Customer Review

The UK government recently increased the age for claiming old age pension. This was on the basis of people living longer and, perhaps at face value, not unreasonable. But was it a trick to save the government money? Figures published recently have shown life expectancy has actually started to decline. The increase in life expectancy was probably a 'blip' from the war generation and the immediate generation thereafter. People ate less, not by choice, but due to rationing. Walking was common and there was a complete absence of computer and video games. Children played out and exercised naturally. The Clean Air Act was passed. Today the situation is very different. Food has been plentiful for decades and computers and video games have been around since the mid 1980s. Vehicles pollute our towns and cities. No 'great smog' of yesteryear but the pollution is there, invisible.

Bogus Travel Insurance Claims

Over the coming decades cars, as we know them, will evolve into semi-automated vehicles. We are already seeing advances in this area that offer safety and convenience such as stop/go traffic, intelligent cruise control and self-parking. In the longer term, carmakers and technology companies see the potential to replace human drivers with fully autonomous vehicles. Who is responsible for an accident may well become what was responsible for the accident. Accidents are likely to involve a mix of human error and failure of a product or piece of software. Motor insurance is likely to undergo a transformation over the coming years with some predicting a large reduction in accidents resulting in much lower insurance premiums. We shall wait and see. My computer has crashed will take on an entirely different meaning.

Rumours are circulating a Far East life insurer is about to replace 34 staff with artificial intelligence machines. The machines will be able to calculate payouts and have access to medical records and data to correctly calculate payments. Other insurance companies are also looking into replacing staff with artificial intelligence machines. We wonder whether callers put on hold will be told "I'll Be Back".

Many people must be concerned about the recent flooding and the availability of flood insurance in the future. Having flood cover is normally a requirement of any mortgage lender, so being unable to obtain insurance cover will affect the value of the property.

What is a credit card payment? It is not, as some may think, a guarantee of payment. A credit card payment only confirms the card is not reported as lost or stolen and there are sufficient funds available at the time the transaction is made.

The technology giant Google has revealed automated vehicles could be on the road by 2020. Is a crash-free era on the horizon? Not so according to a recent report from Lloyd’s Underwriters. “While severe accidents are caused by human error, it is rare that drivers do something blatantly in contravention of road safety, such as driving the wrong way down a motorway,” the report said. “A computer miscalculation or a faulty reading from a sensor could lead a car to do something that a human driver would instinctively realise is inappropriate.”