Up to 50 lives could be saved each year if motorcyclists wore the safest helmets available to them.

This is why SHARP came into being in 2007, after the Department for Transport found real differences in the safety performance of motorcycle helmets available in the UK. While all helmets have to meet minimum safety standards, research showed that up to 50 lives could be saved each year if motorcyclists wore the safest helmets available to them.

Taking the best bits from current standards around the world, SHARP raises the bar - putting motorcycle helmets through a more rigorous and targeted testing process.

Thanks to a simple five star scoring system, SHARP provides motorcyclists with independent and objective advice, revealing the different safety performances of UK motorcycle helmets.

You can see how helmets are tested by clicking here. We are not sure you would treat your own helmet like that, but it’s good news someone else has done the test for you.

Manufacturers are advised of the SHARP rating before it is published and they are able to lodge an appeal if the measured data does not match what they have seen in development or production testing. This process ensures that the SHARP rating is representative of a helmet’s performance.

The SHARP test involves 32 impact tests on a helmet model before awarding the SHARP star rating. Helmets that offer good levels of protection uniformly around the head rate highly in SHARP. That’s not to say a 1-star helmet won’t protect you. Regardless of its SHARP rating, every helmet on sale in the UK meets at least one recognised standard, ensuring it offers at least a minimum level of protection.

What do you think of the SHARP test and advice? Has SHARP influenced you when buying a motorcycle helmet?

Posted in key can help, riding tips | No Comments »

Insurance excess

What does insurance excess mean?

You agree to pay a fixed sum when you make a claim on your insurance policy. The insurance company will pay losses beyond that excess figure.

We tend to chose this option to reduce our insurance premium. Insurance companies like an excess as it puts you off claiming unless the sum involved is large. Excesses avoid small claims for broken lights and dented bumpers. Excesses save the insurance company money and expensive office work.

So everyone one is happy until a claim has to be made. When an insurance claim has to be made you need to know the score. Most people’s first thought after an accident is to contact their own insurance company. Yes your insurance company must be informed, but you do not need to make a claim. If you contact Your Key first we will deal with this notification for you.

Your Key says contacting us first on 08000 114 114 is the best course because:
• Our independent experts will assess if someone else is to blame and claim the expense and loss from their insurance company, and not from yours.
• Claiming on your own policy, even when someone else is to blame, can ruin your claims history.
• If you claim on your own policy you will have to pay out the excess.
• Your own insurance company may not chase the party to blame for their outlay.

You must understand the economics which sit behind this rather surprising position. Your insurance company is not your representative. It is an insurance company which has agreed to pay out in certain circumstances. Insurance companies like to keep admin costs to a minimum, so many do not like to chase other insurers for their outlay and your excess.

All legal expenses insurance policies are based on the ability to have legal costs paid by the party at fault if the claim succeeds, and the legal expenses insurance picks up those legal costs if the claim goes wrong. If there is no chance of the legal costs being paid by the other side then the legal expenses insurance will not support your claim. Legal cover insures the risk of you losing your claim rather than paying your legal costs outright.

So when can you recover legal costs?

If there is no injury, and the financial loss is below £5,000 your case falls into what is called the small claims category, and legal costs cannot be recovered from the party to blame.

If your injury is not worth £1,000 in compensation value, and the financial losses are worth less that £5,000, legal costs cannot be recovered.

If your injuries are worth more than £1,000, and the injury does not have to be too serious to be worth £1,000, then legal costs can be recovered from the party to blame if the claim for compensation is successful.

The Your Key legal cover is for any accident where an injury is suffered. We will help you recover compensation for the injury plus any financial losses, including your insurance excess.

We can suggest two alternatives where there is no injury, and the financial losses are worth less than £5,000. Both mean someone else handles the case for you, and this is important as it is best if you know the ropes.

Our first suggestion is to use credit repair for your vehicle. The credit repair company we use will assess what happened in the accident. If someone else is to blame the credit repair company will collect and repair your vehicle and send the bill direct to the insurer of the person who caused the accident. All the work is done by the credit repair company, and they will even inform your own insurer, and there is no need for you to pay your excess.

The second option is credit hire. If you have been involved in an accident, your vehicle is out of action, and there is no reasonable alternative available, then a credit hire company will hire a vehicle to you. Just like a credit repair company the bill will be presented to the insurer of the person who caused the accident.

Both repair and hire can be carried out on credit, and within recovery of the repair and hire costs your excess can be included.

Credit repair and credit hire have sometimes been given a bad name. Some credit companies have tended to allow hire to last too long, or to hire an unreasonably expensive vehicle. These problems have been overcome by agreements between the insurance and credit hire industries. Procedures and cost agreements are in place and for you that means a quick service and no need for you to pay anything, not even your excess.

Compare that to making a claim to your own insurance company when someone else is at fault. Yes your insurance company will sort out the repair, and might even arrange a courtesy vehicle, but you will pay out your excess. If your insurer does not chase the insurance company of the person to blame you are out of pocket, not once but twice. First you pay the excess, and because the insurer has paid out your claims record is damaged and your premium goes up. Not all insurance companies claim from other insurance companies, and even if they do they tend not to include your excess. That will not feel fair but it is a very regular problem. The reason is that most people call their own insurer after an accident, and they do what you have paid them to do, they repair or pay for the value of your vehicle.

To avoid these problems you must get independent help and support, and that is exactly why Your Key exists. Armed with the right advice you can deal with your problems without unnecessary cost and anxiety. This is the time to know the score, the time for independent accident advice and support from Your Key.

Posted in insurance advice, key can help, legal rights | No Comments »

The 30th Carole Nash Bristol Classic Motorcycle Show

We enjoyed ourselves at the classic motorcycle show. Thank you to everyone who stopped for a chat.

It was good to catch up with those who already have our free legal cover, and those who will join us now.

The question we were most regularly asked, is how can legal cover be free. We are open about how we earn our living. We can earn commission if we help after an accident. These commissions are taken by insurance companies, and insurance brokers, who of course charge for the legal cover. Let us earn those commissions and we will keep giving you free legal cover.

Anyway, back to the show, and many congratulations to those who took the prizes, and everyone who took part. The bikes gleamed after so much hard work and were a great credit to the individuals and clubs who entered them. In case you have not seen the results click here.

We think we saw Elvis. Did you?

We will be at the 30th Carole Nash International Classic Motorcycle Show, Saturday 24th April/Sunday 25th April 2010 - Stafford County Show Ground, Staffordshire, ST18 0BD. We look forward to seeing you there. We won’t be hard to spot.

Posted in great rides, key can help | No Comments »

30th Carole Nash Bristol Classic Motorcycle Show.
We will be at the classic motorcycle show at Shepton Mallet on 20 and 21 February 2010. You can find us on the balcony, stand B57.
It will be great to see as many members as possible. Bring along anyone who needs a little persuasion to join.
See you soon.

Posted in insurance advice, key can help, questions to yourkey | No Comments »

If you have been in an accident caused by someone else, and the consequences are not great, you may find yourself in a frustrating position.

We are talking about a case which the law calls a small claim. If there is not an injury worth £1,000, and the financial loss is below £5,000, you are in small claims territory. The classic situation is where your vehicle is damaged, and you have to pay for its repair, or you have paid your own excess. If your case falls into this category your legal costs cannot be recovered from the party at fault. All legal cover policies we know of cannot provide assistance in such a situation, simply because it is uneconomic to do so.

Another frustration is that your own insurer will not chase the insurer of the person to blame. So lets say you have fully comprehensive insurance, someone knocks over and damages your bike which is legally parked. You claim on your own policy, and have to pay the excess to the repairer. Most people think their own insurer will recover the cost from the party to blame. It might surprise you, but most insurers are not interested. Their job is to insure you, not represent you.

The insurance companies used to operate a knock for knock agreement. They recognised the swings and roundabouts of accidents and blame, they knew it was expensive to chase one another for repayment of their expense, so agreed to swallow their own losses. This agreement was kicked into touch some years ago, but some still operate along the same lines. So in the example above, where the accident is clearly the fault of someone else, both you and your insurance company have paid out, and your premium will go up next year.

So, what are your options?

If YourKey has arranged repair or hire you have a process within which your own expenses can be recovered. The benefit of credit hire in such a situation is that the paying insurer wants to keep the cost down, so will try to ensure repair is quick, and the hire period short. In this case the expense is recovered direct from the insurer of the person to blame, leaving your insurance record and wallet intact.

If we do not arrange hire or repair, then you have to recover the cost yourself, and here is how to do it.

Do not try to recover losses by telephone. The insurer will have a process, and telephoning does not short circuit the process, as you talk to a call centre rather than the person assigned the file. Write a letter, keep a copy, and although formal, you are much more likely to get a reply this way. Check the website of the insurer you are writing to for a fax number.

We recommend writing to the person you hold responsible, and their insurer at the same time. You will need to change the wording of the letter below to suit your situation. It is designed for writing to the person at fault only, but do send a copy for the insurance company.

To

Defendant (name and address of person you hold responsible)

Dear Sir or Madam,

Re: Claimant’s full name (that’s you)

Claimant’s full address
I wish to claim damages in connection with a road traffic accident on (date) at (place of accident which must be sufficiently detailed to establish location)

Please confirm the identity of your insurers. Please note that the insurers will need to see this letter as soon as possible and it may affect your insurance cover and/or the conduct of any subsequent legal proceedings if you do not send this letter to them.

The circumstances of the accident are:-

(brief outline)

The reason I am alleging fault is:

(simple explanation e.g. pulled out from minor to major road without looking, driving too fast)

The accident was reported to the police by (myself or name). I will obtain a copy of the police report if you do not accept what I say and agree you are wholly at fault. I will let you have a copy of the same upon your undertaking to meet half the fee.

My vehicle (manufacturer, model, and registration) needs repair. The vehicle is currently at (and is incurring storage charges). I would like to give you the opportunity to inspect my vehicle and put forward your own proposal as to the work required and the method of repair. If you do not wish to take up this offer I will arrange for the repairs myself, and send the invoice to you for payment.

In the accident the following articles were damaged:

(detailed description, date of purchase and price - remember you are only entitled to cost of repair or value at time of accident).

A copy of this letter is attached for you to send to your insurers.

Finally I expect an acknowledgment of this letter within 21 days by yourself or your insurers.

Yours faithfully

We help many members with this type of claim. We have also advised on making a County Court claim which is your next step if the letter does not work. The process is not difficult, it does not require a solicitor, but it does require a little time and determination. Don’t be fobbed off, and use the letter rather than the phone so the insurer sees you know what you are doing.

There is encouragement from the Guardian consumer rights man who brought a small claim against Carphone Warehouse.

There is some very useful guidance on the Government website by clicking here.

Let us know how you get on, and share your experience to help other members.

Good luck.

Posted in insurance advice, key can help, legal rights, questions to yourkey | 1 Comment »

One of the most regular questions from members is this:

I have fully comprehensive insurance. I was involved in an accident which was the fault of another driver. My own insurance company paid for my repairs. When my policy was up for renewal my premium was increased. That is exactly the result we would expect, and we will explain.

By law you must have third party insurance on a vehicle. Third party cover is for the damage you do through your own fault. You might then add to the cover by including fire and theft, and beyond that fully comprehensive insurance.

Fully comprehensive is not really fully comprehensive. All you are doing is insuring the vehicle and specified possessions to the policy in case they are damaged, regardless of fault. If you damage your own vehicle the insurer will pay to repair it, and if written off you will be paid the market value of the vehicle at that time. That is the market value at the time of the accident, and not the amount you insured it for.

Now when the damage to your vehicle is the fault of someone else our advice is to use YourKey and go direct to that person’s insurance company. Claiming on your own policy is fine, but your own insurer has no incentive to chase the insurance company of the person at fault. Some do, and some don’t, but if they have paid out money, and got nothing back, your insurance will increase in price next year.

Our advice, where another driver caused the accident, is to recover direct from the person to blame, and their insurer. The benefit is that you leave your own insurance record intact. We will inform your own insurer, and certainly you must include it when you renew, but if they have not paid a claim your premium should not go up at renewal.

How to recover your losses.

If you need repairs or a replacement vehicle YourKey will handle that for you. If someone else is to blame we will recover the cost of these services direct from that person’s insurance company.

If you were injured in the accident the YourKey scheme will arrange hire and repair, plus legal action. We will arrange a solicitor for you to act under your legal expenses insurance policy we gave you. That means you do not have to worry about legal fees, and you will receive 100% of your compensation. So everything you need is dealt with in one case.

The difficulty is when you have no injury, and your losses are small. The YourKey policy is for personal injuries caused by accidents. Without injury, and where we do not arrange repair and a replacement vehicle, the position can be difficult. This is because with losses below £5,000, legal costs cannot be recovered. You would not use a solicitor in such a case, as the costs would wipe out the value of the case.

The answer, and one which has worked for other members, is this:

1.       Make sure you have details of the person who is at fault, their insurance company and policy number.

2.       Write to that person, and send a copy to their insurance company.

3.       If you do not have insurance details remind the other person they must supply their own name and address, and details of their insurance cover.

4.       Your letter sets out what happened, why you hold the other person to blame, and the losses you have incurred. Always write, the alternative being the frustration of the call centre. You will be bounced from one person to the next. There is no advantage to them in dealing with your claim quickly, as they have many other cases on the go, and you have to make yours a priority. There are exceptions, but the feedback from our members is frustration.

Posted in insurance advice, key can help, legal rights, questions to yourkey | No Comments »

We have been using an 0800 number to date. Thanks to one of our members, Derrick, we realised we should offer an alternative number. The plan was that calling our number would be free, but an 0800 number is no longer the answer, as the cost to you depends on your phone package. Calling from mobiles can be expensive.

The fairest answer is to provide an alternative 0330 number.

Calling an 0330 number costs the same as calling an 01 or 02 landline number. The call should be included within your inclusive package.

We keep a close eye on your motoring and insurance costs and we hope this change helps you.

Thanks again to Derrick.

Posted in key can help | No Comments »

We are first and foremost an accident support service, but we have been used to reunite members with their keys.

Our first group of members have key ring cards with their membership number printed. We receive calls when keys are found, or left in parked bikes! We contact our member and put them in touch with the finder. This was not our intention, but it is a useful by-product of our service.

We are interested to know if other members are interested in having this facility. Let us know and we will think about it.

Please don’t leave your keys in your bike, or anywhere else.

Posted in key can help | No Comments »

Steve's query - My daughter was involved in a collision with a fire engine in October 2008. The station
commander on watch, that day came out to visit my daughter at her place of work. Apparently they
have to do this because they are a public service. However since then after interviewing the driver they
are not admitting liability and we are fighting to have the car fixed.As my daughter is in her first year
of driving her excess is £400, which is a lot of money for a student to find.
I'm currently chasing them through QBE insurance but this is slow going.
Have you any advise or could you help me find a solution to this problem.

The problem Steve faced was that the insurer was not dealing with the problem quickly. The car was
roadworthy, so no extra cost was being build up by their delay. We told Steve to obtain two repair
quotes, we told him how to approach the insurer in writing setting time limits and threatening to hire
a car while the repairs wre carried out.

Result - After speaking to you regarding a motoring issue involving my daughter,QBE insurance have
agreed to repair the car but have not admitted liability.
Nevertheless we have a result.
Thanks.
Steve

Liability is not ever admitted in such cases. That is not a problem, but persuading the insurer to
act is the issue, and we have a result here.

Posted in key can help | No Comments »

Your Key is an accident support service for its members. Members are recognising the need for independent advice and are turning to us for help on insurance and motoring issues. You will find we are pleased to help.

We have dealt with hundreds of calls after accidents. We have arranged recovery, hire and repair of bikes, cars, and other vehicles. When our member has been injured we have arranged an experienced solicitor to work under the legal expenses policy which is part of the Your Key protection.

We can do all this if the accident is the fault of another insured road user.

We have advised and taken up cases where the driver at fault is not insured. There are options available through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau.

Even if our member has nobody to blame for an accident we can still arrange services, but of course you or your insurer have to pay. We will always be competitive on price, and allow you choice as to who does the work. This contrasts with your own insurer who will rarely allow your own dealer to carry out the repair. Sometimes choice is just as important as price, and understanding how insurance works will often show you the best way to deal with any problem.

Our main aim is to help after accidents, but our role is becoming much wider.

Your Key team

Posted in key can help | 3 Comments »