Icy conditions herald sharp rise in motor insurance claims

New figures from AA Insurance have revealed that the recent icy weather has caused a spate of collisions, with the insurer seeing a third more claims than usual.

Despite warnings of plunging temperatures and the heavy snow showers that swept the east and south-east of Britain this morning, many drivers have been caught out in the slippery conditions. The Cardiff motor claims office of AA Insurance has seen a 31% increase in the number of claims received, compared with a normal winter Friday.

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance said:

“Our Cardiff office received its first snow-related insurance claim at 07.22 this morning. Since then, there have been 60 specific claims for collisions in the snow and ice and a dozen customers have ended up in ditches.”

In all, 381 claims had been reported to midday compared with just 291 expected on a typical Friday morning.

Claims include losing control on bends and gradients; collisions with lamp-posts, road signs, fences and parked cars, hitting curbs and damaging wheels and steering, tail-end collisions and crashes after failing to stop at a junction because of icy conditions. Two accidents were caused by large amounts of snow and ice falling off lorries and hitting following cars.

During the morning, AA patrols were also flat-out with a ten-fold peak in the rate that breakdowns were being reported while the AA’s Land Rovers were scrambled to assist motorists stuck in snow or having slid off the road.

“Our advice is clear: in such conditions, don’t take your car out unless it is absolutely essential to do so. Keep your speed down and in as high a gear as possible. Try to avoid sudden braking and allow plenty of space between you and the vehicle in front and remember that other drivers may not be as careful as you might be,” added Mr. Douglas.