Your car colour could raise your insurance
Updated | By Wendy Knowler
Learn how your car's colour affects insurance and important consumer rights. Wendy Knowler has the lowdown for you in the latest Consumer Hacks.
1. This is what your car colour choice is telling your insurer about you
Did you know that the colour of your car impacts
your insurance premium?
And not because lighter cars are more visible on the road than darker ones.
White and silver are considered conservative colour choices, while black and
red, in particular, are regarded as “more racy”.
“So someone who chooses to drive a black or red car is deemed by insurance
actuaries to be more aggressive drivers, and therefore more likely to have an
accident. And that’s reflected in their premium.
2. Before you try to fix your less-than-perfect new
purchase, consider this...
If something you’ve bought breaks in some way
within six months, don’t attempt to repair it yourself.
If you do, you will invalidate your Consumer Protection Act (CPA) right to your
choice of refund, repair or replacement.
Section 56 of the CPA warns that you give up that right if you alter goods
contrary to the instructions”.
Same goes for changing the plug which comes with an appliance.
3. You’re paying a cellphone insurance premium every month. But is your phone covered?
When you upgrade your phone, if you already have
cellphone insurance with your cellphone provider, update your policy with your
new phone’s details at the same time.
For a claim on those insurance policies to be valid, the listed SIM must be in
the device at the time of the event.
Also: check the replacement value of your insured phone. The best way to do
this is to ask what phone would be replaced with should it be lost or stolen.
You could well be over or under insured.
4. You need a UK visa even if you won’t leave the airport
I hear from so many people whose holidays were
spoilt because they didn’t know that you need a UK transit visa when flying to
a European destination via London.
Even if you don’t plan to exit Heathrow airport.
Rosalie and her family arrived at OR Tambo for their flight to Portugal via
London recently but were denied boarding by British Airways staff because they
didn’t have UK transit visas.
So they paid for new flights on Lufthansa with a Frankfurt stopover.
A very expensive lack of information!
5. Fabric softeners: a waste of money?
Yes, according to both Australia’s consumer
watchdog CHOICE and the USA’s Consumer Reports, who spend a lot of time and
money testing these kind of things.
They can irritate sensitive skin, and aren’t great for your washing machine
either, contributing to a gunky build-up known as 'scrud', which can be
redeposited onto your clothes.
They also reduce the water absorbency of towels and fitness gear as a side
effect of the softness – so the softer your towels come out, the less useful
they'll be for actually drying you.
The only real plus, according to Consumer Reports: “They are really good at
making your clothes smell like your Granny’s house.
Listen to more Consumer Hacks below:
Contact Wendy Knowler:
Get in touch with Wendy via her website or her Facebook page. Please note that Wendy is not able to personally respond to every email she receives. If she is able to take up your case, she will contact you directly. Here are other avenues for you to consider.
Show's Stories
-
Darren's daddy-daughter December itinerary
Darren Maule shares his festive fun guide to making December special for...
East Coast Breakfast 39 minutes ago -
TIME magazine’s Top 10 finalists for Person of the year
TIME Magazine has officially revealed their list of finalists for person...
East Coast Breakfast an hour ago