Car insurers prepare for August rush

Motorists are being urged to shop around for the best car insurance quote this August. Next month sees the number of policies due for renewal reach its peak, and Privilege Insurance believes its offer to beat renewal quotes for drivers with four years or more no claims discount makes it ideally placed to win the battle for new customers.

The seasonal surge in insurance business is a throwback to the days when new car registrations were issued on the first of August every year. Although this system was scrapped in 2001 in favour of two dates for new registrations (in March and September) many motorists are still locked into this annual cycle. As a result, the beginning of August is the busiest time of year for car insurers.

Privilege is typical of the industry in that it experiences a huge leap in the volume of web site visits and phone calls in the first week of August. Compared to the weekly average for the year, the number of policies sold in the first week of August 2004 doubled.

As the only car insurer in the UK market to guarantee to beat renewal quotes for drivers who have not claimed for four years, August is particularly busy for Privilege. Special resourcing plans are in place at its Leeds call centre in order to cope with demand, and improvements have been made to the privilege.com web site to make it even quicker and easier to obtain a quote.

Ian Parker, Managing Director of Privilege Insurance, commented: "Shopping around for car insurance can seem like a chore, particularly during the summer, but customers should use it as an opportunity to challenge their existing insurer by comparing their renewal quote with the competition.

"We guarantee to beat renewal quotes for safe drivers who haven’t claimed for four years or more, but we have also made sure we don’t fall into the ‘new customers only’ trap. It’s important that we continue to look after existing customers by offering them competitive renewal quotes as well as great service."