Car modifications can increase insurance premiums by a whopping 139% – or £545 – finds Confused.com, the UK’s leading car insurance comparison service.Research from Confused.com found that quotes for cars with and without modifications could differ by up to £1026.42 – or 182% – based on a 20 year old male driving a VW Golf 1.5l, with no claims or convictions. Typical modifications include spoilers, alloy wheels, tinted windows, lower suspension and strip under-lighting.

Will Thomas, head of car insurance at Confused.com, said:

“As car modifications become more popular with young drivers, it is important that they are made aware of the ensuing cost of car insurance. Adding spoilers and tinted windows, for example, can not only dramatically increase car insurance premiums, but they can render car insurance void in some instances, especially when the driver fails to inform the insurer of any changes.

“It also needs to be considered that adding modifications to your vehicle can greatly depreciate its value when selling it on. If drivers must modify their cars, we urge our customers to shop around before committing to one insurer.”

For every tonne of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) that their customers vehicles give off, they will plant enough trees to offset this. Their projects are UK based, independently verified and approved by the Forestry Commission. Over the next 12 months, they hope to plan over 60,000 new trees. For each year a customer remains they will continually plant new trees to offset their car emissions.

Get a quote with the Green Car Insurance Company

Cheaper Cover, Safer Planet - switch to ibuyeco 100% carbon neutral car insurance!

ibuyeco is the newest brand from the BGL Group of companies, the UK’s largest personal lines intermediary with over 1 million customers group wide. Not only will they get you a great deal on your cover by searching for the best quote from 30 top insurers, they’ll make it easy for you to offset 100% of your car’s carbon emissions - balancing out the impact yourr driving has on the environment.

They search: Norwich Union, Zurich, Allianz Insurance Plc, AXA, Churchill, Fortis, Legal and General, Provident, CIS, Groupama, MMA

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RETURN TO INVOICE GAP INSURANCE (RTI)

• Premiums start at just £73
• For cars owned under 3 Months.
• Available for cars purchased privately or from a dealer
• Click4Gap RTI Gap Insurance is available to you whether you paid cash, borrowed the money from a Bank or Motor Loan or even have a contract hire (PCP) agreement.
• Cars can be up to 7 years old when the policy is purchased

If your car is a Total Loss (stolen or written-off), RTI Gap Insurance refunds the difference between what you paid for it (the “Invoice Price”) and the Motor Insurers depreciated value.

EXAMPLE
This means that if you paid £16,000 for your vehicle and the Motor Insurers settlement if the car is a Total Loss is £10,000, RTI Gap Insurance will refund the difference of £6,000 to you directly.

Price paid: £16,000
Motor Insurers settlement £10,000
Shortfall paid to you by GAP: £6,000

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RETURN TO VALUE GAP INSURANCE (RTV)

• Premiums start at just £55
• For cars owned over 3 months
• Available for cars purchased privately or from a dealer
• Click4Gap RTV is available to you whether you paid cash, borrowed the money from a Bank or Motor Loan or even have a contract hire (PCP) agreement.
• Cars can be up to 7 years old when the policy is purchased

If your car is a Total Loss (stolen or written-off), RTV Gap Insurance refunds the difference between the value of your car when you buy the policy and the Motor Insurers depreciated value.

EXAMPLE
This means if your cars value when you buy an RTV Gap Insurance policy is £15,000 and your Motor Insurers settlement if the car is a Total Loss is £11,200 RTV Gap Insurance will refund the difference of £3,800 to you directly.

Price paid: £15,000
Motor Insurers settlement £11,200
Shortfall paid to you by GAP: £3,800
An RTV Gap Insurance policy can be taken out up to seven years after you bought your car!

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According to a recent survey out , 78% of Britons have changed their behaviour to become ‘greener’ in the last twelve months but that doesn’t extend to being able to give up their cars to help protect the environment.

The findings taken from a survey of 1500 car users, confirm that using the car to get to work, take the children to school and collect the shopping is an essential part of life for Britons today and that for over three quarters of those involved public transport was not a viable alternative to the car.

Other key findings from the survey commissioned by ibuyeco, the new eco-friendly UK car insurance scheme, included

• Less than a third of respondents were willing to take part in International Car Free Day
• 73% of people have no idea how much CO₂ the average car emits
• More women than men are concerned about their car’s environmental impact
• More women than men feel they have done more in the last 12 months to become greener
• However more men than women would be willing to give up their car if public services improved
• Meanwhile nearly twice as many women as men are worried about overcrowding on public transport
• Public transport was not considered a viable option because of time/delays (35%), convenience (30%), cost (27%)
• People in the North East worry most about the environment compared to other regions in England, Scotland and Wales
• People in South East least likely to give up their car and least concerned about ‘green’ car issues
• Regions with greenest changes are Wales and Scotland
• Recycling is the No. 1 green activity with 80% admitting to recycling household waste and only 7% saying that they haven’t done anything at all to become greener

However for car owners with a conscience, ibuyeco provides a practical solution to helping protect the environment without having to give up their cars. With ibuyeco, drivers can now use part of their insurance to counter the damage done by their cars to the environment by offsetting all of their CO2 emissions for the duration of their policy.

One of the first schemes of its kind in the UK, ibuyeco is a competitively priced insurance offering inclusive of the carbon offsetting fee. A small additional amount is added to customers’ insurance cost to counter the damage done by driving a car. This is calculated based on the type of vehicle and the estimated mileage details provided by customers. Emissions are calculated using guidelines from several key groups and bodies, including DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). Despite the addition, ibueyco compares well against other insurance products on the market and research has shown that consumers can actually save money with the scheme, compared to other brands; up to £175.88!

The additional amount contributes towards the funding of specific projects via The CarbonNeutral Company (TCNC), one of the world’s leading full service carbon management businesses. The projects fall into different categories, including energy efficiency, reforestation and renewable energy, and are based both home and abroad.

*Based on independent online research by Consumer Intelligence during 1st April 2007 to 30th April 2007. 10% of consumers achieve this saving with ibuyeco Motor Insurance

Over a third of UK households now own more than one car and new research has revealed that they are less likely to have a car accident than single car households.

Insurance specialist, Admiral, which offers the MultiCar policy for multiple car owners, looked at data from over 200,000 accident claims and found that households with two or more cars are 22% less likely than single car households to be involved in a crash.

Admiral MD, Sue Longthorn said, “Approximately seven million households in the UK now have two or more cars and according to our research they are the safest drivers on our roads.

“Multiple car owners also drive higher value vehicles with their cars worth an average 27% more than single car households. Having spent more on their car, perhaps they drive more cautiously in order to protect their pride and joy. Multiple car drivers could also have more driving experience because they have access to a number of different cars.”

There are many different kinds of households with more than one car including couples with grown up children, car enthusiasts with more than one car, shared houses of students and friends and even families with au pairs. The most common multiple car households are car enthusiasts and couples with grown up children, making 46% and 42% respectively. Households of young people make up 11.5% and families with au pairs just 0.5%.

Households with more than one car are also 32% less likely than those with only one to keep their car on the street.

Sue Longthorn continued, “This may mean their car is less likely to be hit while parked and as such can decrease their chances of having an accident.”

Up to five cars can be insured on Admiral’s MultiCar policy. Each driver covered also keeps his or her own no claims bonus so if one motorist on the policy has to make a claim then only that person’s no claims bonus will be affected. MultiCar also unites the renewal date for all the cars on cover.