IAM Surety Members' Insurance

Some SAM (and other local Group) Members occasionally comment that Surety are not always as competitive as they hoped, or were led to believe.

IAM and Surety responded to these comments at the IAM Conference recently. Their presentation is available on line at https://www.iamroadsmart.com/docs/default-source/2016-conference-decks/running-a-group/2016-conference-decks/insurance-drivers.pdf?sfvrsn=2, and makes interesting reading. A summary follows but do please read the whole presentation to get the full picture. It might surprise you!

The original premise was that IAM Advanced drivers should present a lower insurance risk than the general public, so must surely be eligible for better treatment? Unfortunately, that premise was based more on expectation than cold fact. In other words they took a risk on us being consistently better drivers who were less prone to collisions……….. which it turns out isn’t always true.

Being an advanced driver is just one of many criteria taken into consideration when calculating a premium. Post code, vehicle value, past claims history, age, occupation, vehicle mileage and usage all play a part. It is obvious therefore, that if being an advanced driver does not in itself reduce risk, the other factors rate just as they would for other insurers, and the premium calculation is disappointing.

Sadly for us, their statistics show that the proportion of insurance claims from those who passed their advanced test more than 5 years ago is much the same as for the general public, and those for the over-70 members is higher. 60% of their claims come from those who passed their advanced test more than 10 years ago.

The top four reasons for member claims were:

• Member hit third party in rear
• Member lost control
• Member hit bollard/post
• Member hit stationary car

It seems our advanced driving competence may drop off if we don’t continually seek re-assessment or are not regularly exposed to that environment, such as being an observer or taking higher level qualifications. So we still need to shop around before going to Surety, who claim they will be competitive in 90% of cases.

How can you, as a SAM Member, improve this situation?

Firstly, you can ask for regular re-assessment drives. You won’t risk your advanced status and you’ll get an honest appraisal of your driving from one of our highly-trained observers, with advice on possible areas for improvement.

Secondly, you can commit to continual improvement by becoming an observer with us or applying to take a higher advanced qualification, such as F1RST or Masters. You can also attend skills days that IAM regularly organise.

Finally, IAM are introducing a new membership category called ‘Fellow’, whereby members commit to a re-assessment every three years. This option will be launched shortly.

If this article has given you some food for thought, and you would like further information on the options outlined, please contact Glen Bell at samsolihull@gmail.comin the first instance.

David Heath
SAM Membership Secretary