It has emerged that motorists who make the mistake of filling their vehicles with the wrong type of fuel might not be covered by their car insurance policies.

New research from Defaqto has just been released that suggests 23% of car insurance policies don’t provide cover for so-called "misfuelling". The research analysed 288 policies to come up with the results, which will be bad news for many of the over 100,000 motorists who make this mistake every year, according to figures from the AA.

The research also revealed that 14% of breakdown policies don’t provide cover for the driver if they run out of fuel. This can quite easily happen if you fail to check your fuel levels before setting out, and the news may well surprise a few drivers across the UK.

The insight analyst for general insurance at Defaqto, Mike Powell, said that drivers who put the wrong fuel into their vehicles “not only face a huge repair bill but may also find that their breakdown policy doesn’t provide cover for their vehicle to be towed to a garage”. He added that even the breakdown policies that do provide cover will only tow the vehicle to a garage or its destination.

Aside from checking carefully that you have enough fuel and that it is the right type of fuel, especially if you are a new driver, you should also be fully aware of what you are covered for on your insurance policy in case you experience any problems.

A new report released by Which? has revealed that car insurance companies are charging up to £55 for customers to make minor changes to their policies. With consumers already feeling the pinch resulting from a tough economic climate, the British public are being warned to check carefully the fine print of any potential insurance policies before they make the decision to sign up.

This advice comes as Which? magazine revealed that two thirds of car insurance companies are charging an average of £21 to customers who wish to make small changes to their policies, including vital alterations such as marital status or change of address. However, motorists are not alone in being punished by insurance companies for unavoidable changes occurring in their lives, with home insurance customers receiving an average charge of £18 for making similar alterations.

Despite these statistics providing serious food for thought for consumers looking to purchase insurance, the main thing to look out for is the cancellation fees for deciding to end cover midway through a policy term. The decision to cancel a policy costs an average of £40 for those individuals unlucky enough to be covered by one of the two thirds of car insurance companies that charge hefty cancellation fees.

The findings of the report led a spokesperson for Which? to state: “It’s about time insurance companies start treating their customers fairly and make administrative charges proportionate and transparent”. Such a viewpoint is likely to ring true with consumers who are perhaps paying the price for the fact that they are looking to slash the initial cost of their insurance premiums at such a difficult financial moment, even at the cost of not checking the details of the policy that they end up purchasing.

Almost one fifth of British motorists who hit a parked car are failing to leave their details behind for the victim of the incident. This has left unfortunate motorists having to foot a massive £169 million annual bill to pay for the often extensive repairs their vehicles require after being struck.

With motorists across the UK increasingly looking to find the cheapest deals on their car insurance given the current economic climate, the need to keep insurance costs as low as possible may have helped to fuel a culture in which motorists are now prepared to flee the scene of an accident rather than admit responsibility for any given incident and see their insurance premiums rise as a result by losing that all important no claims discount.

The report that uncovered these startling statistics was released by Accident Exchange, with spokesperson Lee Woodley stating that “parked car prangs cost the insurance industry more than £1.2bn annually in repairs. It’s therefore appalling to think that £169m of that figure has to be picked up by the innocent motorist’s own insurance policy”.

With safe and reasonably priced off-road parking in British cities increasingly at a premium, motorists are finding themselves having to risk parking their car (or cars) on the street more frequently, leaving themselves far more susceptible to being on the losing end of a prang. As a result of this, inner city motorists could see their insurance premiums rise through no fault of their own if motorists are forced to continue claiming for third party damage on their own vehicles.

Should this happen, it is likely that motorists will increase calls for surveillance of cars that are parked on the road.

When we get our motor insurance renewal through the post, it’s all too easy to accept it blindly and pay up. After all, we’re probably being rewarded for being a loyal customer and anyway it takes ages to shop around, filling in endless details online or hanging on the phone trying to get through to a human being rather than listening to Greensleeves. But are we right to have this attitude?

After all the financial doom and gloom, we are all trying to tighten our belts and yet, according to moneysupermarket.com, we could save an average of £233 by shopping around for a better quote (an increase of £100 on last year’s figures) but we don’t bother! A shocking 25% of us automatically renew, either because we can’t be bothered looking for a better quote or because we don’t truly believe that we can save money.

The over 55s are the worst culprits, with the 18 to 34s the most likely to shop around. As regards geographical differences, those in London and the North East are the least likely to seek out a bargain.

Steve Sweeney of moneysupermarket.com makes the point that insurance companies are always eager to tempt new customers with special introductory discounts but, having got your business, they are unlikely to continue to offer a good deal in subsequent years.

With insurance premiums rising at an alarming rate this year, due to increased fraudulent claims and uninsured drivers, this is definitely the time to realise that this is one area of life where loyalty does not pay and spend a few minutes seeing if you can save yourself some money.