Unless you have been on Mars for the past year you will have noticed that there has been a emphatic rise in fuel prices. This has caused many drivers to economize where they can and has resulted in many breaking down as they run the cars dry with only fumes in their tanks.

According to Britannia Rescue the car insurance and breakdown cover specialists, there has been a 10 percent increase since last year in the number of break downs with the number standing at 340,000 from the end of April the last three months.

Ms Holyer, a chief spokesperson for the firm, said that the increased cost of living caused by the credit crunch has hit everyone in the country hard, but she warned drivers that the costs of repairing a car that has been running on empty and has damaged the fuel pump, far dwarfs the costs of filling a tank up

Consumers have been digging their heads in the sand when it comes to the very common threat of ID theft insurance and fraud insurance because they don’t believe such insurance crimes will ever happen them, an industry expert has suggested.

A senior director for a leading insurer has stated that large numbers of consumers in the country have not yet been hot by any form of identity fraud. Even though many companies provide such online insurance against such crimes, consumers had been reluctant to take up this type of specialist insurance even though there were over 75,000 reported cases of ID theft and fraud in the UK last year.

He added that most consumers do not believe that identity fraud will ever affect and subsequently they do not insure against it. This is a common problem with throughout the insurance market, consumers only take it out either when they have to, or when its too late.

However, the senior director claimed that, more positively the market for ID fraud insurance was growing and that the flexibility of policies is causing more people to take out tailored insurance policies to suit their needs.

Motorcyclists can massively reduce their insurance premiums by going on an additional motorcycle course says an industry expert. These courses will also develop the safety of the motorbike owners and increase awareness.

As I’m sure you are aware, Motorbikes are generally renowned for being dangerous, offensive and are disproportionately involved in fatal and serious injury crashes compared to cars and regular cyclists . The public relations manager at AA Insurance claimed that his organisation had seen a increase in the levels of reported accidents and claims involving motorbikes over the past few years. However, he insisted that further training would dramatically increase personal safety as well as lower the motorbike insurance premiums of the motorbike owners, which are currently spiralling upward.

For those who don’t know, premiums are calculated according to age, postcode, the type of vehicle and a driver’s experience etcetera, etcetera . Some local councils provide free courses for younger motorbike drivers and various motorbike clubs and offer advanced training programs that can help to reduce these premiums as well as increase the overall safety of the owners.

The senior figure for the AA welcomed the proposals claiming that increased awareness training will help to reduce the risk of a accident by motorbike owners and therefore reduce their premiums overtime.

In my opinion these changes will hopefully reduce the level of accidents on the roads and hopefully persuade more motorbike owners to use the courses.

Long gone are the days of sunning yourself by the pool without a care in the world apart from whether your tan is even on your back;  Laptops, Blackberries and other work equipment are rapidly becoming a fixture of a holiday with one in seven Brits confessing to taking them on holiday as to keep in touch with work back home and complete some long standing tasks. American Express Insurance Services revealed that over sixty-five percent of people who use mobile technology believe that it hinders them more than it helps (largely due to the copious amounts of Sangria usually consumed whilst doing so)

The head of American Express Insurance Services claimed that portable technology is actually increase workers loads instead of reducing it and making it more difficult to escape from the office as they always have their work and contacts with them. This also reduces the quality of the work. He further commented that the majority of travellers are failing to adequately insure these items to reflect their true value.

He further urged travellers to examine their policies to make sure that their gadgets sufficiently insured in the event of a accident. He further stated that companies provide extra travel insurance intending to work whilst away (including laptops pda’s etc). This cover would also cover the cost of having to travel to functions and events whilst away.

New customers that sign up to Tesco will get free health cover for a year for their children. You only have until the 23rd of July 2008 to take advantage of this offer, so be quick.

This is a really good offer, but there may be hidden costs or charges so always be warned of these sort of deals and it is always worth looking at policies as it may work out cheaper elsewhere; comparison websites are always worth a check too.

The travel insurance company Totally Insured Travel has initiated the first travel insurance that will specifically covers security and terrorism.

During this summer, there will be thousands of people travelling abroad, and long security delays are inevitable given the current fear injected into everybody’s psyche.

There were breaches at Heathrow Airport, before the Terminal 5 building was opened, which resulted in flight delays and even cancellations; because of this it has meant security will undoubtedly affect your travel in the future too.

In fact on 19th March 2008, Gordon Brown revealed his Security Strategy; “The nature of the threats and the risks we face have, in recent decades, changed beyond recognition and confound all the old assumptions about national defence and international security.”

At the moment there are no travel insurance policies that cater for security or terrorism ruining your holiday or indeed your life. However, Totally Insured Travel now covers delays amongst over resulting problems.

It has been found by The Financial Services Authority that insurance comparison sites have been displaying data and deals that are out of date.

An examination of insurance comparison sites took place to see what these, often, controversial websites are up to. The findings were that the use of the broker data was valid, but how the information about policies was conveyed to customers was skew.

In recent year’s, insurance comparison website have flourished with the consumers demand to find the best deal on insurance as there are so many options out there. Around 30 million car insurance quotes have been made in the last year on these sorts of sites; this is a phenomenal figure.

The Financial Services Authority, studied the data given out on these sites and found that information, like compulsory excess levels, was not included in the price, or even erroneous.

BIBA (British Insurance Brokers’ Association) were all for the review because a report done asking people who had used insurance comparison sites what they thought showed 84 per cent thought the accompanying information to the polices was not apparent enough.

The male sex do actually do more research into their car insurance policy, even though the male sex have a higher level car insurance claims, which in turn means male car insurance premiums are higher.

Tesco insurance carried out a study which showed that around 56% of men read every element of their car insurance contract, compared to 50% of women that do the same. On top of this, the study showed the male sex are more aware of the small sprint found in car insurance policies, when it comes to making a claim, compared to women.

In my opinion, the reason for this is because men know that they are going to have to pay more and that there might be clauses in the complex contract and want to get the best deal.

If your pet gets injured, and if you don’t have pet insurance, then you can pay up to £9,000.

The Pet Insurance company, Saga, say one of the biggest and most common threats is if a dog has to be treated for ligament damage.

Saga also claim that treating a cat that has been in a road accident, on average, costs £705, but amazingly can be as much as £5k, meaning a big ask for pet owners without pet insurance.

Research carried out by Saga found that 1 in 7 pet insurance claims were due to an actual accident, as opposed to them getting ill.

Strangely enough, it was found that cats living in the Midlands are most ham-fisted, with 26% of pet insurance claims being attributed to cats. Generally, I think the point is to always take out pet insurance for your pet because they are vital in covering the cost of vet’s fees that you wouldn’t have been expecting.

A report that has recently come out has advised women that comprehensive car insurance should be adopted to cover items they leave in their cars.

The car insurance company Sheila’s Wheels found out that women in the UK often leave up to £129 worth of personal objects in their vehicles .

The report showed that expensive items like clothes and shoes are left in cars because of the ‘after work’ culture that seems to be a growing trend at the moment. In the report, it came to light that 27% of women were leaving these sorts of item in their cars. Also, an incredible 67% of women drivers admitted they sometimes leave up to 4 pairs of shoes in their motor at any one time. Through this discovery, insurers think it vital for women to have fully comprehensive car insurance for their car.

Sheila’s Wheels said that any item such as the ones mentioned are easy pickings for thieves and to avoid a car theft, broken locks and smashed windows, women should not use their cars as a mobile wardrobe or leave anything on display in the car.