Premiums May Fall For Good Drivers

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31226, 25 November 1966, Page 14

Premiums May Fall For Good Drivers

(sew Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, November 24. Motorists with several years’ driving experience and a good claims record may, in a few months, pay less in car insurance premiums.

Insurance officers said today a scheme was likely to be introduced early next year under which accidentprone drivers would bear the brunt of insurance costs.

Reductions for experienced drivers would be largely in the form of substantially increased no - claim bonuses, they said.

The Council of Fire and Accident Underwriters’ Associations announced last wee* it had set up a special committee, under Mr E. Lane, of Auckland, to study similar overseas schemes. It is expected that the com-

rrrittee will call a special general meeting of the council to adopt tiie scheme as soon as it has been decided. The council’s annual meeting is not until March. New methods of assessing car-insurance premiums which penalised inexperienced and accident-prone drivers have recently been introduced in South Africa and England. Most Australian insurance companies will adopt similar schemes in the next few days.

New Zealand may follow this trend. Features of the British scheme are a very wide range of premiums and a substantial difference between the cost of policies taken out in a city and those taken out in rural areas. Since November 1, all

makes of cars in Britain have been separated into seven groups for the purposes of assessing insurance premiums.

The cars are graded according to their power-weight ratio and the accident record of the make and model. Owners of cars in the top group which are not eligible for a no-claim bonus and who live in a densely-populated city area can pay as much as £l4O a year in premiums.

The owner of a car in the lowest group with maximum no-claim bonuses may pay as little as £lO a year.