Moaners or victims? - men and motoring fines
Research for Saga Motor Insurance shows that men over 50 are almost twice as likely (16%) to say they have been the unfair victim of a speeding fine than women (9%) and 50% more likely to feel they have wrongly received a parking ticket (men, 27% and women, 18%). Overall, two fifths of people feel they have been the unfair victim of a parking ticket while one in ten motorists say they were victim of an unfair speeding fine.
Overall, some 40% of motorists do not bother to complain and the most common reason for men was because they were afraid of costs involved while women did not know where to start.
Being afraid of conflict tops the list of reasons why motorists haven't challenged a garage for poor servicing or repairs. Women are the most likely to put on a brave face and complain to a garage (men 13% vs women 18%). In fact, women over 50 appeared to be considerably more successful than men when complaining to garages for poor servicing and repairs (women, 23% and men, 17%).
People are the most confident when challenging parking tickets as almost a third (30%) of motorists admitted to challenging unwanted parking tickets while only one in 20 motorists complained about a speeding fine.
Challenging fines and tickets seems to pay off as one third of over 50s (men, 33% and women, 31%) who challenged a parking ticket believed they were successful. Complaining could save motorists a considerable amount of money as the government intends to increase speeding fines to a whopping £90 while parking tickets range from £40 to £130.
Pothole damage is more prevalent in the South and in Scotland with one in five people surveyed saying they have suffered damage caused by a pothole in each of these regions. However, of the one in six UK motorists who have suffered such damage only one in 17 people have been successful when complaining to the relevant people.
Regionally, Wales is the capital of unfair parking and speeding fines with 23% saying they have unfairly received a speeding fine and 27% saying they have been victim of an unfair parking fine. A quarter (26%) of Londoners say they have received a parking fine unfairly and interestingly a whopping 44% have challenged them.
Chief Executive, Saga Services, Roger Ramsden said: "Unfortunately the research doesn't prove if men are better drivers than women, but it does show that men feel more hard done by when things don't go their way."
More than half of over 50s agreed that if they had access to a service that helped them draft letters to challenge these issues then they would be more likely to complain to the relevant people.
Saga Legal Services helps the over 50s draft professional letters to contest various motoring issues from challenging unfair motoring fines to complaining about damage caused by potholes. These services are free to customers who have Saga Motor Legal protection and are available for a small fee for those without.