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I’ve talked about this subject before but recent statistics has caused me to mention it again. It seems that nearly six million drivers are caught out by auto renewals of their insurance, losing on average almost £120 per annum. I have to say when I changed my insurer at my last renewal I saved nearly £400 per annum so I know how important it is to shop around every year.

The research was carried out by comparethemarket.com and revealed that the average saving by shopping around is £119.39, up from £106 at the start of the year. Younger motorists suffer most when auto renewing with premiums being up to 30% more than could be achieved by shopping around.

And don’t just go onto the comparison sites, don’t forget that some of the cheapest insurers such as Direct Line are not on the comparison websites. So make sure you try them as well. Although I would strongly advise against Zurich who tried every way they could to avoid paying out on a damaged laptop of mine.

The Financial Ombudsman Service told them on 3 occasions to pay out but it wasn’t till the Ombudsman made a final ruling, two and a half years later, that they were told that they were wrong not to payout. They are crooks – don’t use them! Also don’t overlook insurance brokers, they certainly come into their own in the event of an accident and dealing with the paperwork. By Graham Hill

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued warnings about a number of scams that are doing the rounds perpetrated by brokers who are not authorised by the FCA.

They will be looking to take action against such companies when they are found but in the meantime the onus is on consumers to make sure they check that the person providing the finance/advice/services is properly authorised.

Especially the case when you are asked to part with money upfront as a commitment fee or a deposit to secure a car that will be financed. Their advice is ‘We strongly advise you to only deal with financial firms that are authorised by us, and check the Financial Services Register to ensure they are.’

And here’s the rub, if you give money to an unauthorised firm, you will not be covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. So as I pointed out recently the first consideration should not be the rate that you are offered, be that a lease rate or APR, but the company that offers it and will represent you going forward. You have been warned – yet again! By Graham Hill

I am sitting here with a smirk on my face as I am surrounded by women who believe that they are less aggressive drivers than me and men in general! As if?

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

Well I can announce today, thanks to a survey carried out by telematics technology provider, In-Car Cleverness, that women are faster drivers than men – it’s official, we have the statistics and as we know statistics never lie!

In order to come up with this astounding piece of information they surveyed the driving habits of those driving rental cars. They monitored the hire of over 10,000 rental vehicles and found that female customers were more likely to exceed speed limits than men. In fact the survey showed that women exceeded the speed limit 17.5% more times than men.

Having said that they returned fewer damaged cars than men. In fact they found that 84% of cars returned with scratches, dents and punctures were driven by men. Hmmm. By Graham Hill

Having a blog means that I get to hear some very dopey stories. The latest was a car that was delivered by transporter to a customer. As excited as he was about driving his new car something wasn’t right.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

He couldn’t put his finger on it but each time he walked towards the car a bell was ringing in his head but what was it? He walked all around the car trying to find a dent or something obviously wrong but could find nothing. After two days of driving the car he realised what it was, there was something wrong with the registration number.

He checked his agreement and realised that the car had been issued with a different number to his agreement. As it turned out there were two identical cars on the transporter, delivered on the same day to two different customers. Whether the dealer had issued the paperwork incorrectly or the delivery driver dropped the cars off to the wrong owners I couldn’t get to the bottom of, but as both cars were insured by the drivers on the other’s registration neither were insured to drive the car they were driving.

The fact is that they may never have known until the cars were returned or sold – how crazy is that? The other driver didn’t have a clue but apparently went loopy when he was told! And I don’t blame him!

The two drivers had their cars swapped and received a free first service. So when you have your car delivered check that the registration number agrees with your documents. By Graham Hill

I recently had a note from someone who was having major problems with a dealership over a fault that developed in his new car. The problem was taking far too long to resolve and the client was getting very frustrated. Even contacting the manufacturer didn’t seem to work so in a fit of rage he called the finance company, who legally still owned the car, Read more »

The motor industry gets a bad press when it comes to the way it treats customers but I feel certain that the vast majority of car dealers act honourably and fairly. However, treating customers fairly doesn’t make for good headlines so I tend to only read the stories about the atrocious behaviour of just a few dealers when the customer, normally a Read more »

In another Auto Express story a couple made an insurance claim after their car had been damaged in an accident whilst the car was unattended. As per the terms of the insurance they initially had to pay over £350 excess to get it back when the claim was finally sorted out. After 6 months the couple were still waiting to get their money back from Read more »

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I am very Mr Angry of Sussex. You see I get very frustrated when it comes to poor customer service, not helped by the fact that I’m the UK’s leading authority when it comes to vehicle finance so when I see a so called expert or an authoritative car magazine or national newspaper giving so called advice which is flawed I get bloody furious. Take a Read more »

Knowing what you are doing when it comes to car finance is so important. I know I bang on about it all the time but let me be quite clear if you guess and get it wrong it could end up costing you a fortune. In a recent edition of Auto Express a lady bought a 5 year old Mini Cooper S Convertible for £10,500 from a main dealer under the Cherished Car scheme. On her way home a warning light came on and the ABS cut in when it didn’t need to. Already a clear case of faulty goods. She returned to the Read more »

One of the most staggering things I reported recently was the running costs of used cars versus new cars, it was cheaper to run a new car than a used car. Now to add to the pain of used car motoring, statistics from secondary warranty suppler, Warranty Direct, shows that one in three repairs carried out on cars from 3 years old to seven years old is as a result of wear and tear. The small print in most of these warranty policies excludes such items so whilst motorists who take out these policies Read more »