Car
Insurance for the Over 50's
More than 20 million people,
around 1/3 of the population, are age 50 or over.
These people will constitute over half the world’s population
by 2020.
Average disposable income
among adults with grown children is around £15,500 a
year, and research shows that 50 to 69-year olds take an impressive
four to six holidays in a year. Yet financial services companies
have been a tad slow in providing products tailored to this
sector.
Age
Concern, Saga and
insurer RIAS all offer
specialist products to older people. But are they necessarily
the best value?
Many of the older clients are not being offered the best choice
from the companies who target the 50+ and retirees. They are
not being offered the best deal and should not restrict themselves.
If they shopped around, they could find better rates elsewhere.
INSURANCE
By going to insurance companies
specializing with the 50+ age, does not guarantee cheaper
premiums. The companies involved do not claim to be just competing
on price.
Saga say they are aware they’re
not the cheapest, but that they aim to compete with good service
and support. They feel that older drivers know what good and
bad service is, and that their customers in this age group
are likely to be more demanding about it.
Research shows the Saga policy
is tailored towards their Saga customers – a group of
people who often travel to Europe. It therefore allows unlimited
European travel. Most policies only cover the client for a
set period (30 or 90 days for example) in Europe annually.
Why pay extra for something you do not need?
David Douce is co-founder
of www.seniorconcessions.co.uk,
a website gateway to all types of concessions for the 50+
people. From his research he found shopping around for price
and features is not easy and feels there is not one, cheapest
supplier of insurance for the 50+ crowd.
Why is age so important
in premiums?
With petroleum prices shooting up, plus the increasing car
prices, hardest hit will be the 50+ who represent 2/3rds of
private car owners. Therefore it is even more important –
vital in fact - to shop around for the best insurance
deal.
Unlike younger travellers, the over-50s car-owners have a
much greater choice. Motorists of 50-60 can often get much
cheaper deals than motorists in other age groups. This is
because they are usually more experienced drivers, and also
they’re deemed to be more responsible than younger drivers.
If retired, they use fewer miles.
Reach the late 60s and premiums do start rising. The late
60s group are most likely to be accident prone. In reality,
each insurance policy will depend on each individual's capability,
rather than simply their age.
Contrary to popular stereotypes, statistical evidence shows
that more mature drivers are actually the least likely of
all types of driver to be involved in road accidents. But,
even though some insurers regard older drivers as high risk,
other insurers are targeting this age group with low premiums!
No upper age limit on policies
· Age Concern
· Help the Aged
· RIAS
· Cornhill Direct
· NatWest
No age limit for existing customers
· Churchill
· CIS
· Eagle Star
· Esure
· Halifax
· Liverpool Victoria
· More Than
· RAC Insure
· Sainsbury's Bank
· Tesco
Cut-off age of 80
· Abbey National
· Direct Line
· Egg
· Hastings Direct
Place of residents and type of car driven will obviously
influence the cost of the 50+ insurance policy. Also the driving
record and prior points will help determine the premium cost.
To obtain an exact quote for the 50+ person, contact several
brokers or do your own research online.
|
