AA car insurance sees rise in claims due to snow

21 December 2009 / by Rachael Stiles

The snow and ice experienced across Britain in the last week has led to an increase in car insurance claims, the AA has found.

Last Friday, the day of a significant snow fall in the UK, AA car insurance handled 100 claims for accidents related to the snowy and icy conditions by lunch time.

The most common type of claim is for one car going into the back of another, followed by hitting other moving vehicles on bends, junctions and roundabouts,

Even Brits who take the safe option and leave the car at home are not immune to the perils of other drivers, as some of the claims are from car owners who have had the stationary cars hit by others which are out of control, bouncing off parked cars on the roadside.

One AA car insurance customer had his car hit while it was in his drive, hard enough to push it through his garage door.

Drivers who do not remove the snow and ice from their cars before setting off are also putting other drivers at risk, the AA warns, because otherwise it can fly off in transit and hit other cars or pedestrians.

Two drivers who have had to make a claim were involved in collisions after snow and ice flew off lorries, causing a seven-car pile-up while the lorry driver drove off, completely unaware of the chaos they had caused.

Pieces of roadside furniture such as lamp posts, bollards, barriers, phone boxes and fences, suddenly become potentially hazardous obstacles in bad driving conditions as drivers lose control and slide into them.

Other drivers have ended up in ditches, landed in skips, or damaged their car on a kerb, causing them to make a car insurance claim.

With more low temperatures and bad weather on the way, car insurance claims could continue to rise in the run up to Christmas.

© Fair Investment Company Ltd