appreciated