Is that Car Insured? Check Online Now!

If you want to check whether your car is insured, you can now visit the Motor Insurers Database(MID) online.
This is exactly the same database that the police use to check the validity of insurance. Simply enter your cars registration number and the database returns the make and model type.
No other details are available unfortunately at this stage, although they should be made available under the Freedom Of information Act!

The good thing is that even though you are only supposed to check on vehicles that you own or use, you can actually check on any vehicle, such as one that you may have had an accident with. If you've been having problems with people in your neighbourhood why not check that their vehicles are insured. If not... then you know what to do.

At car insurance.tv we are campaigning to stamp out uninsured driving which is costing us millions every year in higher premiums - Catch those crims and ave a look today!

http://www.askmid.com/ownvehicle/
Visit the ultimate UK Car Insurance Comparison tool

Car Insurance Legal Expenses Protection for Court costs

Car Insurance Legal Expenses Protection is Essential Coverage - See You in Court!

Most car insurance accident claims that cannot be resolved through negotiation between both parties insurance companies or their solicitors or lawyers, will end up in court. It is therefore, vitally important that your car insurance covers you for legal expenses protection.

Legal Expenses covers all your legal bills, damages and costs awarded against you should you have a car accident. Legal expenses is often sold as an add on, and if you haven't purchased this protection, it may cost you dear if an accident claim proceeds all the way to court, even if you win!

Car Insurance Claims

A car insurance policy is a legally binding contract between yourself and an insurance company to cover your liability, and in the United Kingdom claims for damages or liability disputes under an insurance policy contract, are resolved in the Civil or County Court as it is known. All cases are held before a District or County Circuit Judge.

Most disputes involving amounts fewer than five thousand pounds are known as small claims or fast track claims and can be dealt with quickly in a less informal setting. Claims on car insurance policies that include damages for personal injury for example, are likely to involve large amounts and perhaps legal costs of up to ten times the amount of the claim. These claims are allocated to a multi-track court system where cases are heard in full court.

If your claim, or the claim you are defending proceeds to court, both parties will be asked before the event to provide dates that they are unavailable to attend upon.

Each solicitor or lawyer will inform his party in adequate time of the date and venue of the court hearing. They will also keep their clients fully briefed as to the progress and developments in the case.

Many disputes that involve claims on car insurance policies are settled at the eleventh hour by the car insurance companies agreeing to settle, however whether a claimant or a defendant in the case you should be prepared for court. Both parties are required by law to attend the hearing and risk contempt of court charges if they fail to show.

Going To Court

The hearing will always be held in the County Court nearest to the home of the defendant. That is, the person who denies the claim against him. This can be costly if as a claimant you have to travel hundreds of miles to attend the court. UK Courts are notoriously mean with their expenses and if you drive a gas guzzler you will be lucky if you are awarded a fifth of your actual petrol costs as claimable travel expenses, if you win.

Furthermore you will not be able to claim for the inconvenience of the case, childcare costs or loss of earnings. Whether the original car accident was your fault or not, as soon as you become involved in an accident the largest damage is to your pocket.

Your Statement
You will have been asked on at least one occasion by your lawyer or solicitor, during prior negotiations, to provide a statement of fact of your version of the events that took place.

This statement will contain the facts that you will rely on when asked to speak in court. It will also contain the information that you will be cross-examined on by the other party's lawyers. It is important when you make a statement to stick to the facts, tell the truth of what happened and use documentary evidence such as photos or videos that you took at the time of the accident, to back up your version of events.

Stick to your version of events and do not be over flowery when creating your statement. The opposition will drill down into any inconsistencies that you may introduce into your account, by being over zealous. Their aim is to show you up to be either a liar or someone who cannot be trusted, whether you are telling the truth or not. The outcome of trials, the judgement, although totally unfair, is often decided by the manner of the parties involved and how they acted throughout the case, as the hammer has to come down on one side or the other.

Small Claims

Small claims cases rarely last more than a few hours and are held in much more informal settings than the main courtroom with its bench and stands and gallery. The hearings usually take place in a small room or chambers in the Court building.

Unlike in the main courtroom neither the Judge nor Barristers if present, are obliged to wear the wigs and gowns. There is usually no court recorder present and the protocol rules for addressing the bench are much more informal than in a main courtroom, although one should employ courtesy and respect at all times if you wish to succeed in your claim.

Large Claims

Large claims or multi-track claims as they are known are set when the amounts of damages in dispute and the legal costs on both sides exceed the limits for the small claims court.

In a full hearing, only barristers are allowed to address the bench, although witnesses are often called to speak and explain a point directly to the Judge. In doing so you are required to address the Judge as 'Your Honour'.

The Hearing

Court hearings can be daunting experiences even for the most outwardly going people. Courtrooms are very busy places. In a full court hearing there will be legal teams from both parties on separate sides of the room. They will be assisted by expert witnesses. There is always a public gallery and the Press may well be present, in particular hacks from local newspapers. There will be Court Reporters and a Stenographer recording the details of what is said and Ushers controlling the flow of witnesses. There will be a witness box where you are obliged to take the stand, give an oath on a religious document of your choice, and then be cross-examined on the contents of your statement.

The Procedure

Under Court Procedure Rules (CPR) in the United Kingdom the onus of any trial is on the claimant and any accident witnesses he may have, to take the stand first.

If you are the claimant be prepared to take the stand in the witness box on the first day of the trial. You will be cross-examined first by the other party's barrister and then by your own to give your story. Throughout the Judge will be making their own notes.

You are not allowed to give speeches of your version of events of the car accident. You are only allowed to speak in answer to a particular question that is put to you.

In a full hearing you will be cross-examined first by the other party's barrister who will try to destroy your evidence. Be prepared for personal attacks and dirty tricks to try to get you to say something different to what you claimed in your statement. Above all keep calm, stop and think about what you are going to say, and if necessary you are perfectly entitled to refer to your statement. Your Barrister will then cross-examine you to try to establish the points in your favour, and discredit any flack you may have suffered under the previous cross-examination.

Following your evidence the defence party will go through the same procedure. Expert witnesses may well then be called for both sides. Typically these may be motor engineers or claims assessors.

In a full hearing the events are drawn to a close by a summation from both parties barristers and a plea to the bench to find in their favour. The Judge then retires to consider the verdict or judgement as it is known in the UK civil proceedings. Quite often this may not be delivered until the next day.

Costs of a Car Insurance Accident

Immediately following the verdict it is quite common to have a costs assessment hearing, where costs are awarded. Costs in a multi track case in the UK that lasts a week, are on average for both parties in excess of one hundred thousand pounds.

Even if you win you the judge may only award a proportion of costs in your favour. There are rules governing behaviour of both parties throughout the case and offers known as 'part 36 offers' give some indemnity against full costs sometimes being awarded.

Accidents can cost a lot more than expected and it is important that you have adequate legal expenses protection included in your policy cover. If you don't, that cheap car insurance policy could very soon turn into fools gold.

If you are going to compare car insurance policies and you eventually opt for cheap car insurance, even if the cover levels for the policy seem reasonable, ask about unisured losses and make sure the car insurance policy includes at least one hundred thousand pounds worth of legal protection cover.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Healey
http://EzineArticles.com/?Car-Insurance-Legal-Expenses-Protection-is-Essential-Coverage----See-You-in-Court!&id=2157547

Compare Classic Car Insurance online

Comparing car insurance online can be a minefield for any people, with so many options available online at the click of a mouse, it is often confusing, a problem that is exacerbated if you own a classic car and require specialist car insurance.

So how do you choose firstly a website, then a company, then the policy, that is going to be right for your prized possession, your cherished classic car?

You could like the majority of people start off by visiting a large car insurance comparison site, such as the ones you will see advertising during virtually every commercial break on television. don't expect to find any bargains at these types of sites. These comparison sites are designed around standard polices for standard vehicles, and although many of these sites willl now quote for classic cars, the premiums are often heavily loaded and more often far from competitive. Having spent time filling out the application form online it can be disappointing to find that most companies on the comparison panel are refusing to quote for your particular classic, or have loaded the premium as the do not want your business. For the majority of the large car insurance companies, classic cars mainly equate to expensive claims, and not profitable target business.

When comparing what can at first appear to be, cheap classic car insurance through one of thee large supermarket distribution outlets, be very careful to read all the wordings in the small print, paying particular close attention to the information regarding claims.

If you own a classic car you need to ascertain that in the event of an accident your classic car will be taken to a specialist or maker approved repairer and that only genuine replacement parts will be used on your car to repair it.

Unfortunately you will find that most mainstream car insurers have a network of approved repairers nationwide, and will often insist that cars covered under their policy contracts must be repaired through these outlets. In situations such as this, what appeared to be a bargain cheap classic car insurance deal at source, could prove to be a very expensive mistake.

The solution to the problem is to approach a specialist car insurer or broker, in particular one who has experience in underwriting classic motors, and preferably has a large book of business of classic car insurance. Unlike in many other professions for example healthcare, a specialist in car insurance is often cheaper than the High Street names and offer better value quality cover that can be tailored to the requirements of your specific classic car make and model. By specialising in a particular market niche these car insurers have developed group schemes for virtually every type of classic. By joining one of these schemes you are joining a risk pool of like minded individuals and similar cars.

The specialist car insurer is able to determine more accurate rates for a particular classic and you will also benefit from the power of group buying which delivers economies of scale in the form of shared risks and cheaper premiums.


Cheap Classic Car Insurance Online

Swinton Car Insurance comes of age

Swinton Car Insurance is fifty years old. Its nearly half a century since the car insurance broker opened its doors at its first branch in Salford. The high street car insurance distribution channel was born.
1959 was a time of prosperity when people were buying more cars than ever since the war, but finding car insurance wasn't easy like today. It wasn't possible to pick up a phone to a call centre or buy over the Internet.



In the 1950's it wasn't even possible to walk in off the high street with your new registration documents to buy car insurance. Swinton, by opening up high street branches, opened up car insurance to the masses.

Through the 1960's and 70's thee company grew rapidly and Swintons became the first car insurance broker to advertise on Television and set the tone for today's ubiquitous adverts in every commercial break. In the 1980's Swintons took the bold and early step to computerise their quotation systems and customer records. The economies of scale and the cost savings that this brought gave the company competitive edge and they expanded the branch network beyond the north west and right across the UK.

In the early 1990s Swintons became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Alliance and opened a national telesales and custiomer service Centre in Manchester. This was folllowed by another innovation and introduced a freephone 0800 number quotation line to link all the branches to the call centre.

Growth
In 2001, Swinton was acquired by La Mutuelle Du Mans Assurance (MMA), a French insurer. With this backing Swinton was able to buy Colonnade Insurance Brokers retail business and instantly had branches across 90% of the UK. The acquisition of the Budget retail branch network in August 2006 added a further 90 branches nationwide and meant that Swinton had acquired a total of 250 brokers in the past five years alone.

Swinton now has over 3,000 employees, and is responsible for over 2 million insurance policies.

Swinton are today a one-stop source of insurance and related cover homes, cars, caravans, businesses, holidays, motorbikes - and even classic cars. They check the UK's top insurers to find the best cover at the best price for their customers.



Specialist Car Insurance and Cheap Car Insurance

Sat Nav May Invalidate Your Car Insurance

The Association of British Insurers is warning that policyholders claiming for accidents that were a direct result of the use of in car Satellite Navigation systems, could find their car insurance invalidated in certain circumstances.

The statement comes following the most recent of a spate of accidents involving drivers of cars that were relying upon the use of directional in car sat-nav systems. The problem is quite often they either don't work to the programmed co-ordinates or they mistakenly take you off down some route or side track where your vehicle cannot possibly safely go.

In the latest incident last week, a man from North Yorkshire nearly drove of a cliff in the dark .....



and tragedy was only avoided by a small dry stone wall that stopped his BMW.



Robert Jones continued to follow the instructions when they told him the narrow, steep path he was driving on in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, was a road.
Mr Jones, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, only stopped when his BMW hit a fence above Gauxholme railway bridge on Sunday morning.
Police have charged Mr Jones with driving without due care and attention.
The 43-year-old, who works as a driver, said he relied on his sat nav for his job.

If you are arrested for driving without due care and attention your car insurance may well be invalid. Take particular care when following instructions from others while driving!

Car Insurance and Cheap Car Insurance

Specialist Car Insurance Schemes Will Save Classic Car Owners a Fortune!

Specialist Car Insurance Schemes Will Save Classic Car Owners a Fortune!

Despite the recession, perhaps because of the recession more and more car drivers are purchasing the classic car or performance motor they have always dreamed of owning and driving when they were younger. It may have been because they could never afford it, or more likely due to other commitments such as having to purchase a sensible family estate car for the wife and three children, that they are now making up for it - big time!

Times have changed and due to the economic crisis and a change in the attitude of a generation, sports cars and classic cars are all the rage with the baby boomers, who can now be seen driving around town in cars they once pushed around as dinky or matchbox toys when they were little boys and girls.

Those big kids who would once maybe invest in shares on the stock exchange are now putting their investments into tangible property, and classic cars and performance motors have become the investment collectors portfolio of choice. Consequently as demand for expensive cars rises, the supply of car insurance responds, and there are now some excellent money saving opportunities on the market that were only available to a privileged few before the advent of online underwriting.

For those of us who have eventually realised our dreams and secured that prized classic car or souped up modified sports car we always wanted, it is important to protect it with a comprehensive policy from an independent insurance specialist.

Specialist car insurance providers will save you money by presenting to you unique cover options, which have been specifically incorporated into the policy wording for your specific vehicle.

These bespoke policy types are known as classic car insurance schemes and are often initially drawn up by an underwriter, in request to a large pool of insurance presented by a classic car club club or society. Each manufacturer will have multiple members clubs and there may be many schemes for a particular car model.

Hence the policy wordings of classic motor and sports car insurance schemes often contain elements that are specific to a particular car make, type and model. These schemes often include additional benefits, such as helplines and approved specialist repairers who are on hand as part of the claims package.

Specialist car insurance schemes also provide cover for high performance, prestige, classic or sports cars in particular, and you could certainly save money by taking out a policy from a scheme associated with your car, rather than standard motor insurance from a insurance comparison supermarket.

If your car is not a regular everyday standard road vehicle, but is special with accessories and modifications, or it is worth over £10000 you may find yourself subjected to higher premiums from the standard motor insurance providers.

Wholesale insurance companies argue that handling claims and arranging specialist parts for replacement and repairs, tend to be much more difficult to arrange and expensive and the result is higher premiums. Many mainstream car comparison insurers do not want to cover you period, so they will try to exclude you and dissuade you by offering highly weighted premium quotes and expensive cover.

Worse still if you are forced to claim, you may even get sent to the wrong type of repair workshop by a standard insurer, when your motor or classic car requires specialist tools at the main dealer or makers garage!

You could be paying much less for your classic cover by switching to a specialist provider of classic car insurance. In certain circumstances, for example where your existing policy provider is charging you for unnecessary elements of cover, or does not really want you as a client as your profile does not match the optimal risk profile for their book of insurance business, you could save hundreds if you switch to a classic scheme. Additionally schemes more frequently than not offer exclusive discounts not found at the mega insurance supermarkets.

The benefits of these schemes are that you buy a product that is totally suitable for your individual situation and designed around your exact personal requirements and your classic or performance car's particular insurance cover needs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Healey http://EzineArticles.com/?Specialist-Car-Insurance-Schemes-Will-Save-Classic-Car-Owners-a-Fortune!&id=2155955


Cheap Car Insurance Schemes
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