Christmas poses car insurance risk

The dangers of ignoring car insurance renewal forms have been highlighted, as Christmas cards fill festive mailbags.

Some two billion letters and cards are set to be delivered this month, but changes to car insurance rules mean ignoring car insurance renewal forms could be more costly than this time last year.

"Christmas can be a busy time and, amidst all the excitement, it is easy to overlook chores such as renewing your car insurance," said Ian Parker, managing director of Privilege Insurance.

"But forgetting to do so can have serious and expensive consequences."

This time last year, policyholders had 21 days of grace between when their existing car insurance policy expired and when they legally had to have new insurance.

However, at the turn of the year this period was removed in an attempt to crack down on uninsured drivers.

This means, unless policies are set up to be automatically renewed, not bothering with renewal forms while Christmas cards from distant friends and family members flow in could have serious consequences.

Last year more than 34,000 accidents occurred in December and January.

But even in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it is easy to find time to renew your policy or shop around to see if your quote can be bettered elsewhere.

"A quick call to your insurer, and perhaps one or two others for comparison, will enable you to relax and enjoy the rest of the festivities knowing that you will be covered should you be unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident come the new year," Mr Parker concluded.