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Car hire companies are failing customers when it comes to providing affordable car hire insurance, new research from moneymaxim.co.uk reveals.

Research from Moneymaxim.co.uk, the website behind the UK’s only car hire insurance comparison service, shows that car hire insurance purchased from car hire companies direct is in terms of ‘real-benefit’ one of the most expensive forms of insurance there is.

The typical daily cost of hire car insurance from a rental company desk is around £10 a day, which translates to £3,650 per annum, although the total excess covered is normally only around £1,500, and often is even less.

In some cases however the situation is even more extreme. Mark Bower, Managing Director at Moneymaxim.co.uk explained.

“One example we found was a case from European car rental giant Sixt. The cost of extending collision damage and theft waivers to reduce the excess payable to €500 in the case of an incident was an incredible £123.28 for a week’s hire. That is equivalent to an annual premium of £6,410 for a policy with a maximum benefit of €1,500!”

Using the moneymaxim car hire insurance comparison service it is possible to find a policy that provides better cover – reducing the excess to nil, and covering the vehicle’s wheels, tyres, glass and underbody — for as little at £13.30 for 7 days cover, or less than £40 for an annual policy.

Research from Which? published in January highlighted insurance charges and undisclosed cover details on car rentals as potential problems of hiring a car abroad and the Moneymaxim research, highlights the need for customers to shop around and buy their car hire insurance before they go abroad.

Continuing Mark Bower at Moneymaxim.co.uk says:

“Not only is it cheaper but car rental companies offer a poor product that typically fails to protects customers from extortionate excess charges for things like a broken wing mirror, chipped windscreens or tyres that have clipped a curb.

“Thanks to the markets we can expect less Euros and Dollars for our pounds when we head abroad this summer, so making savings wherever possible through things like car hire insurance is always advisable ensuring you have more money to spend on the more enjoyable things we all like to do on holiday.”

Cars hired in Europe come with insurance that typically excludes the first £1,000 of a theft or damage claim. This can leave holidaymakers seriously out of pocket even for a relatively minor incident. In the US and Canada the position is slightly different, with cars coming either inclusive or exclusive of insurance and customers having the option to buy their insurance at the car hire station or independently.

To search and find excess car insurance visit: http://www.moneymaxim.co.uk/compare-car-hire-excess-insurance

To celebrate having 10,000 applications since their launch, payday loans company Speed-e-loans.com are offering visitors to their website two chances to win £250 – and all they need to do is to send in a short video describing what they’d do if they had £250 to spend right now!

There are two ways in which submissions can win. The first is by being voted the Best Video as judged by Speed-e-Loans themselves.

The second £250 winner will be the video with the most views by the closing date (all videos will be uploaded to the Speed-e-loans YouTube Channel).

Gary Miller-Cheevers, CEO, from the company says: “To celebrate having 10,000 payday loan applications since our launch in February and because £250 is the highest amount first time visitors to our site can borrow as a payday loan, we thought we’d celebrate by running our video competition.

“We also really like the idea of using web video as a way for our visitors to interact with us. Finding out in a fun way what kinds of things they would spend their money on is a great way to carry out some customer research. The competition idea is not only as a way to celebrate our success, but to incentivise responses and to make more people aware of our business in a fairly novel way.

“We hope this will become more than a one off event and become an integral part of our reaching out to the online community.”

The competition starts on March 31st and closes at midnight on April 30th. For more information, full competition terms and conditions and to see two example videos, please visit: http://www.speed-e-loans-blog.com/competition/.

Online marketing specialists Speedie Consultants have launched a new, dedicated website aimed at helping insurance and finance companies leverage the power of affiliate marketing as part of their online marketing strategy.

Jason Hulott, Director of Speedie Consulting says: “Affiliate marketing has always been a part of larger companies’ online strategies. With barriers of entry coming down, the small to mid-sized businesses can now take advantage of the low risk methods of attracting business that affiliate marketing can offer.”

Our new site (SpeedieAffiliates) aims to help both companies and affiliates connect with each other in order to refer business and build a profitable online income. The site is aimed at companies looking to start a new programme; companies that have a programme that may have stalled; and also affiliates that can be sat on lots of potential business without a home for it.

Hulott concludes: “We have been in this game a long time at each level. Since the beginning of the year, we have been approached more and more by companies that require a low risk solution to increase their own business without a costly dependence on search engine marketing.”

The site currently has a range of tools and guides to help maximise programmes. There is also a broadcast tool to allow programme managers to spread the word about the programmes.

For more information about SpeedieAffiliates visit: http://www.speedieaffiliates.com

Online marketing specialists Speedie Consultants have teamed up with the Carbon Managers Trees4Business initiative so that each time they take on a new client, a tree is planted.

Stella Hulott, Director at Speedie Consultants said: “We wanted to do something that was a bit more lasting that just sending off a cheque to a charity. With Trees4Business, we really are investing and donating to the future.

“Each time we take on a new client, we will plant a tree on their behalf. In this way, we hope that we will not only grow our ethically operated business but give something back to the environment too. In some small way, we also hope that working with this initiative will be another reason why companies want to do business with us.”

The company have already planted 8 trees to cover new clients taken onboard in 2010 and the plan is to grow this over the coming months.

Stella concludes: “By setting ourselves a ‘different’ type of target of planting trees, we hope that our growing success will lead to far reaching benefits for the environment. We also recommend that other companies look at these types of eco-friendly ways to acknowledge their successes.”

Tree Facts

• One person causes about 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide to be emitted a year. One tree removes about a tonne of CO2 over its lifetime.
• By cooling the air and ground around them, the shade from trees helps cool the Earth’s temperature
• A single mature beech tree can produce enough oxygen for 10 people in a year.
• Trees renew our air supply by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen.
• Shade trees can make buildings up to 20 degrees cooler in the summer.
• Trees lower air temperature by evaporating water in their leaves.
• Tree roots stabilize soil and prevent erosion.
• Trees improve water quality by slowing and filtering rain water, as well as protecting aquifers and watersheds.
• Over one given year; one hectare of mature woodland will absorb the carbon emissions of 100 average family cars.
• It is estimated that the average person in the UK consumes the equivalent of 12 trees a year. This present rate of world consumption is unsustainable and yet trees are vital to our life on earth.

In a statement issued today, loans industry expert Gary Miller-Cheevers (and CEO of the soon-to-be-launched Speed-e-loans.com) responds to the recent ‘bad-mouthing’ of the payday loans industry. He says:

Not a week seems to go by when we don’t see one of the tabloids scream “outrageous charges made for credit by payday lender X”.

What they are referring to is the APR (Annual Percentage Rate) or EAR (Equivalent Annual Rate), which is how the Office of Fair Trading has deemed that the cost of financial products must be calculated so that consumers can make a choice, on a level playing field.

The problem is that it is not a level playing field, in fact it is a very uneven playing field.

Take our payday loans service for example. We charge the equivalent of around 1% per day plus a one-off funding fee of £4.95 for a loan that is meant to be repaid in less than 30 days. So for example, a loan to pay an urgent mobile bill of £100 for 20 days (until next payday), which takes less than 2 hours to underwrite and transfer into a customer’s bank account, would cost £25.94 in fees and charges. This seems fairly straight forward and the customer can either say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. But we have to quote an APR of 2686% according to the ‘rules’.

Now take the same customer who needs £100 to pay an urgent mobile bill and goes overdrawn. If that overdraft is unauthorised, Halifax will charge £5 per day for up to 20 days, thus £100!

This is nearly four times the charges of our payday loans service, and what rate do Halifax quote? 0% !

This is explained on their website* that as they charge fees and not interest, their EAR is 0%.

But still, Speed-e-loans.com charges £25.94 and Halifax charges £100. Make your own mind up who is the best value for this loan!

CONTACT: Gary Miller-Cheevers, Speed-e-loans.com, CEO, telephone: 0844 879 3199 or 07590 563377, email: gmc@speed-e-loans.com

*http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/currentaccount.asp?pagetabs=1

A new UK-based service launches today giving cash-conscious consumers greater control over their finances as well bypassing the banks with their often hefty overdraft charges and fees. The Speed-e-card (a prepaid MasterCard) and e-bank account gives the consumer many of the benefits of a traditional bank account and debit card – but with no interest charges or late fees – and no credit checks.

The card can be used online or in shops, just as you would use a normal credit or debit card, as well as abroad, meaning no worries about having to change up Travellers Cheques.

You can also use your card to make payments online via the free e-bank account and even set up standing orders from it, making it a viable alternative to running a traditional bank account.

And because you can only spend what you actually have on your card, you will never go overdrawn, meaning greater control over your money and no nasty overdraft fees!

You can even opt to receive an SMS every time your card is used, so you will know straight away if it is being used fraudulently.

Gary Miller-Cheevers from the site says: “The Speed-e-card with its free e-bank account gives consumers greater control over their money and the re-assurance that they will never pay charges and fees due to being overdrawn. We believe that in these credit-crunching times and with lots of media coverage over unfair bank charges and hidden costs, this service provides a transparent and ethical way to manage your finances. Why give the money to the banks when you can spend it yourself!”
The Speed-e-card is also unique in that once it is activated, it can be loaded with a Speed-e-loans payday loan – a form of cash advance which is repaid on your next payday.

For more information, please visit: www.speed-e-card.com

About us
Speed-e-card.com and its sister site Speed-e-loans.com offer a practical alternative to banks that can no longer help their customers with their short term financial needs. We have a consumer credit licence from the Office of Fair Trading.

Does your marketing plan consist of the same old thing?

Some magazine advertising, a bit of local press, radio and a yellow pages listing?

Does your Internet Marketing strategy consist of just having a website?

Before you finalise your budgets for 2010, please get in touch with us for a free consult. We will explain all the options available to you for an Internet strategy that works, such as:

• Why Pay Per Click is a double edged sword;
• What techniques you can pay for once this year and earn the benefits of traffic and leads for years to come;
• How to build your Internet presence to generate multiple sources of business that you control;
• Have more than one first page ranking in Google.

For a limited time we are opening our doors to new clients for 2010. We only really do this once a year, as our current clients are more than happy for us to remain their little secret.

Now we could be yours too!

Outsource your Internet Marketing

Speedie Consultants offer a wide range of Internet Marketing services specifically targeted at Finance and Insurance websites. From large brokers, insurance companies, aggregators and niche players, we can help any sized business attract more customers.

Contact us now!

We have a limited number of free consultancy slots available. These 20 minute slots will go fast. Even if you do not use our services, we will give you more than enough ideas to really turn 2010 into the Year of the Web for your company.

Please complete the contact form to secure your slot.

Do you want to find insurance for your small business quickly and easily? Then a specialist new website www.insureyoursmallbusiness.co.uk may be able to help, allowing you to access specialist cover for your small business, without hassle.

Finding suitable business insurance can sometimes be time consuming, even using the web. Traditional insurers may not always fully appreciate the specific needs of a small business and may offer cover at an unrealistic price that does not provide all the coverage a small business needs. So, wouldn’t it be nice to visit just one website, aimed specifically at people who want to protect their small business, without faffing around? Then this service fits the bill.

Jason Hulott from www.insureyoursmallbusiness.co.uk says: “With our new Small Business Insurance service, we aim to provide easy to find, specialist insurance protection for your small business at a price that won’t break the bank!

“Our new website can typically provide cover for all your small business insurance needs under one easy to access website”.

Do you want to find studio or salon insurance quickly and easily? Then a specialist new website www.studioinsurance.co.uk may be able to help, allowing you to access specialist cover for your beauty or hair salon or studio without hassle.

Buying insurance is not the most exciting of things but it is essential if you want adequate protection for your salon or studio. Finding insurance can sometimes be time consuming, even using the web. All too often you may find yourself visiting an insurance website where you have to trawl though pages of different products in order to find the cover that is suitable for your needs.

Wouldn’t it be nice to visit just one website, aimed specifically at people who want to protect their salon or studio, without faffing around?

Then this website fits the bill. Created for people like you whose lives are too busy to turn buying salon or studio insurance in to a project, this easy to navigate site can typically offer protection that may include employers’ liability insurance; public liability insurance; equipment cover; business interruption cover, plus much more!

Jason Hulott from www.studioinsurance.co.uk says: “With our new salon and studio insurance service, we aim to provide easy to find, specialist insurance protection for your salon or studio at a price that won’t send your Bank Manager in to shock!

“Our new website can meet, we hope, your salon and studio insurance needs under one easy to access website”.

Banner advertising, while seen as one of the lower converting forms of online advertising, there are still some great ways you can use them as part of a low cost advertising campaign.  We have seen multiple brands in the finance and insurance space using banner ads to what must be great effect.  Otherwise we would have stopped seeing them. Online email services such as Yahoo and Hotmail seem to be littered with these ads.

Normally these types of ads are bought on a pay per 1000 views called CPM.

Other Ways To Use Banner Ads

You can use Banners ads as part of your Google Adwords campaigns, you can buy ad space on a huge range of directory or niche sites, forums and blogs,

You can also use them as part of your Affiliate programmes.  We have recently launched a banner set design service in which we design and deliver a range of 6 banner sizes to help you promote your website, product or service.  Our first client -CaravanQuoter – is very happy with our service. Check out a few of their banners

To get your own range of web banners made please use the contact form to get in touch…