Insurance is an essential and unavoidable cost when it comes to motoring. In a perfect world there would be no need to consider it as part of the budget for your next car finance deal, but many of us are glad it’s there when things go wrong.
Insurance companies always call for honesty when it comes to filling in their forms. Unfortunately, it looks like some firms have fallen on their own swords this week as the Financial Services Authority (FSA) issued large fines to Direct Line and Churchill after it emerged they had tampered with customer complaint files.
The two companies were fined £2.17 million after the FSA found that more than half of 50 cases submitted to them for inspection had been doctored, including forged staff signatures on seven documents. Details of the doctoring emerged after both providers were requested to submit the paperwork in 2009 as the FSA looked to improve the handling of complaints.
Both companies will now have to up their game if they’re to regain customer confidence after these revelations, and ultimately the taxpayer will have to foot the bill as both Churchill and Direct Line are part of the Royal Bank of Scotland; a state-owned body.
Thankfully, there’s better news elsewhere in the British motoring industry this week, as Jaguar took the wraps off its latest XF diesel, moving the popular executive saloon closer to those seeking Jaguar finance deals. The new diesel brings the starting price of the XF below £30,000, and its impressive figures are sure to make it a popular car finance deal option. It uses the same 2.2 diesel that’s found in the current XF diesel, though serves up 161bhp instead of the 187bhp of its older stable-mate.
While the new XF might be down on power compared to its more expensive sister, it’s still a good option for those looking for affordable luxury cars on finance. It returns 52.3mpg on a combined cycle and chucks out just 149g/km CO2, which will help keep your bank manager happy and stop the tax man from raiding your pockets. If the new diesel Jag sounds like the perfect match for you, it’s available on car finance deals now.
While the Jag is an inexpensive option for a large executive saloon, there are other cars out there that will go the extra mile for the environment. The darling of the hybrids, the Toyota Prius, is one such eco warrior. It has just received a freshening up for 2012, and is sure to be an attractive choice on car finance deals with its 70.6mpg figure and tiny CO2 figure.
The performance stats for the new Prius remain the same as the outgoing model, but it now features restyled exterior touches, extra toys to play with inside and tweaked suspension designed to get rid of the hard ride and improve driver comfort. If you fancy looking at green cars on finance deals and like the sound of the new Prius, you’ll have to wait until March before it takes to the road in the UK.