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Mortgage lending without buying life cover has created a £2.3 trillion protection gap, an industry expert said today.

Claire Moyles, a spokesperson for Sainsbury’s Bank, said anyone aged 18 or over should seriously consider buying cover for their mortgage and family.

One in three Britons have no life insurance, according to ABI.

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“There’s a £2.3 trillion protection gap in the UK so there’s a massive amount of underprotection. It’s obviously not top of everybody’s agenda,” Ms Moyles said.

“Part of the reason the gap exists is because people are taking out a mortgage without any life insurance.”

She also advised young people to shop around to obtain the best deal, as premiums can vary a lot for lower age brackets.

ABI figures show that between 2005 and 2006, £41,168 million was paid on premiums for life insurance, while £45,469 million was given in life insurance benefits.

According to new research published today by AA Pet Insurance when it comes to naming our pets, we continue to be inspired by drinks, BUT.. the latest misfit star Britney also makes a strong showing in the top 100.

AA Insurance says it examined the policies of over 6,500 insurance customers to establish the inspiration behind the names of British dogs and cats.

Although children’s names are a big influence with Jack and Jess a top choice for both species, the research revealed a myriad of unusual trends for names:

Some confused pet owners have named their cats and dogs after other animals, says the insurer, including Pig, Frog, Horse, Lion, Mouse and Tortoise.

Celebrity culture has also been a great influence. Apart from Britney, stars such as Tyson, Posh, Misteeq, Elvis, Bono and Mika make an appearance.

The influence of booze is as strong as ever with: For dogs, favourite Irish tipples Guinness and Baileys make the top 100, whilst Brandy tops the charts for cats.

The classic 60s cartoon, the Flintstones is a rocking source of inspiration, says the AA, with Bam Bam, Pebbles, Fred and Barney all appearing in the top 100. British favourite Only Fools and Horses also sparked some ideas with Del Boy and Rodney featuring in the top 100 cat names.

Finally, sugary snacks and biscuits are a big inspiration for pet owners with Chocolate, Fudge, Chips, Cookie and Custard all appearing in the top 100.

..My retro’ friend has just acquired a gorgeous Manchester Terrier. He is begining to respond to his given name of ‘Trevor’.. which I am happy to say, in so-much as I know anything, has nothing what-so-ever to do with East Enders.

The trend of falling home insurance premiums has ended, due to heavy claims from the summer floods, according to the AA’s latest premium index, released on Monday.

The average quoted premium for home buildings insurance rose by 3 percent over the past quarter, the largest single rise since the index was launched in 1994, the AA said. Home contents premiums also rose by more than 2 percent during the period.

The cost of claims from the worst floods to hit the country in 60 years has forced insurers to push up premiums, said the AA, whose index is widely viewed as the barometer for the insurance market.

 The heavy claims bring to an end months of aggressive price cutting as firms tussled for market share. In the previous quarter the average premium for home buildings insurance was down nearly 2 percent, according to the AA.

Insurers face a bill of over 3 billion pounds from more than 130,000 claims that resulted from the torrential rainfall that hit central, northern and western England in June and July.

But predictions of price hikes of as much as 15 percent have proved unfounded, the AA said. Although premiums are likely to continue to rise, continued competitive pressure will keep a lid on the rises, it said.

Motor premiums continued the upward trend that began at the end of 2006, the AA said. The average quoted premium for an annual comprehensive car insurance policy in the last quarter rose by more than 1 percent, while the cost of a third party, fire and theft policy rose more than 3.5 percent.

Analysts and actuaries argue the cost of motor premiums must rise further, as premiums have not kept pace with the increasing cost of claims.

Insurers have opted to keep prices low and compete for market share by dipping into money from reserves that are no longer needed to pay claims, but as these funds are depleted then insurers will need to charge significantly more in future.

Pet insurance premiums can depend on where you live and where the pet is kept, owners are being warned.

Figures from Datamonitor reveal the cost of pet insurance cover could rise by around ten per cent in the coming year as vet bills rise.

However, insurer Allianz is warning many other factors dictate the cost of cover, including the area you live.

“We take a pet’s age and breed into account when insuring them,” said Clare Wheatley, risk and underwriting manager at Allianz Petplan. “We also look at where a pet is located when insuring them.”

“The cost of setting up and running a vet practice can vary greatly across the UK which is something we need to take into account. A vet practice in Northumberland is going to cost less to run - considering overheads such as rent, staff costs and travel - than a practice in Chelsea in London.”

Furthermore, a pet’s home in the house can affect the cost of insurance.

“Where the animal is housed can also have an effect. For example, if a parrot is kept in a kitchen, the risk is greater because of their intolerance of Teflon used in cookware,” explained Ms Wheatley.

Datamonitor figures show 78 per cent of UK pets are not insured, while the average pet insurance claim at More Than is £200.

A new parking study commissioned by RAC Direct Insurance suggests car park prangs are costing UK motorists £2.4 billion each year. The study found that over half of all motorists have either damaged another car, or had their own car bumped in a car park, with supermarkets the most common places for dents to occur.

Almost three quarters of these drivers have been the victim of a hit and run car park prang, in which they have returned to their car to discover it scraped but with no contact details left by the offending motorist.

On average, motorists pay £293.57 to fix their car park prang and over 800,000 drivers have had to spend over £1,000 to repair the damage.

A tenth of all UK motorists, and one in five drivers aged 25-34, still admit to driving off after causing a prang without leaving a note and the reasons given by men and women for doing a runner are very different: Three quarters of men don’t think a small prang is a big deal, compared to two thirds of women. Twice as many men than women drive off because they don’t want their insurance premiums to rise. A quarter of male motorists, and one in ten female drivers, do a runner because their car has been a victim of a previous hit and run so they don’t feel like they need to leave their own contact details.

Women are twice as likely to leave because they say they “felt guilty” than men; women are also more likely to be afraid of confrontation.

The research also uncovered the typical profile of a hit and run car park ‘pranger’ – motorists, it suggests, should be most wary of women aged 25-34, driving small blue hatchbacks. The least likely offenders are men aged 45-54, driving yellow trucks or vans.

And motorists who live in the North East, and do their weekly supermarket shopping on a Saturday, should also watch out as this is the most likely time and place for a car park run-in. The safest place and time to park in Britain is in a leisure centre car park in the South West of England on a Sunday.

RAC Direct Insurance’s Rob Wilson concludes: “Many minor car park prangs cause damage that falls below the excess on a driver’s comprehensive policy, so RAC Direct Insurance recommends that motorists check whether their car insurance policy includes “Legal Expenses” cover, which can be used to help claim back the cost of minor repairs from the culprit’s own insurers.”

People who immigrate to Britain may need educating about how to stay safe on the roads, potentially avoiding claims on their car insurance.

According to the Daily Mail, police officers are warning that immigrants from eastern Europe may not be fully aware of drink driving restrictions in the UK.

“We are seeing an increase in the number of foreign nationals being arrested for drink driving and speeding,” said Chief Inspector Rick Dowell, head of Dorset Police’s traffic unit.

In addition, some immigrants have trouble reading road signs, which may also put their car insurance premiums at risk, while others may not be familiar with enforced drink driving legislation, especially those from Baltic states.

He stated that officers feel that much of this may be rectified with education.

In response to the findings, the force is considering the option of introducing a driver awareness course for new arrivals from eastern Europe.

Meanwhile Cambridgeshire Police have prepared guidelines for migrant workers outlining the UK’s stance on drink driving.

Kwik-Fit Insurance provides car insurance customers with a discount of up to 20 per cent when you get a quote online.

Kwik-Fit is launching what it claims is the UK’s first “green” car service to help its cutomers reduce their carbon footprint.

The “Go Green” service costs an extra £29 on top of the price of an interim or full service but includes a number of extra checks and enhancements that the company says will make cars more environmentally friendly.

As part of the Go Green service, which launches this week, Kwik-Fit will add a fuel treatment to tanks that cleans the engine and ensures it burns cleanly and efficiently.

It will also check emissions for improper gases and donate £10 of the extra £29 to carbon offsetting activity organised by the CarbonNeutral Company.

Go Green takes 20 minutes longer than a regular service but motorists also receive an information pack about the CarbonNeutral Company offsetting scheme and a certificate to mark the offsetting of one tonne of carbon.

Kwik-Fit director of customer services David White says: “Go Green is a way for those motorists who are concerned about the damage their car is inflicting on the environment to do something about it.” He also urges rival car servicing companies to follow Kwik-Fit’s lead.

Earlier this month, Kwik-Fit appointed independent agency TBG London to handle its digital media planning and buying account following a pitch. TBG will work to promote Kwik-Fit Insurance through a range of online advertising and attempt to drive traffic to the company’s website.

BUPA has reported a 47 per cent increase in profits, driven by strong growth in its expatriate health insurance business.

The private healthcare group, in its first set of results since selling its private hospitals unit to become a pure health insurer and operator of care homes, said that pretax profits had risen to £166 million for the six months to June 30.

It said that health insurance customers had increased by 3 per cent, lifted by strong demand from the expatriate corporate sector. Revenues of the UK insurance arm, which provides medical insurance cover for 4.3 million customers, including expats, increased by 5 per cent to £956.6 million. The care home unit increased its revenues 8 per cent to £310 million, with its profits 13 per cent higher at £55 million.

BUPA sold its 26 UK private hospitals to Cinven, the private equity firm, for £1.44 billion in July.

As a provident organisation, BUPA does not have shareholders and profits are ploughed straight back into the group. BUPA was established in 1947, has more than seven million customers in 190 countries and employs 44,000 people.

The former BUPA hospitals business, under its new ownership, is to be rebranded Spire Healthcare.

As many as one in four drivers in the UK happily bend the truth when relaying the details of their vehicles in order to save money on their car insurance policies, according to new figures.

Confused.com, the price comparison website, has revealed that despite the fact that nearly all (96 per cent) drivers are aware that giving false details could invalidate any claim they may need to make in the future, around 25 per cent of motorists will willingly distort the facts for the purpose of bringing down premiums.

“If you are caught lying about your details, your insurer can reduce your pay out and may even refuse to pay at all,” warned Debra Williams, Confused.com managing director.

She advised: “Don’t risk waiting until your policy is up for renewal, as if you need to make a claim and a previous incident has not been reported, you could find that your policy isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”

There are over 25 million private car policy holders in the UK.

The insurance industry has launched a major initiative to help tackle climate change and encourage consumers to be more environmentally friendly.

Sixteen global insurers, reinsurers and brokers have developed a series of principles which aim to do everything from reduce the environmental impact of their own businesses to rewarding customers for cutting their own greenhouse gas emissions.

The groups claimed the ClimateWise principles, which a further 21 insurers have signed up to, would enable companies throughout the world to build climate change into their business operations.

The principles aim to encourage more environmentally friendly behaviour among consumers by creating more products that reward this, such as lower motor insurance premiums for those who drive hybrid cars.

It will also encourage people in areas that are at a high risk of flooding to repair their homes in a more flood resilient way, such as by putting in concrete rather than wooden floors.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI), which is launching the principles at a conference on climate change, said taking measures such as these would enable insurers to continue making insurance more widely available in high risk areas.

Firms will also be incorporating climate change issues into their own investment strategies, encouraging the companies they invest in to adopt climate friendly behaviour and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions.

Insurance companies invest the premiums they receive into equities, giving them considerable financial muscle, with them currently holding just under a fifth of all investments in the London Stock Exchange.

Insurers will also be taking the lead in analysing the risk of climate change, looking at everything from the increased chance of severe flooding, to the possibility that severe droughts in the south of the country could lead to more deaths.

The industry will also be supporting more accurate national and regional forecasting of future weather patterns as a result of climate change, with this data being used to set premium levels and assess the capital reserves insurers need to hold.

The ABI said it would be sharing its research with scientists, business, governments and non-governmental organisations, and supporting work to set and achieve national and global emissions reduction targets.