Admiral insurance group, one of the biggest insurance companies in the UK, has just announced record profits. This is the second year in a row that its profits have beaten all previous years, and the company just keeps on going from strength to strength.

The pre-tax profit for 2010 was announced as £266 million, which represents a 23% increase on 2009 figures. To make things even rosier, it performed better than predicted by £4 million, according to the predictions of city analysts.

One of the most successful areas for the company was car insurance, where it saw a massive growth of over 30%. The UK sector was especially good for the insurer, but its overseas operations were not quite as successful and saw losses of £12.9 million compared to £10.3 million in 2009.

One area in the UK that has suffered is its Confused.com business. It saw a large 34% drop in earnings to £16.9 million during 2010, a factor it puts down to the increased competition in the comparison website sector.

Admiral also announced that it is planning to locate its new headquarters near St David’s shopping centre in Cardiff where it will locate up to 3,000 staff.

Henry Engelhardt, the company’s chief executive, said that it has now generated a turnover of more than £1.5 billion, but admitted that there was a lot to be done in its businesses outside the UK.

He also commented on the recent EU ruling that means insurers can no longer charge different premiums to men and women, claiming that it would lead to increased profits for Admiral.

Do you look after your car properly? According to Sainsbury’s Car Insurance there’s a one-in-five chance that you don’t. After carrying out its own research into how well we look after our vehicles, Sainsbury’s discovered that up to 21% of motorists are not carrying out regular monthly maintenance checks.

The poll of 1,610 motorists found that the tyre tread was the most neglected area of the vehicle with 62% of the respondents saying that they did not check it monthly. This was followed by the water coolant, which 56% failed to check. Windscreen wipers, oil level, lights and tyre pressure were also high on the list.

The research also took regional differences into account and discovered that the fewest vehicle checks are made in London and the east of England, whereas those in the East Midlands, the northeast of England and Scotland were the best at looking after their vehicles.

There were also large differences between age groups. A total of 15% of those aged over 65 failed to make monthly checks, compared to 29% of those aged 18 to 24. Men also seemed to do better than women, with 16% of men failing to check their vehicles compared to 26% of women.

So why are so many people failing to check their vehicles regularly? A full third of those who are not making any checks responded that they don’t think the checks are necessary.

But failing to make regular maintenance checks can be bad news for motorists. If problems are not picked up on early then this could lead to other costly problems when it comes to insurance. For example, failing to check tyre tread could increase the chances of skidding and damaging the car, which could lead to a claim.

Once a claim has been made, insurance premiums can get a lot more expensive, so it makes sense to do all that you can to prevent this from happening, and a few simple checks is all that it takes.

Cash-strapped Brits may like to have a grumble about the way prices for everything under the sun are rising, but it seems that many of us are not doing the basics to keep our outgoings down each month.

When you get your motor insurance renewal notice, are you one of the 6.4 million motorists who renew blindly? If so, you could be throwing money down the drain to the tune, on average, of a staggering £270 a year.

Research from moneysupermarket.com has revealed that car insurance is one area where loyalty really does not pay. Insurance companies are, of course, always keen to get new customers and will often offer competitive deals to lure us into signing on the dotted line but after the first year premiums frequently rocket.

Almost one fifth of us (19% to be precise) refuse to take the time to see whether or not we could get a better deal and renew blindly. Reasons for this range from apathy (8%), to the belief that we would not find a better bargain anyway (11%). As far as age is concerned, the over 55s are the worst culprits, with 21% not bothering to shop around.

The costs of running a car have risen sharply in the last twelve months and the recent troubles in the Middle East have meant that petrol prices have soared. It is therefore all the more surprising that so many of us are not bothering to see whether we can cut costs.

Insurance companies are well aware of customers’ behaviour and rely on our apathy to bolster profits. As a whole, the nation is spending £1.7 billion more than necessary, by neglecting to spend the relatively short time needed to compare prices.

With the effects of the global recession still hitting the pockets of cash-strapped motorists in the UK, those who have managed to keep their vehicles despite the increasing costs of insurance and fuel prices have been looking for innovative ways to cut costs. We all know the usual ways of cutting back on insurance premiums, with adding a named driver or two usually a safe option, whilst some of the more illogical alterations such as definition of career always seem slightly strange.

However, one method of cutting the cost of insurance for young drivers that you may not have heard about is installing a new ‘spy box’ in whatever vehicle is being used by the respective driver. With premiums over the past year rising by as much as 50%, young drivers are bound to see no drawbacks to using the new device, which uses GPS technology to send information to the insurance company providing the driver with the policy.

The device keeps track of details such as driving habits, speed, locations being driven in and around on a regular basis, and the rates of both acceleration and braking. Prices should subsequently be reduced by the insurance company if the signals sent back from the spy box point towards careful and responsible driving.

With the boxes also able to act as tracking devices using GPS technology, cars with the devices installed are far more likely to be recovered if stolen than those without them. It therefore seems that this is one innovation in the car insurance industry that may be here to stay for the long haul.

As if the cold weather and travel chaos wasn’t enough to deal with, now Brits have to live with the problem of potholes. AA Insurance has predicted that potholes will lead to a surge in car insurance claims in the near future, which it has admitted is going to be very expensive.

The AA learnt this painful lesson during the big freeze at the beginning of 2010. During that period it saw a large number of claims due to problems with suspension, car wheels and damage to the bodywork all caused by potholes.

And the cost of the claims isn’t anything to be taken lightly. The average claim due to pothole damage is over £1,300 and AA confirmed that its most expensive claim last year was over £14,000.

In view of this the AA is advising drivers to be especially careful on the roads at the moment.

Potholes are the plague of UK roads. They form when water beneath the surface of the road freezes, which then makes the surface loose. Once the water melts or vehicles pass over the area, the potholes form and become worse.

The AA is warning that this winter is expected to be particularly bad because it is the third cold winter in a row, and there were already potholes to be fixed before the cold weather arrived.

Simon Douglas, who is the director of AA insurance, advised drivers to “keep a sharp eye out for potholes and keep their speed down”. He said that this was especially important when driving on secondary roads and also when it is raining because the potholes can be hidden by water. He also warned that a lot of potholes are unlikely to be repaired because of cuts to maintenance budgets.

Each day across the United Kingdom, up to 500 uninsured vehicles are seized by the authorities. Now it has been revealed that the cars most often taken off the roads are Vauxhall Astras. The Astras are closely followed by BMW 3 Series models, with the Vauxhall Vectra rounding off the trio of uninsured cars that most commonly come to the attention of police officers.

The figures were released by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) police helpline, whose employees are all too aware of the devastating consequences that can result from motorists taking to the roads without insurance.

Although nobody wishes to give the Vauxhall Astra a bad name, police up and down the country remain hopeful that raising awareness of the widespread issue of driving without insurance will encourage people never to take to the roads without adequate cover.

With drivers who do decide to ignore such logical advice potentially left facing six points on their licence, a fixed fine of £200 and the cost of claiming back their cars after the vehicles have been seized, it’s clear why it is so important to take out an insurance policy – even when it can seem tempting not to at this time of economic hardship when motorists across the UK are having to deal with the double blow of the credit crunch and the fuel price increase.

Technology that allows police and other authorities to identify vehicles that haven’t been insured is improving all the time. So instead of taking the risk, why not opt for the sensible choice and insure your car for both the good of your safety and your wallet?

A new pay-as-you-drive car insurance policy has been introduced by CoverGirl Car Insurance Services, the specialist insurance provider, with the new cover option specifically intended for women. The policy works by fitting the vehicle of each policyholder with a special technological device, called a Clear Box, which accurately tracks the precise speed and number of miles covered by the individual.

The driving style of the policyholder is also monitored by the car insurance provider in order to provide lower rates for consumers. The device installed in each vehicle can provide additional benefits for those who take advantage of the pay-as-you-drive policy, since it allows cars to be tracked if stolen, whilst alerts can also be processed if the vehicle is damaged in an accident.

Perhaps controversially, CoverGirl Car Insurance Services believe that women are far safer drivers than men and, as a result, are often punished by having to pay higher rates for insurance policies in order to compensate for risks taken by male drivers.

The company has also been quick to point out that, unlike previous pay-as-you-go policies that have attracted criticism from some quarters, theirs will not penalise those who decide to drive late at night or early in the morning. Rather, those with low mileages and safe driving styles will receive rewards from the company.

The new type of cover certainly won’t suit everybody, but it is likely to provide certain benefits for female drivers who don’t tend to use their car each day and also have safe, reliable driving styles.

Swinton Commercial, the UK’s largest high street insurance retailer, has sent out a warning to van drivers who may be prioritising festive fun over road safety concerns. The insurance retailer conducted a survey of 1,200 van drivers and found, quite alarmingly, that 17% of respondents thought they may have driven their vehicle the morning after imbibing a considerable amount of alcohol over the festive period.

With van drivers often forced to hit the road before the average commuter, it’s easy to see why some get caught out as being over the legal alcohol limit for driving a vehicle without any intent to break the law.

The dangers of drink driving have been hammered home to the British public via several high-profile advertising campaigns on TV and in the press over the past few years, but following a few simple tips that mostly rely upon some good old common sense should help you avoid becoming a danger on the roads. This is particularly relevant at a time of year during which alcohol and parties really are the name of the game.

If you are planning on hitting the pub for a Christmas do over the next couple of weeks and are concerned about being over the limit the next morning, make sure you remember that it takes an hour and a half for a unit of alcohol to leave your system. It’s also a bad idea to rely upon tricks for sobering up that your mates may have told you about, including taking a cold shower or drinking a large cup of black coffee, since there is no medical basis whatsoever to these procedures.

With the winter weather conditions settling in ridiculously early this year across the UK, there has arguably never been a better time to check that you’re doing all you can to battle against the perils posed by those who partake in a spot of winter car crime.

Swinton, the car insurance company, has warned motorists to be particularly vigilant at this time of year when it comes to car theft and other variations of car crime. Some of the advice from the insurance company comes down to common sense. For instance, it is entirely sensible to double check that you’ve locked your car before heading into your house as the long, dark winter nights set in. However, a few of the other tips issued by Swinton refer to unnecessary risks that the majority of us have probably at least been tempted to take over recent weeks.

With cars effectively turning into big blocks of ice since the cold snap started, how many of us have been tempted to pop outside to start the engine running in order to defrost the windscreen before heading back indoors to experience a few more minutes of precious warmth before the inevitable numb fingers set in? Leaving the engine running with the keys in the ignition is practically equivalent to handing a car thief your keys and opening the door to let him or her in whilst you’re at it, but such concerns are often pushed to the back of the mind when faced with the freezing conditions outside.

Ultimately, using your own common sense and always expecting the worst when it comes to being a target of car crime in the winter months should ensure that you’re well-protected, so don’t keep those new Christmas presents on the back seat, don’t keep your coats and jumpers on full view on the passenger seat, park in well-lit areas, and, most importantly of all, enjoy the festive period without being left out of pocket.

With the last couple of weeks bringing untold misery to motorists across the UK, the last thing car owners need after the easing of the effects of the cold snap is rising petrol prices and suspicions of less than fair play. These suspicions have arisen from accusations directed towards car insurance companies that seem to hint they may be profiting from the winter blues inflicted upon the majority of Brits. Unfortunately, precisely these two events have occurred, with petrol prices rising astronomically and a handful of car insurance providers criticised for increasing premiums for motorists who admit to putting winter tyres on their vehicles.

With the government doing everything they can each year to improve road safety during the festive period, which always threatens to bring an increase of road-related accidents to the already busy A&E departments up and down the country, it seems strange that car insurance companies are allowed effectively to punish motorists who make a move designed to improve safety on British roads.

Winter tyres have always been acknowledged as a means to improve safety on roads affected by snow and ice but winter-savvy motorists who have started to use them have seen their premiums increase by as much as 20%. Normal tyres tend to lose their ability to grip the road when the temperatures plummet and, with winter tyres now the law in some countries across the continent, it seems absurd to introduce punishments for those who do their bit to help road safety.

A spokesman for the AA, Ian Crowder, has revealed his hope that the premium charge increases may be errors on behalf of call centre staff, who are simply inputting data into their systems that suggest modifications have been made to the vehicles in question, but at a time when every move of big companies is being watched closely by suspicious recession-hit consumers, this latest news comes as a massive blow to the car insurance industry’s credibility.