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Government to scrap mandatory paper car insurance certificate21 May 2011by Donald MacKenzie The Government's so-called 'Red Tape Challenge' launched last month by the Prime Minister could result in the scrapping of the current mandatory requirement for motorists to have a paper version of their car insurance certificate. That's according to an announcement from the Department for Transport this week. The move could reduce administrative costs for insurance companies and unnecessary bureaucracy for motorists. The road transport regulations were one of the five targeted 'themes' within the first wave of the red tape challenge and over 400 of the Government's road transport regulations have been posted on the Red Tape Challenge website for feedback from the public. Other regulations that may be scrapped as a result of the red tape initiative include the procedure that councils have to go through when installing speed humps. These include minimum and maximum heights for the bumps and a minimum number of lights that need to be installed nearby. Road Safety Minister, Mike Penning, comments: “We are calling on everyone: consumers, businesses and volunteer groups to get involved and help reduce the number of badly thought out and obsolete regulations in our country". The aim is that by reducing red tape, businesses will find it easier to grow and thrive. The AA and other road transport stakeholders have welcomed the initiative. Of course if a physical car insurance certificate is no longer needed, when consumers buy their cover online as most do, they may be served with an electronic policy only unless they request paper documents. The latter, if requested, might carry an administration fee, especially for the ultra-budget no frills policies. One possible effect of this could be for consumers to pay less attention to their policy features. When sent paper documents in the post, which occurs during the statutory cancellation period of the policy, the consumer can cancel if on scrutiny of these documents he decides that the cover is unacceptable. Many do cancel their policies during this 'cooling off' period and a proportion will have done so as a result of taking a closer look at their policies when they arrive in the post. Clearly, waiting until your car insurance policy documents are posted is not the best time to have a careful look at the policy in detail but for those that are in the habit of not checking over their policy until it is sent to them, they will need to conduct that policy scrutiny earlier in the process - at the time when it makes most sense to do it - before buying the cover. In relation to the last point, it is worth remembering that because price comparison sites only present (at best) summarised policy information, a look at the policy schedule on its provider's website is wise before selecting your cover online. Where you're looking for a better level of cover, going direct can be an efficient way to buy. Using a top brand (see listings below) tends to lead to a competitive price; so you can get away without the need to compare lots of prices yourself. |
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