This section of Part 1 of our Breakdown Cover Special will talk you through how to minimise the chance of the top-ten causes of car breakdowns happening to your vehicle.
According to the AA many of the most common problems dealt with at the roadside can “be avoided with the correct preventative care”.
Breaking down is not only inconvenient; it can also be very dangerous.
This section of the first part of our Breakdown Cover special will guide you through the ten most common causes of breakdowns
Any vehicle can break down, regardless of how old or new it is. You could buy a brand new car and be driving it home from the garage on the motorway and accidently puncture a tyre, or you could be driving your 14-year-old 1.1 litre Peugeot down the road when the exhaust decides it’s time to fall off, suddenly making your small car sound like a tank.
In this five-part special, which will be released over the course of eight weeks, we are going to talk you through different aspects of car breakdowns. Part 1 ‘What are the ten most common causes of breakdowns and what can I do to prevent them?’ will be released tomorrow and will provide handy hints and tips which will hopefully reduce your chances of breaking down in the first place.
Later parts will guide you through such things as what you should do if you break down on motorways and standard roads, how to use jump leads and the importance of a good breakdown cover policy.
Barclays are offering £50 cashback when you buy a combined buildings and contents home insurance policy.
It is also offering a 10% online discount which will be applied on each occasion you go on to renew your policy.
Barclays can provide buildings insurance up to £500,000 and contents insurance up to £50,000.
Your TVs, satellite boxes, aerials, games consoles, glass and mirrors will be covered in the event of accidental damage when you take out Barclays Contents Home Insurance.
What’s more, under the buildings insurance Barclays will provide you with up to £10,000 for you, your family and even your pets to live in temporary accommodation if you home becomes inhabitable as a result of fire or a flood.
Click the link for more information about Barclays Home Insurance
MBNA has recently launched single and annual multi trip travel insurance products.
Both products include free cover for children under the age of 4 and £10m cover for medical expenses abroad (per trip on the annual products).
MBNA credit card customers will also receive a 10% discount if they pay for their travel insurance policy on their card.
Travellers can choose between a choice of cover for short or long breaks for either business or pleasure in the UK or abroad.
MBNA Single Trip insurance policies start from as little as £4.10 with the option of adding up to 17 days winter sports cover.
Children under the age of 18 are covered for free on Single Trip Family policies.
The MBNA Annual Multi-Trip travel insurance starts from £39.72 for a single person policy and £61.44 for a Family policy and covers the policyholder for as many trips as they like during the year, whether they are in the UK or abroad, for up to 31 days each time.
The annual policies include free cover for children under 18 both when travelling with the adults covered under the policy and when travelling independently.
Policyholders will also enjoy lower premiums because of the loyalty discount they will receive when they renew their multi-trip cover the following year.
Click the relevant link for more information about MBNA Travel Insurance and the MBNA credit card.
Earlier this month we reported that Norwich Union had conducted research which found that 51% of British holidaymakers were considering leaving travel insurance off of their list of holiday essentials this year due to the increased pressures resulting from the credit crunch(News article: ‘Scrapping travel insurance ‘isn’t worth the risk’’).
When we reported this story, we knew that we would have to bring our readers methods to cut the cost of their travel insurance, as well as reasons why it’s not wise to leave for a holiday without this cover. We thought this is especially important considering we have just entered the peak holiday season.
The Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) says “Don’t travel without insurance...take out adequate Travel Insurance or you could face a huge medical bill if you fall ill and need treatment”.
Norwich Union reported that in 2007, over £60m was paid out in insurance claims with the cost of the average medical claim at £1,200 and the average luggage claim at £220.
The FCO reports that it costs £35-45,000 for an air ambulance from the East coast of the USA back to the UK.
There are several ways you can cut the cost of your travel insurance and some even mean that you shouldn’t lose out on the amount of cover you receive.
Sainsbury’s has launched a new offer on its car insurance where new customers can get 12 months cover for the price of 10.
What’s more, customers will still be eligible for the usual 10% online discount.
Sainsbury’s Car Insurance offers its policyholders the chance to earn up to a 75% no claims discount and, in the event of an ‘insured’ accident, will arrange a free courtesy car whilst the damaged car is in for repairs.
Sainsbury’s will also replace children’s car seats automatically after an accident and provide £200 cover for any Sainsbury’s shopping in your car if it gets damaged in an accident or fire, or if it gets stolen.
Policyholders also have access to a 24 hour accident recovery service along with a 24 hour helpline.
Click the link for more information about Sainsbury’s Car Insurance
This offer is current as of 15th JULY 2008. Terms and Conditions apply. For more offers please refer to the Offers section of compareandsave.com’s ‘Your money matters blog’.
Direct Line Pet Insurance is currently offering new customers a £20 contribution towards flea prevention.
According to Frontline, a popular flea prevention medicine chosen by the majority of vets, “the irritation that fleas, ticks and lice can cause your pet may only be part of the problem”.
“Fleas and ticks have the potential to pass on diseases that can affect you pet and, rarely, you too.”
The company also say that it is likely that your cat or dog will “experience a flea infestation at some time in their life”.
Frontline generally costs around £30 (online) for a course of 6 treatments for a dog weighing between 20 and 40kg and around £12 for a course of 3 treatments for a cat.
However, if you take out Direct Line Pet Insurance, you will be given a £20 voucher towards this cost which will take the sting out of the cost of this essential purchase for your much-loved cat or dog.
What’s more, Direct Line Pet Insurance comes with a 10% online discount and a further 10% discount if you insure more than one pet (there is a limit of one voucher per customer, not per pet, however more than one pet could likely be treated with one purchase of the flea prevention remedy).
Plus, Direct Line will pay the vet direct in the event of a claim so you won’t have to worry about stumping up large sums of money should your pet become ill leaving you with more time to care for your pet instead of worry about finding the money to get them well again.
Click the link for more information about Direct Line Pet Insurance
This offer is current as of 11th JULY 2008. Terms and Conditions apply. For more offers please refer to the Offers section of compareandsave.com’s ‘Your money matters blog’.
According to Sainsbury’s Finance, over 50 million domestic holidays are taken by UK residents each year.
The obvious thing that comes to mind when thinking about travel insurance is the medical cover it provides should you become ill or be injured whilst abroad.
It wouldn’t be silly to presume that Britons taking domestic holidays think they don’t need travel insurance because if they get ill or injured they think they will be treated under the National Health Service (NHS) as normal. Of course, they would be right about the NHS part, but possibly wrong about not having a need for travel insurance.
Travel insurance would not be needed by a Briton to cover their NHS treatment in another area of the UK but it could still be considered an essential because things can go wrong no matter where you are on holiday.
Sainsbury’s Car Insurance recently conducted research and found that 17% of UK drivers are planning on taking their cars abroad this year.
We thought we would bring you some top tips to help if you decide to take a road trip abroad in 2008.
Tesco Car Insurance is offering a voucher for a free MOT at Nationwide Autocentres (worth £50.35) to its new customers.
To get your free MOT all you need to do is buy a Tesco Car Insurance policy before July 23rd 2008 and enter the promotional code freemot into the promotional code box on the application form. The voucher will be valid for one year.
Plus, you can now earn 1 Clubcard Point for every £2 you spend on your Tesco Car Insurance policy and get up to a 15% online discount when you buy online.
What’s more you could benefit from a multi-car discount if another member of your household is already insured with Tesco Car Insurance and you will receive exclusive discounts with Nationwide Autocentres.
The offer excludes Northern Ireland and Tesco’s Value Car Insurance and does not apply to vehicles which are not less than 3 years old as at 30/09/08.
Click the link for more information about Tesco Car Insurance
This offer is current as of 27th JUNE 2008. Terms and Conditions apply. For more offers please refer to the Offers section of compareandsave.com’s ‘Your money matters blog’.
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