Following intensive lobbying by the British Insurance Brokers Association and other Insurance trade bodies, one of the last acts of Parliament from the previous Government sees the introduction of electronic motor insurance certificates being issued. The legislation responsible for this is the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Motor Vehicle (Third Party Risks) Regulations 1972.

The move has been welcomed by most of the insurance industry including online brands such as Swiftcover. It is estimated that nearly 10,000 trees a year may be saved if electronic certificates are issued through email or login to an insurers secure website. It is not clear at this stage how many UK car insurers or brokers will use the email or secure website method of distributing the e-certificates.

BIBA are keen to point however, that if accessing e-certificates is not an option because online access is denied then paper insurance certificates must still be sent through the post. In addition, e-certificates that are printed out using a local printer must be legible if they are to be used at the Post Office for the purposes of renewing car tax. It goes without saying that it is an offence to make changes to the e-certificate.

What is clear is that certain insurance companies and brokers will seek to gain an immediate advantage by introducing e-certificates straight away, therefore, reducing overheads. One can hope that the cost savings are in part passed on to motorists through cheaper insurance quotes.

Following constant campaigning by the Association of British Insurers, 80% of motor personal injury claimants injured in road traffic accidents will receive car insurance claim payouts within a period of nine months from the date the claim was notified. This news follows on from the announcement made back in September last year by the Ministry of Justice.

Up until now, it has not been uncommon for claims of this type to take two or more years which is both a drain on insurance company resources and also stressful for claimants. There is of course conditions attached namely that the new rules only apply to new claims made after the 30^th April 2010. Secondly, only motor personal injury claims estimated to fall within the £1,000 to £10,000 valuation are eligible. Thirdly, there will be three defined stages for each claim including collation of information, the claimant representative gathering evidence for the claim and a final stage if required if no agreement is reached on the value of the claim settlement.

In addition to the speedier resolution of these claims it is hoped that legal costs will be now fixed, therefore, reducing current legal bills, which are estimated to be adding around 10% of the cost of car insurance premiums. This will no doubt come as very welcome news for motorists who are suffering high fuel prices and soaring insurance premiums during the recession.