When Rockers Insure their Rollers (and Smart cars)
Hell-raising punk icon Iggy Pop famously got himself ‘swiftcovered’
Research by Swiftcover found that although jazz-funk petrol-head Jay Kay would have to stump up £35,000 to insure his rare Ferrari Enzo, hard rocking Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl would only have to pay £250 to get swiftcover.com car insurance – primarily because he drives a Smart car!
As swiftcover.com is one of the few motor insurers to actually cover musicians, the company has compiled its fantasy festival line-up of rock stars and their cars (and their insurance premiums should they decide to leave the tour bus or limo at home!)
1. Iggy Pop, driving a Pontiac GTO (Gran Turismo Omologato), as mentioned in the lyrics to ‘Lust for Life’. Valued at £20,000 it’s often considered the first muscle car. A classic –built between 1964 and 1974 – so spares can be hard to source.
Insurance cost: Free! He’s swiftcover.com’
2. Jay Kay, driving a Ferrari Enzo worth in excess of half a million pounds, does 0-60 in 3.1 seconds, has a hard to repair carbon fibre body and is rare, so tough to source parts. Insurance cost: £35,000 – primarily due to the car being so rare, Jay Kay’s regular run-ins with the paparazzi and the recent vandalism to the vehicle.
3. David Grohl, driving a Smart ForTwo. The Foo Fighter’s main man and ex-Nirvana drummer has been seen driving the environmentally-
Insurance cost: £250 – and he won’t have to pay London congestion charges either.
4. Lilly Allen, driving a Mini Cooper. Perfect for zooting around LDN.
Insurance cost: £600 – female drivers are cheaper to ensure than men.
5. Britney Spears, driving a Mercedes CLK. She has been known to have the odd ‘collision’
Insurance cost: £4,000 – her history of issues with drugs and alcohol doesn’t help to keep premiums low.
6. Madonna, driving a BMW 745. Her wheels while at home in London; tracker required. Insurance cost: £1,000 – being a woman and her age (50) brings the risk down, but the central London location bumps up the cost.
7. Noel Gallagher, driving a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 1978. The Oasis main man owned a brown Roller, whilst a white one was pictured ‘floating’
Insurance cost: £800 – No cover for intentionally driving into swimming pools.
8. Justin Timberlake, driving a Jeep Wrangler. Boy band member turned R n B superstar.
Insurance cost: £1,000 – left hand drive bumps up the price because driver will have to lean over the other side to get his burger and fries in a drive-thru.
Tina Shortle, marketing director for swiftcover.com, says: “These quotes are just for fun, but our research shows that you don’t need to be a platinum selling rock god to be able to afford to get swiftcovered. Even Madonna, Lilly Allen and Noel Gallagher could probably save on their car insurance with swiftcover.com, and of course we now insure less well-known musicians!”
NB: quotes are for illustration purposes only and actual prices will depend on the driver’s circumstances. swiftcover.com insurance is only available to UK citizens.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For press enquiries please contact:
Joshua Van Raalte or Paul Beadle
Brazil (PR agency for swiftcover.com)
01865 556 000
swiftcover@agencybrazil.com
About swiftcover:
Based in Cobham, Surrey and employing over 350 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.
Kind regards
Paul
Paul Beadle
Brazil
T: +44(0) 1865 556 000
M: +44 (0) 7801 105001
195 Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 7AR
paul@agencybrazil.com
www.agencybrazil.com
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