Thursday, January 27, 2011
Oh, yes, my Porsche! I thought you were asking me about soup
Something tells me that Stoke City and one-time potential England saviour Jermaine Pennant probably doesn’t bother comparing the market before he buys his young driver insurance.
If he did, I might feel sorry for him. After all, he is the man who on being contacted by former club Real Zaragoza who were enquiring if he was the owner of an abandoned £98,000 Porsche apparently told them, “Nope, never seen it in my life.”
The club said that although they were sorry to bother him, they had a hunch the sports car might be his. The number plate was a bit of a clue: “P33NNANT”.
And considering that Pennant’s Spanish foray was short-lived – he was only there for three months, during which time he failed to endear himself to coach or fans, managing to be late for training three times in two weeks – I can only hope that he did the sensible thing and bought himself some low mileage car insurance.
Oh well, at least the call from Zaragoza has served some good. Pennant has now been reunited with his personalised number plates, which he now proudly bears on his brand new Ferrari. Let’s hope he remembers it’s his.
But, if by any chance he does forget, I’d be all too happy to help him remember that it’s actually mine and that the little Nissan Micra parked outside my house is in fact his.
image © tony.o’1863, via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Friday, January 21, 2011
Frontin' in the name of...
In music, 2003 was a stand out year for high-pitched male vocals. Not falsetto, exactly – I’m not musical enough to throw such terms around, anyway – but the kind of music you and a dog could enjoy together.
Justin Timberlake released the undeniably brilliant “Señorita” that year, a song which features parts both for ladies and men (a true metrosexual, JT sings both). If you pay attention to the video, you’ll notice Pharrell Williams is playing drums; a nod to the fact that he and Chad Hugo produced the track together.
Pharrell is responsible for another high pitched masterpiece released in 2003, “Frontin’”. The song and accompanying video are notable for several things, among them the relatively unusual ratio of clothes-on-women to clothes-on-men (for a rap song) and the phrase ‘tear ya ass up’, which is presented here more as a kind of cutesy come-on than the violent threat it surely ought to be.Until recently, frontin’ was a term I understood solely in the context presented here by Pharrell – referring to a person who puts up a façade of confidence or emotional availability (the ‘front’).
Not any more.
These days, it seems, the car insurance business is getting its claws into everything: meercats, Australians, etc – and now frontin’, or fronting, to give its insurer terminology. We are to understand the word in this context as referring to a low-risk ‘parent’ figure taking out car insurance in their own name on a car meant principally for a different, high-risk ‘child’ (who is included on the policy as a named driver).
The tactic is illegal and insurers are quick to see through it in the event of an accident, meaning that the effective level of cover provided is zero. But in these cash-strapped times, plenty of people are doing it – and this definition for frontin’ is rapidly gaining currency in the motoring press.
Let’s look at the evidence. Frontin’ = cool. Fronting = definitely not cool.
Image © Karl Hab via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, fronting, young driver
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Cheap car insurance for superheroes
Do superheroes have car insurance? This is, for me, a deeply troubling question.
After all, although I have nothing but respect, awe and admiration for the work of various caped crusaders, I can’t help wondering whether they have the requisite cover. And, if they don’t, should they just stay indoors?
Over the years we’ve been exposed to all kinds of superhero vehicles. From the original Batmobile, from the 60s TV series, to the Tim Burton beast of the 90s, all the way to the demonic “Tumbler” of the Dark Knight. And we mustn’t forget the odd Robin motorbike along the way.
Then there’s all the others: the cat woman car; the Ghost Rider; the X-men Blackbird and the Fantastic Four Fantasicar.
Even Superman, despite being able to fly (perhaps it’s out of consideration to the comfort of passengers) had a Supermobile in a number of comics.
Then of course, there’s Wonder Woman’s Invisible Jet. An invisible Jet? Good luck with the insurance cover for that.
And there’s the vexed question of whether these superheroes should be considered as young drivers. Yes, they’re all young, especially Robin, but many of them have been around for more than sixty years.
This is an area of the law that appears unclear. I demand clarity!
Image © popculturegeek.com via Flickr under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: car insurance, insurance cover, young drivers
Monday, January 17, 2011
Breaking a good friend’s will with low mileage car insurance
One of my closest friends has always been notorious for his strength of will. According to his mum, when he was but a six-year-old he held out going to the loo for a whole eight days, with almost disastrous, indeed, near-fatal results.
Another example occurred when we were at college together. Jack was so sure he was going to walk straight into the Rugby firsts and be made captain that he announced it on Facebook before it had even happened – it didn’t, but Jack persisted with such determination that by the end of our third year he was made captain, if only for the final three matches, a situation that was down, in no small part to a spate of unfortunate injuries.
But he gets some things right from the off. For example, it is some years ago now since he predicted the demise of MySpace. He described it as too anarchic, saying it was great if you were a band but not good for much else.
He also recently got engaged to his girlfriend of three years by, again, announcing the engagement on Facebook. The only trouble was that he had not asked permission, neither from her nor her father.
“You what?” she commented on his engagement status. “Should I be heartbroken?”
“No, delighted,” he replied. “You’re the luckiest woman in the world, and I’m the luckiest man. Just wait until your father finds out – he’ll be delighted.”
“Is that a proposal?”
“Yes.”
So when two years ago, ignoring my advice, he said he was ready to forsake his car because of increased running costs, I expected him to stick with it – he did, but only for 20 months.
Yes, two months ago, after tiring of taxis, trains and inconvenient walk, Jack allowed himself to be persuaded by a low mileage young driver insurance policy. And as much as I hate to see a man’s will broken, I can’t help but feeling a healthy glow of triumph.
Labels: young driver insurance
Friday, January 7, 2011
Cheaper car insurance in 2011
So, did you make any New Year resolutions for 2011 – drive slower, drive safer, find cheaper car insurance?
Or maybe they were more mundane – wash your car once a week, plan for the MOT rather than leaving it until the last moment, remove all fast food cartons before they change colour in the footwell?
It is said that around 4,000 years ago the Babylonians were the first people to start doing good deeds at the beginning of the year. It was their tradition to return any borrowed farm equipment to neighbours because their New Year was also the beginning of the farming season.
Apparently, not long after, the Romans would begin their New Years by looking back at the previous year and resolving to accomplish more in the forthcoming year.
In ancient times Chinese people would begin their New Year with a thorough house clean, from top to bottom, as they saw this as the best way to begin a year.
So, it’s easy to see why for many in the modern world, our New Year resolutions are based around self-improvement or the achievement of certain positive goals, but for many of us they are merely a bit of fun which quickly gets forgotten about.
Of course, some goals are more achievable than others:
- losing weight – difficult
- saving money on your car insurance – easy…now you’ve found Hoot that is!
Image © wobble-san via Flickr under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: cheaper car insurance
Thursday, January 6, 2011
When no points mean prizes
Perhaps politicians have been listening to Hoot, which has made itself an innovator in providing incentives for good, sensible driving.
It turns out that the Labour shadow transport secretary has proposed financially rewarding drivers for sticking to the speed limit. This would be in stark contrast with the Labour Party’s reputation when in government among some motorists for installing an allegedly punitive network of speed cameras.
Whatever the politics of speed cameras, one thing’s for certain: there can be no excuse for speeding – it kills.
The shadow transport secretary explains, "The speed cameras are capturing the data, the speed and number plates of the cars that go through,” she said.
"I have seen lately this idea actually if you were to use the information you get from them to have a lottery, have a draw of those who drive under the speed limit.”
Doesn’t sound like a bad idea does it? And perhaps winners could be entitled to cheaper car insurance as well?
Image © Dave Bleasdale via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: cheaper car insurance
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Young driver to old driver, it’s a slippery slope
It’s funny to think that all the prejudices and stereotypes that exist about “old fuddy duddies” will also one day apply to us.
My grandfather likes to berate me, saying things like, “You young drivers, with all your satnav gizmos and electric cars, your brains will go stale.”
When I ask him why, he tells me it’s because we don’t use them enough. He argues, perhaps more accurately than I care to admit to him, that “in his day” all young men used to read maps, whereas these young drivers “just let microchips do all the work, while their brain cells lose muscle mass”.
With his words still ringing in my mind, I wake the next day and go to the gym. I even drop round to his place the same evening and offer to help him chop firewood.
Granddad effortlessly slices his way through log after log – I’m still stuck on my first. Soon I complain that the axe is blunt. No it’s not, he says, you’ve been cutting against the grain. I wish he’d told me that five minutes ago, but, truth be told, I know he’s enjoyed it, watching me struggle as I learn the hard way.
Yes, one day, I’ll be old, however much I may struggle to comprehend it now. Pretty soon I won’t even need to find a young driver car insurance policy and from there it’s a slippery slope.
But when I am old, I only hope that I can manage to pull off being grumpy with half as much insight and humour as my dear old grandfather.
Image © cogdogblog via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: young driver car insurance