Wendy’s nightmare accident claim…

Posted on December 30, 2011 by foxysteph

Have you ever faced a fraudulent accident claim that wasn’t anything to do with you? If so, please tell us what happened.

Wendy is a member of FOXY Lady Drivers Club and lives in Hampshire. She wrote to us recently after reading our December Club newsletter including details of a recent car accident and FOXY’s accident management support service.

And whilst we do hear about fraudulent insurance claims we hadn’t heard Wendy’s unusual experience before.

This is what she told us…

“Last year we did NOT have an accident but someone made a claim against us in December for an accident that was supposed to have happened in the previous August. The insurance company paid out against it because my car has a crack in the number plate which they said could have happened in an accident even though I can supply witnesses to prove it was cracked on the drive when my daughter left the hand brake off and it rolled into the garage door. I even have the dent in the garage door!

I never reported an accident because I did not have one. The only related thing we could think of later was when 2 men in the car in front in a stationary traffic queue got out of their car and spoke to my daughter, who was driving on her own. They said they thought she had gone into them but then agreed that she probably hadn’t and there was no damage…”

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The problem is of course that nobody is going to report an accident that did not happen.

But Wendy wants to caution people to report anything out of the ordinary like this in future just in case someone tries to scam you later. At least it may help and may even prevent the same thing happening again?”

Thank you for bringing this to our attention Wendy and I hope enough women read this to be on their guard in future.

Wendy is waiting to see how her insurance premium is affected at renewal time. It will be most unfair if she loses out as a result of a non-existent accident… as claimed by a motoring rat.

FOXY Steph

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Women drivers face increased bills if annual MOTs scrapped

Posted on December 29, 2011 by foxysteph

FOXY Lady Drivers Club supports today’s research findings that the cost to the UK of scrapping the annual MOT could be as much as £1.5 billion.

Government claims that reducing MOT frequency will also reduce the financial burden on motorists are challenged today in a report which shows the opposite – that proposals to scrap annual testing will hit both motorists and the UK economy hard.

The report by Pro-MOTe is titled “A cost too far” and includes research that the average female motorist would be more than £57 worse off under a less frequent MOT system than she is today.

It also shows that the overall cost to the UK in increased costs of road deaths, injuries and damage, as well as 40,000 lost jobs and reduced tax revenues, will be some £1.44bn.

The research compares costs of the existing 3-1-1 MOT system (where cars over three years are tested every year) with the 4-2-2 system more commonly used elsewhere in Europe (where cars over four years old are tested every two years).  It estimates that under 4-2-2, the average motorist would incur annual SAVINGS of £24.44 a year made up of:
- £20 a year in saved MOT fees
- £3.30 a year in saved personal time
- £1.14 a year in saved fuel costs as a result of fewer visits to a MOT station

But the average motorist would incur annual INCREASES of £81.81 under 4-2-2 from:
- £30.59 in additional repair costs
- £46.05 in additional insurance premiums
- £5.17 in additional fuel costs of £5.17

The research was carried out using data from the DfT and the Treasury, and motor industry sources.  Pro-MOTe is supported by the RAC, AA, road safety campaigners, industry groups and insurance companies to campaign against plans to reduce MOT frequency.

Commenting on the report, Pro-MOTe co-ordinator, Bill Duffy, said:

“This research shows that scrapping annual MOT testing would not only be dangerous but prove very expensive too, to both drivers and taxpayers alike. The Government has suggested that reducing the number of safety tests would reduce the financial burden on motorists.  Yet the truth is exactly the opposite.  Moving to two-yearly tests would mean extra repair costs, extra insurance premiums and extra fuel costs for already hard-pressed motorists. And the cost to the UK economy in lost jobs and higher costs arising from the additional accidents that we would see due to less frequent testing would be significant.”

Hear hear Bill. This is a poorly considered proposition and it’s time it was scrapped. This is also costing road safety, consumer organisations like ours and directly affected motor industry businesses a lot of unnecessary time and money attempting to do this research for our Government.

An interesting and possibly previously ignored dimension here seems to be that insurance companies plan to respond to the scenario of an increased number of unroadworthy cars by raising premiums for us all.   Then motorists would surely hold the Government responsible for another rise in the cost of motoring…

So it’s time to shut the UK’s back door to this proposal now. Heaven knows we all have more productive things to be getting on to benefit not threaten the UK economy and its motor industry.

FOXY Steph

For further information go to the Pro-MOTe website or contact Ed Owen at EdO@pro-mote.org.uk or on 07774 759653. Pro-MOTe was launched in October 2011 to press the Government to drop plans to reduce the frequency of MOT testing. The launch report “Dangerous, expensive and unwanted” is available at http://www.pro-mote.org.uk/assets/download/PRO-MOTE_launch_report.pdf

Supporters of the Pro-MOTe campaign include AA, Andrew Page, Association of Professional Ambulance Personnel, Autoglass, Aviva, Brake, British Cycling, Confused.com, Driver’s Edge UK, Euro Car Parts, FOXY Lady Drivers Club, Garage Equipment Association, GEM Motoring Assist, Halfords Autocentres, Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation, Kwik Fit, MOTEST, MOT Trade Forum, MOT Club, National Tyre Distributors Association, Parts Alliance, RAC, The Retail Motor Industry Federation, Road Safety Analysis, Road Safety GB, The Scottish Motor Trade Association, Tyre Industry Federation, UNITE.

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A familiar fat cat story

Posted on December 21, 2011 by foxysteph

 

 

 

 

Trust Dilbert to get this one spot on in 2011.

Does anyone think this is fair?

Compared to the John Lewis Partnership model perhaps?

FOXY Steph

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Ladies – beware of lemons at car auctions

Posted on December 20, 2011 by foxysteph

A survey that’s unlikely to encourage many foxy lady drivers to take a financial risk at car auctions confirms that close on a third of buyers regretted buying an unreliable car.

And wouldn’t have if they’d known this of course.

Unreliability and breakdowns soon after purchase are the biggest regrets mentioned in a recent survey by Manheim Auctions.

Nearly a third of all respondents mentioned that their biggest regret was buying an unreliable car and 24% claimed their car broke down soon after they bought it. Nearly 15% of motorists regretted buying a car because they found it to be too expensive to run while 11% admitted that they paid too much for their car.

Only 3% of motorists did not like the colour of the car they had bought ‘proving that colour choice is a key buying decision factor’ [sic]. I’d have thought the opposite; that colour wouldn’t matter to those who were buying for price reasons. And unsurprising for the same reasons and to be expected in a recession, only 2% were concerned that the car they bought was not as environmentally friendly as they had thought at the time. Even though this would cost them more in running costs…

Andy Cullwick at Manheim Auctions explains
“Research is key to buying any car, as is buying from a reputable source whether it is an auction, car supermarket or dealer.  The internet is great for information gathering and for researching running costs including insurance, fuel consumption as well as service and repair costs. Don’t necessarily avoid high mileage cars; these tend to be ex fleet cars that have been well maintained and regularly serviced and may still have the remainder the original warranty in place.”

I’m not an expert of course but I seem to remember that it’s largely a male dominated and ‘caveat emptor’ environment where this sort of dissonance can be expected. Perhaps Manheim bucks the trend here by providing more support services for customers than others at their physical and online auctions?

But for the very reason this survey spells out, I’d steer clear of live auctions unless you know what you’re doing. Avoid ‘sold as seen’ cars unless you’re prepared to take a big risk and where in doubt ask for an Engineer’s report (for a fee) if you want a second opinion about the mechanical state of the car in question.

Prior to the bidding process, it also makes sense to check out the car’s value online, its performance in the reliability index, its safety performance at NCAP, the car’s servicing record, VED and insurance ratings before taking the plunge. Because you have little comeback in law if you buy a lemon as the following statistics confirm.

Regrets some 3000 motorists had after buying a car at an auction.
It wasn’t very reliable      30.3%
It broke down soon after I bought it     24.3%
It was expensive to run       14.8%
I paid too much for it     10.7%
I didn’t like the colour        3.3%
It wasn’t as ‘green’ as I thought     2.3%

FOXY Steph

Members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club can count on a handholding and advisory service when they come to buy a new or used car. Heaven forbid they end up with a lemon but if they do we help them sort it out and, if all routes are then exhausted, we can at least tell other ladies inside the Club about their experiences so they don’t have the same problem.

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Bristol Mum wins Tesco taxi award

Posted on December 15, 2011 by foxysteph

Bristol Mum Sharon Appleyard has won Tesco Cars’ inaugural ‘Parent Driver of the Year’ award – a nationwide competition to find the parent that goes above and beyond the call of duty in providing the ultimate ‘parent taxi’ service.

Winning the hearts and minds of the Tesco Cars’ judging panel, Sharon was shortlisted alongside three other finalists before being crowned the overall winner, receiving the very welcome £1,000 Tesco voucher prize in time for Christmas.

Sharon was nominated by her daughter Amy, for giving up endless amounts of time in chauffeuring her and her two brothers to an extensive range of after-school clubs and weekend activities.

Sharon said ‘I was shocked to hear I had won Tesco Cars’ Parent Driver of the Year competition because all the finalists were equally deserving. It’s natural for parents to want the very best for their children and driving the distances I do gives my little ones those important opportunities to grow and develop as individuals. Ultimately it’s something I get pleasure from, but it’s obviously fantastic to be rewarded this way.

I ‘d like to say a big thank you to everyone who voted for me; my friends, family, the general public! Also a big thanks to my daughter Amy for nominating me and to Tesco Cars of course for making this Christmas a bit more special!”

Rebecca Ryan, Marketing Manager of TescoCars.com said; ‘We were overwhelmed by the hundreds of heartfelt and impassioned nominations we received for this competition. There are some truly wonderful mums, dads and even grandparents out there, but unfortunately there can only be one winner. Congratulations to Sharon and her family from all of us at Tesco Cars.”

The Tesco Cars’ Parent Driver of the Year competition followed recent research that found thousands of parents are driving their children more than 200 miles a week, excluding the school run – almost a third of a London taxi driver’s weekly mileage. The extra mileage could potentially add around £1800 a year to the family fuel bill.

The study showed on average parents make three trips per week, covering 50.2 miles to transport their children to various events and activities. Dads will drive their children 10 more miles per week on average than mums and parents in Wales recorded the highest average mileage, around 65 miles.

And well done Sharon for being such a worthy winner too.

FOXY Steph

FOXY Ladies in need of help running their cars or with motoring matters in general might do well to join FOXY Lady Drivers Club in 2012.  Think of us as a girl’s best motoring friend at times of stress or to save you money without sacrificing safety or quality…

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Audis I have known and loved

Posted on December 12, 2011 by foxysteph

I’ve driven two Audis to date, an Audi 80 in the 80s and a very stylish S2 coupe in the early 90s when my corporate career justified this. And I continue to very nearly buy an Audi TT and I probably will one day.

So you can see I have a soft spot for the brand and know from past experience that Audis make ideal company cars.

Particularly for high mileage female business executives looking for that all important combination of safety, economy and motoring style as they ply our busy motorways today.

Looking to see what the most popular compact executive models are on sale today, I see many second hand Audi A4 cars alongside prestige BMW, Mercedes and Lexus models.

The best Audi engines are always diesels where high mileage is involved and whilst the SE trim is likely to be more saleable than the basic entry level I can’t really justify spending more than that (for me) unless you need 4 wheel drive of course. I mention this because there are some 47 models, including saloon/hatchback/estate and cabriolet variations of which 21 were petrol and 26 diesel when I last looked…

Yes it’s true that you may have to pay extra for cruise control (if you insist…) but you do get 6 airbags and stability control as standard features and the interior is stylish and uber-comfortable as you might expect from a manufacturer from the Volkswagen stable of car manufacturers.

Looking at other car review websites I see that an oldish evecars.com mention picks up on ‘fiddly buttons to navigate’ and ‘watch out for the bumpy ride’ on their negative list but that JD Power’s most recent survey points out its low depreciation (which is good news when you come to sell or trade it in), a bigger than average boot and impressive running costs to balance the debate.

Either way, we’d happily recommend Audi’s A4 to women drivers for business use in particular, pointing out the reasonable 13% benefits in kind employee contribution tax involved.

FOXY Steph

Inevitably this is a brief and not very comprehensive review of the Audi A4. Being a naturally foxy lady you will do your own and very detailed new car shopping homework well in advance  to determine the practicality and required features for your next new car.

If you’d welcome a second and independent opinion of your shortlist, where to go to buy it, or some handholding through the entire car buying process, why not join FOXY Lady Drivers Club to benefit from our motoring support services and some helpful female feedback here?

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Foxy Fiat is ideal design icon for women in Wales

Posted on December 12, 2011 by foxysteph

Wales’ women’s economic development agency, Chwarae Teg, has teamed-up with Cardiff-based Wessex Garages to inspire Wales’ next generation of designers and celebrate the charity’s 20th anniversary.

This cooperation is marked by Wessex Garages’ donation of an iconic Fiat 500 to encourage competition entries from female students in Wales to create an inspirational design based on their interpretation of the Chwarae Teg ‘ribbons’ logo.

Wessex Garages is a privately-owned company with locations in Cardiff*, Newport, Bristol and Gloucester, and is known for supporting female employees in their careers as well as creating female friendly dealership environments for their women customers.

The competition will encourage and build female design talent that contributes to the economy and Wales’ perceived intellectual property rankings.

Richard Craythorne (in the photo) is the Fiat brand manager at Wessex Garages and explains:

“We are extremely proud to be associated with the Chwarae Teg Design Contest and the Fiat 500 is an ideal ‘mascot’ to promote the unity between the businesses. The car’s original design in the 1950s was ingenious and promised an exciting new life to those who never had their own transportation before. This promise of a new future (in 2011) has a great synergy with the opportunities Chwarae Teg makes available through its projects, schemes and training courses and I wish all the design competition applicants every success with their entries.”

Katy Chamberlain (in the photo) is the chief executive of Chwarae Teg and she reinforced the synergy between her aims for the competition and the Fiat 500.

“Through the competition we are aiming to inspire students to use their design flair and ambition to help nurture a new generation of world-class female talent in Wales.”

Chwarae Teg’s 20th anniversary celebrations will end with a special three month exhibition at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea coinciding with International Women’s Day on March 8th 2012. The finalists in the design contest will have their work displayed as part of this exhibition and to celebrate the wealth created by women in Wales.

For more information…

The Chwarae Teg Design Contest is open to female students based in Wales who are studying creative disciplines from A-level or equivalent and upwards. Such disciplines could include art, photography, graphic design, fashion and sculpting at school, university or college. The closing date for submissions is Sunday 18th December 2011 and details of how to enter can be found at http://www.chwaraeteg.com/design-contest/

FOXY Steph

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How to make a male dominated industry more female friendly

Posted on December 10, 2011 by foxysteph

The UK motor industry could learn a lesson or two from the UK’s transport and logistics sector where an ever increasing number of females are holding top jobs in areas of regulation and operations.

If you scrape the surface to see what this sector might have done that’s different from the motor industry you find the Freight Logistics Industry Image Group and where much of the praise is probably due for the following achievements…

1    The 2.2 million work force in the transport and logistics sector (including lady truckers) includes some 25 per cent of women, with growing numbers of female managers, drivers, engineers, transport office and other staff in all disciplines.

2    The sector is actively looking to recruit more women.

3    Top political and regulatory jobs held by women include:
Secretary of State for Transport – Justine Greening
Minister of State for Transport – Theresa Villiers
Shadow Secretary of State for Transport – Maria Eagle
Chair, Commons Transport Select Committee – Louise Ellman
Permanent Secretary, Department for Transport – Lin Homer
Acting Senior Traffic Commissioner – Beverley Bell

4    On the operational side, amongst thousands of senior female managers, leading personalities include Dragons’ Den’s Hilary Devey, the Chairman and CEO of Pall-Ex; Nikki King, the Managing Director of Isuzu Trucks UK; Jane Burkitt, Pepsico Supply Chain Director; Moya Greene, Chief Executive, Royal Mail Group; and Kay Phillips, CEO, GeoPost Worldwide.

5    Earlier this year the three name short-list for the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport prestige ‘Young Manager of the Year’ award contained three women.

Geoff Dossetter chairs the Freight Logistics Industry Image Group and explains “The logistics industry is an essential element in the whole of our economy and plays a vital role in the day to day way in which we live our lives, delivering the goods and services on which we all rely and enjoy.  It should therefore not be surprising that the sector is leading the way in providing an attractive and rewarding career structure for women in all disciplines and at all levels from warehouse to boardroom and we welcome further recruits as the economy recovers from recession and the movement of goods increases.”

Group member Kate Gibbs from the Road Haulage Association said “The achievement of so many women in reaching the top in our industry should act as an encouragement to all.  Logistics is an equal-opportunity sector and the sky is the limit for talented and enthusiastic women.”

The five members of the Freight Logistics Industry Image Group are the British Association of Removers, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, the Freight Transport Association, the Road Haulage Association, and the sector skills council Skills for Logistics.

As I see it, this is a forward thinking industry initiative that deserves recognition and which proves that women WILL consider careers in industries that they might have dismissed previously, providing they see female role models and are made to feel welcome.

The UK motor industry would do well to study this initiative and learn from it to all round mutual effect. If anything it is more important to recruit women into garage and showroom careers to improve the poor image that these industry sectors suffer from in the eyes of many female customers. And to improve the bottom line as a direct consequence of female loyalty and referrals.

FOXY Steph

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Money has the Mamma Mia effect

Posted on November 30, 2011 by foxysteph

I liked this story about life in economically challenged Greece and how a bit of wealth creation (and some ABBA music perhaps) can go a long way towards the feel good factor…

Imagine it is a slow day in a small Greek Village in November.

The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everyone is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving through the village, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.

The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel.

The guy at the Farmers’ Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the taverna.

The publican slips the money along to the local lady of the night drinking at the bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer him “services” on credit.

She then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note.

The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter so the rich traveller will not suspect anything.

At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.

No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole village is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism..

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And that, foxy ladies, is what quantitative easing is supposedly all about and why Economics remains a smoke and mirrors subject in my mind…

If only it were that easy. Someone explain this to me please.

FOXY Steph

PS No banks were named or shamed in this story…

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A foxy accident assistance service

Posted on November 27, 2011 by foxysteph

Earlier this year we launched a female friendly accident assistance service for club members but I didn’t expect to be needing it myself.

That’s the thing about insurance and support services like FOXY Lady Drivers Club, breakdown recovery and/or accident assistance. Ideally you want to have them all, just in case, but you hope you won’t need them.

And the least understood of these is probably that of no fault accident management services yet they often provide a more caring and comprehensive accident support service than busy insurance companies who are inclined towards cost cutting to minimise claims costs for all. Which isn’t always fair, especially in circumstances like this.

My story is a simple one. Earlier this year I bought a BMW sports car for fun motoring. We called him Zoot – it’s a long story to do with ‘him’ being a Z model. Anyway I loved driving Zoot and expected to have him for many years to come…

Which is not now to be the case because last week, whilst having a short anniversary break in Kent, my husband and I were involved in an accident and Zoot is now ‘uneconomic to repair’…

My husband was driving along the A28 between Canterbury and Ashford when we saw a lady on the lefthand side of the road waiting to turn right, as it happens. I am sure she saw us and yet her car pulled out almost immediately in front of us with c20m to spare. We were probably doing c40-50mph and we were unable to avoid a collision. Both cars ended up on the opposite side of the road, without hitting any oncoming vehicles thank goodness.

Thank goodness too that nobody was killed or seriously injured. The lady in question was local and a grandmother; we know this because she was quickly joined by members of her family who had heard the crash. I think she might have suffered whiplash and her Ford was certainly badly damaged.

My husband was well enough to take photos which act as a stark reminder of events but also illustrate precisely what must have happened.

Whilst ambulance staff attended to us, the police completed the accident statements needed and my husband ended up sorting out the recovery of our car with a company the Police introduced.

My husband also contacted FOXY’s accident assistance service at this stage who were quick to organise a replacement car that arrived at our hotel the next morning. A valuation was carried out the next day and by Day 3 we’d received and agreed this. So far so good but this is now complicated because the other driver claims that we were indicating to turn left at her junction which is why she pulled out when she did…

I won’t comment about this here because if proof is needed (which it shouldn’t be when one is expected to drive safely) the car’s data will surely prove this. So this is where we are at. Stacey is our friendly and knowledgeable contact at our accident management service, and she is dealing with the hire car, valuation, our insurer and the progress of our claim. Very reassuring to have this support in such stressful circumstances…

So I’ll keep you posted.

Me? I’ve chipped my sternum (chest bone) from a combination of airbag and seat belt damage and have broken the base of my right thumb. Both involve painful and spectacular bruising so typing duties have had to be delegated and I’m off the road for a while…

Would I buy another BMW Zoot machine? You bet. The front of the car took the brunt of the impact but the cab remained intact and both doors opened. It could have been much, much worse.

But it was SO useful to have someone to phone for friendly support when we needed it most. Highly recommended and an important part of what FOXY is all about – for Club members and their family of course.

Find out more about FOXY Lady Drivers Club’s female friendly accident management service .

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