Tag Archives: accident repair centres

women's car insurance

The impact of the Gender Directive so far…

A new law that was sneaked in on 21 December last under cover of Christmas means that many young women will soon be feeling the pinch when their car insurance renewal notice hits the doormat.

Thanks to the EU and an evident absence of anyone sticking up for women drivers when this was first mooted more than 10 years ago (long before FOXY was conceived…) the Gender Directive is now law in the UK. This prevents insurers from using statistical evidence to calculate premiums, proof that most young women are safer drivers than many young men, for example.

Of course there’s an inherent unfairness here as young men can be safe drivers and young women dangerous ones but the way I see it, if I was setting up an insurance business (and this would apply to any financially switched on business man I’m sure) I’d base my premiums on known risk factors for starters then apply good driving rewards and bad driving penalties on an individual basis thereafter.

Which is what black box telematics are all about of course. They are fitted in your car to assess your driving style and, hopefully, will incentivise young drivers to drive responsibly on the basis of a financial reward. Let’s hope the young men that need them most buy them…

But whether the eventual financial reward will ever reinstate the advantageous premiums that young women have paid in the past remains to be seen.

Are insurers consistent in their approach to gender?

It’s not going to be easy to monitor whether insurers are being consistent here or treating men and women the same because there are so many other risk factors that they are allowed to take into consideration when calculating premiums. These include a driver’s age, occupation, postcode, anti-theft devices, age/value/model of car, engine size, annual mileage, multiple car ownership, named drivers, previous claims, the policy excess, modifications and probably other factors I’ve forgotten today.

But we’ll be keeping our eyes open here…

What’s new after the Gender Directive?

In a nutshell, we have to rely on insurers doing the right thing for women from now on. Good insurers will want to demonstrate added value for money to their female customers, knowing that young drivers in particular may be facing dramatically higher premiums.

There is a clear move towards black box technology to not only reduce the number of road accidents young drivers are involved in but also to keep their premiums down. This could be a good thing and fortunately it’s a very competitive area which will keep prices down. You’ll find out more about this and the key players at the comparethebox website to which should be added a new entrant called ‘Drive Like A Girl‘ ; a name that’s unlikely to attract any male interest I’d have thought!

We are also noticing a lot of short term tactical advertising targeting women drivers. Women are more attracted by loyalty card points than men, freebies and designer handbags for that matter, so we’re not surprised to see these on offer at price comparison websites, Facebook, from supermarket and female-oriented insurance brands. Far be it for me to suggest a handbag competition approach might be seen as patronising by some women but I have heard this word mentioned recently.

The best approach, we believe, is to see the Gender Directive as an opportunity to build a long term relationship with women as a result of doing something that is demonstrably in their long term best interests. An example of a customer service initiative that illustrates this well is that of Ageas Insurance who asked us to develop a FOXY Lady Approved© female friendly standard for their accident repair centres, much as we had done for garages previously. This has since been organised by our FOXY Choice website and approximately 100 Ageas Solution Centres are now members of the new network. Together we are spreading the news that women have a choice of female friendly repairers at accident time and a start has been made here.

This is also a commitment to higher services levels for men because bodyshops and garages that get service levels right for fussy women (like me) are automatically doing a better job for men too.

Finally if you’d like to leave feedback about ANY garage, accident repair centre or recent insurance experience after the Gender Directive we’d love to hear from you HERE.

We need you to tell us so we can share instances of best (and worst) practice with other women drivers.

FOXY

female friendly

FOXY Lady Approved accident repair centres are the GOOD NEWS to celebrate

Last night Channel 4’s Dispatches programme broadcast a report about car insurance and what happens when you need it most, at claims time and following an accident.

During it the OFT described the industry as dysfunctional and Malcolm Tagg, the CEO of VBRA (the Vehicle Builders and Repairers Association), said that some insurer practices were immoral which gives you a clue about the tone of the programme.

We were looking at a purported culture that puts insurer profits ahead of doing the right thing in many cases and if some of the examples of cavalier management dismissing safety concerns are in any way typical, I’d be very very depressed indeed.

But they aren’t of course; they’re simply exceptions to do with the very small percentage of bad businesses (insurers and repairers alike) that are allowed to survive in their respective industries.

And we must now leave the Competition Commission to do its job re the all too common, short term and highly unsavoury mutual back scratching referral practices that are never in the long term best interests of the motorist – we who are expected to foot the bill for such folly.

Coincidentally this programme was aired on the same day as we launched our new FOXY Lady Approved© Accident Repair Centre network at the FOXY Choice website. Rest assured there are some fabulous and caring bodyshop and SMART repairer businesses out there who deserve more support on the basis of their investment in quality and processes to improve customer service.

We’re promoting them to women drivers and members of the Club of course via the FOXY Lady Drivers Club website as well. Accredited technicians, Kitemark licensees, manufacturer approval and those that operate to an OFT Approved Code are the standards we see as a cut above the rest.

We also welcome the sight of women in customer facing roles and, whilst quality is no guarantee of a genuinely female friendly business we’ve found, all FOXY Lady Approved© businesses have to sign a promise to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell women services they don’t need’ before we’ll consider any application to join us.

Yes, I can hear some of you thinking… ‘none of this should be necessary’ but the problem is that the perception it will is there in the female mind. Too many women think the motor industry is out to get them by baffling them with jargon and ripping them off. A perception based on the scattergun promotion of industry complaints schemes we’re not used to seeing elsewhere perhaps but regularly topped up by real life negative (but well-intentioned) programmes like Dispatches…

Instead, I’d like to see more good news about the motor industry making it onto the public radar on occasion. How about some publicity about FOXY Choice giving motorists a female friendly choice so that all motorists, not just female ones, can rely on higher, more ethical and caring standards from tried and tested repairers after an accident that inevitably leaves them out of pocket, inconvenienced, considerably stressed and sometimes with very serious injuries and consequences to cope with afterwards.

Now that would be welcome news to hear for a change.

FOXY

women's car insurance

“Your Car, Your Choice” of accident repairers…

We rarely read the small print because it's so complicated...In FOXY’s experience, the OFT’s well-publicised ‘Your Car, Your Choice (of car repairer)’ advice isn’t working as it presumably was intended.

The Office of Fair Trading recently asked interested parties to comment “Whether there is work that the OFT or other parties could be doing to improve the way that the UK private motor insurance market is currently functioning.”

FOXY made four points in all including this one to do with car insurance and accident repairs; as ever seen from a female motorists’ perspective.

We said…

The OFT’s well-publicised ‘Your Car, Your Choice (of car repairer)’ promise isn’t working as intended. For example, the largest insurer in the UK is charging a supplement to deter motorists from making this choice at http://www.aviva.co.uk/car/summary-of-cover.html stating

“If following a claim your car needs to be repaired and you decide not to use our approved repairer then an additional excess of £200 applies. This excess will apply in addition to any other excesses under your policy. Using your own repairer may also cause delays in your claim and Aviva cannot guarantee quality of repair from your chosen repairer.”

Esure is even more specific and restrictive in their terms at http://www.esure.com/car_insurance/claims_faqs stating

“Please note that if you choose to use your own repairer:

  • You will not receive a courtesy car unless this is agreed directly between you and your repairer
  • An excess of £200 will be applied in addition to any other excesses shown on your schedule 
  • The repairs, unlike those carried out by one of our recommended repairers, will not be guaranteed for 5 years – unless your own repairer offers this 
  • The repairer, unlike our recommended repairers, is not contractually obliged to provide a specific level of service to you 
  • We will not be able to assist you with any aftercare issues.” 

In addition, many customers who drive big family cars are expected to cope with a Class A courtesy car after an accident, such as a Ford Ka or Nissan Micra which are often poor alternatives. 

We are also told about some insurers working with unqualified bodyshops. Assuming that others will provide this evidence, we worry that these insurers might be putting cost considerations ahead of vehicle safety and customer service after an accident.

Finally, few motorists realise that their insurer isn’t necessarily their best first contact after a stressful accident or when someone is reeling from the shock. For example, we have heard about insurers increasing renewal terms for motorists simply because they have reported a no fault accident; this seems very unfair. 

Yet there is little written about this subject to help motorists understand their choices of accident repair centre or to encourage them to report their feedback about the quality of work done, to an independent body and for the benefit of others.

* FOXY Choice has made a start here with an independent good garage guide for women and a good garage feedback area.

As a result, few motorists know how to find a measurably competent accident repair centre and, because competing quality schemes (OFT, BSI and car manufacturers) are all batting to sell their own as the best, there is scope for considerable confusion in motorists’ minds instead of the independent help and appropriate advice that is needed instead, following the stress of an accident.

What can be done here? We’d like to see

  • A minimum standard for all ‘approved repairers’ appointed by insurers; based on stated quality and monitored annually.
  • A transparent replacement/courtesy car policy so that motorists who need larger cars are not required to make do with a small car whilst theirs is being repaired.
  • Clarification of the OFT’s ‘Your Car, Your Choice’ promise in the light of current insurer practices.
  • Revised OFT advice to reflect reality
  •  An independent online resource where motorists can choose measurably qualified* accident repair centres (ARCs) and bodyshops in their area. *ie those that are either BSI Kitemark (car bodyshop) licensees, operate to an OFT approved code (a member of VBRA) or are approved by car manufacturers.

The moral of this story is to get the magnifying glass out and always read the small print before buying car insurance. But the reality is that we rarely do because there’s too much of it to read and we were shopping for the cheapest quote anyway.

FOXY

Find out about FOXY’s female friendly accident assistance service and about qualified accident repair bodyshops near you that have joined the FOXY Choice approved female friendly UK garage network.