Insurance News Direct Line Green Car Insurance A ‘marketing Ploy’

Written by Editorial Team

10 July 2006 / by None

According to leading car insurance provider Direct Line, companies offering discounts to drivers of eco-friendly cars are just indulging in “a marketing ploy”.

Emma Holyer, a spokesperson for the company, said that the offers were grabbing headlines but in reality had little substance or made little difference to the way consumers should shop for insurance.

Ms Holyer stressed that ‘green’ cars were generally cheaper to insure anyway, given their lower specifications, and that drivers of ecologically-friendly vehicles could be expected to fall into the cheapest categories for insurance anyway.

“With the case of green cars, we see certain types of behaviour from the drivers. For example, because they are ecologically aware they are less likely to make shorter journeys and are also quite socially responsible,” she said.

“In our experience, we find that these cars tend to be driven by people in their 30s or 40s who are generally safe drivers,” she continued.

“They have some experience [and] they drive [fewer] miles so there is less chance to be involved in an accident. They are cheap to insure by their very nature.”

Direct Line Car Insurance grabbed headlines last month when it announced that it would be offering a discount on its insurance premiums for drivers of hybrid cars, although the advice from Direct Line is to shop around other insurers anyway as there may be better deals, despite the discount, elsewhere.

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