Test drive crash results in £300,000 insurance claim

Repairs to a supercar damaged when a test drive went wrong near Aberdeen are set to cost an insurance firm £300,000.

The Pagani Zonda S, which would cost more than £500,000 to buy, was involved in a crash last September. The car has been sent for repair to Modena in Italy, where the vehicles are made.

A spokesperson for insurers Aviva said: "This is the biggest insurance payout we have had for repairs to a private car in the UK." The spokesperson said: "This is out of the ordinary for an insurer."

Although the vehicle was badly damaged, Aviva decided that the car may be repairable and set about making arrangements for the car to be shipped across to Modena, Italy, home of Pagani, the vehicle manufacturer.

The insurance claim was lodged by the test driver, not the owner of the car.

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source: BBC

Identity fraud 'is set to soar' says Experian

Identity fraud is likely to accelerate in 2010 as organised criminals target the rich, according to a report.

Some 72% of ID fraud in 2009 came in the 2nd half of the year with company directors and business owners the most at risk, Experian found. The credit reference agency said that the number of ID fraud victims rose by 20% in 2009 compared with 2008.

London remained the UK's crime hotspot area but Salford, Manchester and Cardiff were also vulnerable, it said.

Experian also noted a rise in the proportion of fraud cases when people manipulated their own information in order to access financial services such as credit. The company estimated that these numbers would increase owing to lower levels of lending and the potential for more unemployment in 2010.

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source: BBC

Bahrain Grand Prix 2010

Fernando Alonso led Felipe Massa to a Ferrari one-two after the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel hit trouble at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Alonso trailed the German from the start but swept by as the Red Bull suffered a spark plug failure. Massa followed the Spaniard past on the next lap and Lewis Hamilton benefited from Vettel's problem to take third.

Vettel eventually finished fourth, holding off the Mercedes pair of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher.

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source: BBC

Winter weather insurance claims hit £650m

Insurers paid out £650m from 335,000 claims made as a result of damage caused by the wintry weather in the UK, figures show.

The biggest chunk of the payout was to motorists who damaged vehicles on the slippery roads, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said. January was the eighth coldest on record and the UK's worst since 1987.

The bad weather hit businesses and consumers with sectors including retail and the housing market suffering. The ABI said that the winter weather cost insurers £650m for claims made in the UK from 18 December to 13 January.

Specifically, £395m has been paid out to motorists. Many of the 268,400 motor insurance claims were for accidental damage caused to vehicles.

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source: BBC