Over 50s Motorists At Risk Of £26 Million Engine Damage Bill

PR Log (Press Release) – Jun 19, 2009 – Half of all over 50s motorists across the UK1 are risking engine damage which could run into a multi-million pound repair bill by not regularly checking the level of oil in the car, according to new research from specialist insurance  company RIAS during National Oil Check Week.

The research report by the over 50s insurance provider shows that 50% of over 50s motorists, equivalent to 7.5m people2, are not checking the oil levels in their cars at least once a month – the frequency that the National Oil Check Week recommend. Of these 7.5m over 50s motorists, 1.9m never check their oil at all, and 900,000 rely on their garage to check their oil levels.

In addition, 9% more over 50s motorists regularly check their oil in line with the recommended frequency compared with under 50s motorists – 59% of motorists aged 18 – 49 years are not regularly checking the oil levels in their cars.

£26 Million Car Engine Damage Bill
With the average individual engine rebuild costing almost £3,500, the 7.5m over 50s motorists who fail to check their oil levels regularly could face a total engine damage repair bill of £26 million3.

Janet Connor, Managing Director of RIAS comments: “Vehicle maintenance is a fundamental component of owning and running a car today, and our latest research shows that people really are taking a back seat when it

comes to checking over their cars. Even more surprising, especially in the current climate, are the financial risks that people are prepared to take by failing to spend a few minutes each month to check their vehicle’s oil level. Being able to find £3,500 in order to fund the cost of an engine rebuild would certainly pose a huge challenge for anyone at the moment.”

Basic Car Maintenance Checks
Whilst 7.5m over 50s motorists are not checking their oil regularly enough, it seems that it is not just the vehicles’ oil levels which are being neglected. One in seven over 50s motorists (15%) never check their vehicle’s brake fluid or their tyre tread. And almost one in five (18%) never check their wiper blades.

Janet Connor continues “Regular car maintenance not only ensures cars run more economically and remain on the road, but also can help motorists to avoid both accidents and financial headaches if something goes wrong. With rising fuel prices motorists need to be more savvy than ever, and by scheduling a regular time to check over your car each month, motorists can enjoy peace of mind that their vehicle is safe and reliable.”

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For more information about car insurance and car insurancebreakdown cover from RIAS visit www.rias.co.uk

For further information please contact:

Lucy Pope
Consumer Communications Manager, RIAS
lpope@rias.co.uk
01202 254445

About RIAS

RIAS was established in 1992 and is a specialist provider of  over 50s insurance products. RIAS are specialists in home contents insurance , car insurance, travel insurance and more.

Part of Fortis (Insurance UK), RIAS has over 970,000 customers, employees over 1,100 people across two UK sites, and is one of the UK’s fastest organically growing insurance intermediaries. RIAS negotiates with a panel of insurers to secure competitive, value for money products.

As a leading provider of award-winning personal and commercial lines insurance solutions in the UK, Fortis has a successful customer-centric strategy, founded on aligning its activities to how customers want to buy insurance, combined with delivering high quality products, manufactured at costs better than market norms.

Insuring in excess of 6.7 million customers and working with a range of partners, Fortis is recognised for delivering consistent and high-quality customer experiences. In 2007, its profit before tax and interest (excluding impact of weather related events) was £92.2 million and its GWP was 757.8 million.


Notes to editors

1 All figures, unless specified, from Opinium Research. Total sample size was 2,054 adults over the age of 18 years, including 1,067 adults over the age of 50. Fieldwork was undertaken from 5 - 9 June 2009. The survey was carried out online.

2 The over 50s population in the UK is 17.7 million (Source: Population projections by ONS, 2009). According to the research, 16% of those people do not own a car, equating to 2.8m. Therefore, 14.9m UK over 50s own a car. 50% of 14.9m equates to 7.5m over 50s motorists who do not regularly check the oil levels in their cars.

3 Average engine rebuilding costs sourced from checkyouroil.co.uk, using warrantydirect.co.uk data. Using 25 different makes and models of car, the average engine rebuild cost is calculated as £3,462.23. £3,462.23 multiplied by 7.5m motorists equates to £25.97m.