Product news

Halifax expands travel insurance
Halifax General Insurance Services has launched new travel insurance policies, within its existing portfolio, aimed at avoiding high and unexpected costs for consumers.

The company said the new policies limit the excess charge of each incident to £50. It said this differed from other insurers' policies, which charge excess per person or category, resulting in multiple excess charges.

For example, multiple excess charges might be made on family cover when an excess fee is charged for each person, or when they make claims in different categories.

Lloyds TSB online pet cover launch
The insurance arm of banking group Lloyds TSB has launched an online quote-and-buy pet insurance service to supplement its existing telephone service.

The organisation said its policy could provide cover for vet's bills of up to £3,000 a year as well as cattery or kennel fees if the owner goes into hospital.

The policy also provides for the costs of advertising for a missing pet and £500 to replace a dead or lost pet. It also includes the refund of holiday costs, should a pet owner have to cancel a holiday or be with a pet undergoing surgery.

Car theft victims turn to GAP
Close Consumer Finance, a provider of finance packages and add-on insurance products to motor retailers, has reported an upswing in demand from car buyers for guaranteed asset protection insurance, in the face of rising vehicle theft.

Guaranteed asset protection (GAP) insurance, a type of vehicle credit insurance, protects car buyers against making payments on a car they no longer possess due to it being stolen or written off.

It covers the shortfall between the value placed on a stolen or written-off vehicle by the motor insurer and the amount required to settle the balance of the finance.

Scheduled airline failure relaunch
Broker Marcus Hearn has launched an updated version of its "scheduled airline failure" insurance product to protect travel agents against the cost of refunding tickets in the case of scheduled airline liquidation or bankruptcy.

The broker said there had been a "dramatic increase" in interest in the policy with so many airlines under severe financial pressure.

It added that the risks to agents in the current circumstances were considerable.

"The failure of only a mid-size carrier could typically leave an agent with bills of £25,000 to £30,000 to meet for unprotected clients," it said.

AA launches new MOT insurance
The AA has said it now offers up to £750 worth of MOT insurance for cars up to ten years old with less than 120,000 miles on the clock.

The company said more than 40,000 of the 120,000 cars tested last year in its AA Service Centres (previously Halfords) failed their MOT and required repair work and re-tests.

The policy covers an extensive range of parts noted on the VT30 MOT Test form, and is for cars up to ten years old, or with up to 120,000 miles on the clock.

Proof of the last scheduled service is required.

New travel insurance cover aimed at under 66s
Markerstudy and travel insurance specialist Voyager have teamed up to offer low cost travel insurance to people under the age of 66.

The companies said their research showed that claims from the over 65's could cost up to five times more than other groups. This meant their cover could offer big savings to younger travellers, they said.

Markerstudy's Voyager policy provides, as standard, £5m medical and £1500 baggage cover, free cover for spur of the moment activities and 24-hour emergency service through International Medical Rescue.