Road Tax

[jetpilot]

Would insurance companies really be bothered? I dont think they would cry foul as it would make the whole process a lot more simple. I get the feeling from recent attempts at getting decent quotes they are very un interested in providing 3rd party anyway. At some point also those young drivers that have relied on an inclusive 3rd party insurance would eventually get a nice car that they wanted covered fire and theft or comprehensive and at that point, they would get a nice hefty first policy.

I would also suggest if the gov were to offer an inclusive 3rd party coverage, there should also be a ban on the no win no fee type US culture firms which from what i can gather is drastically increasing our premiums on a yearly basis.

[AtomicRex]

It would be great to reduce this blame/claim culture we have succumbed to!  It is big money to put claims in too!
 
My personal belief is that it would bring greater competition into the market, as the risk would be reduced.  Maybe we should write to Number 10?

[jetpilot]

Im sure during the budget there was reference to the blame claim vultures.

Isnt there access to online petitions now for No10?

[AtomicRex]

Yeah...meant to add that bit in!  They have suggested that the solicitors cant get 100% of their fees from the person they are suing, rather 25% of the fees.
 
The whole idea of small claims is to not take solicitors...so it takes the Mick anyway!  It is a daunting circumstance to be in, but the idea is for both parties to sit round the table and give an honest account of the situation...so really no need for these solicitors.
 
Its been so long that the majority of kids growing up today are brain washed into believing they aren\'t responsible for their own actions!  If you fall over....generally it was your own stupid fault...so deal with it!

[jetpilot]

Jon, thought you may find this interesting, talks of increasing the MOT, not decreasing:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8441028/MoTs-every-two-years-under-proposed-changes-to-system.html

[AtomicRex]

Yeah I was talking to the guy at the ministry about this the other day.  I was asking him what his thoughts were on both my points of 6 months instead of 1 year, and a lesser test for new cars to ensure brakes, tyres etc are well maintained.  He said then about current proposals of moving to 2 years......I think its daft!

[jackaleks]

i doubt you could introduce government funding into insurance...

insurers will take your premiums and invest them in hedge funds, that\'s how they make their profits and i would have thought that the performance of their investment portfolios will have an impact on the quotes they offer (one of the reasons why everyone\'s premiums have been going up since The Recessionâ,,¢).

start using fuel duty to fund 3rd party insurance for the punters and you\'re taking a hell of a lot of money and market influence out of the whole thing.

as for our ....ty roads, i reckon we should just privatise them; a) a private company couldn\'t do any worse than the councils and b) it\'s a lot easier to get away with not paying a private company than not paying taxes

[Aubec]

You also remove an incentive to drive sensibly... massive insurance premiums keep 17 year olds out of 300bhp cars.... no insurance premium = every 17 year old boy in a jap 300bhp car - eep!

[B.Martin]

Yeah I was talking to the guy at the ministry about this the other day.  I was asking him what his thoughts were on both my points of 6 months instead of 1 year, and a lesser test for new cars to ensure brakes, tyres etc are well maintained.  He said then about current proposals of moving to 2 years......I think its daft!

Over here in Cyprus Mot is 2 years! I couldn\'t believe it when I found out!

[jetpilot]

You also remove an incentive to drive sensibly... massive insurance premiums keep 17 year olds out of 300bhp cars.... no insurance premium = every 17 year old boy in a jap 300bhp car - eep!

Maybe you could base it on insurance groups, anything under a group 10 or something!

Isnt it the case in Oz, that you are automatically covered 3rd party?

[AtomicRex]

I do agree on the fact you dont want every 17 year old running around in 300bhp scoobies, but there would be a chance the price of the cars would go up slightly.  Also in my opinion it is better to have the idiots driving around with insurance, than a lot of idiots with no insurance!