swiftcover.com celebrates approval of electronic insurance certificates
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Online insurance pioneer swiftcover.com has welcomed the long-awaited Department for Transport’s official stamp of approval for electronic car insurance certificates, saying the move will bring major time-saving benefits to motorists.
Electronic certificates are e-mailed directly to a motorist by the insurer as soon as the policy is approved, enabling the driver to print out a copy and cut out the frustrating wait for paperwork to arrive in the post, which can often cause drivers delays in tasks such as taxing their vehicles.
swiftcover.com says that drivers can now insure and tax their cars completely online in a matter of minutes, without the need for any printed documentation or time-wasting telephone calls and Post Office queues. After getting their insurance at www.swiftcover.com, motorists can then tax their vehicle online at www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk. *
Tina Shortle, marketing director for swiftcover.com, explains: “We are delighted to see that e-certificates for motor insurance have finally been approved by the Department for Transport as this has been something that swiftcover.com has been pushing for since we began in business.
"Our service is based on making car insurance quicker, simpler and more efficient to organise, which not only saves drivers time, by getting rid of things like call-centres, it also helps save costs."
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA), who, along with major insurers, took part in the discussions with the Department for Transport, says the move is environmentally-friendly, saving 2,280 tonnes of carbon dioxide and up to 9,750 trees annually that would normally be used to create paper insurance certificates.
*To be able to tax a vehicle online, owners need to have their V11 tax reminder, their V5 logbook and car registration number, plus valid insurance and MOT certificate and some form of payment such as a debit or credit card. The online process checks the Motor Insurance Database at www.askmid.com for valid insurance as well as the VOSA database at http://motinfo.direct.gov.uk for a valid MOT. Drivers can use both services to check the validity of their own documentation.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For press enquiries please contact:
Paul Beadle or Joshua Van Raalte
Brazil (PR agency for swiftcover.com)
01865 556 000
swiftcover@agencybrazil.com
About swiftcover:
Based in Cobham, Surrey and employing over 800 people, www.swiftcover.com started trading in June 2005 and was born out of a desire to revolutionise the general insurance market.
swiftcover.com offers car, travel and pet insurance online, and is Britain's only insurance company without call centres, which means that the cost savings can be passed directly onto the customer and premiums are kept low. In 2008 swiftcover.com featured as the cheapest insurance quote on the comparison website moneysupermarket.com more often than any other insurer.
This powerful operating model combined with successful marketing and competitive pricing has proven to be a tremendous success. In 2008 swiftcover.com achieved over half a million live policies and in May 2009 sold their one millionth policy. They are considered to be the fastest-growing insurer in the UK.
In 2007, AXA UK acquired swiftcover.com. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of AXA Insurance UK PLC which forms part of AXA Group.
About AXA:
AXA UK is a part of the AXA Group. AXA is a world leader in financial protection. AXA’s operations are diverse with major operations in Western Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area. AXA employs 120,000 staff and tied agents and, as of June 30 2006, had €1,091 billion in assets under management. AXA reported total IFRS revenues of €72 billion and IFRS underlying earnings of €3,258 million for the full year 2005. Our previous company performance is not a guide to how we may perform in the future.
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