Car insurance, economy, pensions, PPI

Car insurance premiums are continuing to rise as the AA’s latest British Insurance Premium Index shows the average premium for a comprehensive car insurance policy has increased by more than £20, to £585.84, over the three months ending 30 September. This is a jump of 3.7 per cent over the third quarter. Over 12 months, the average quoted premium has risen by 16.3 per cent, adding almost £82 to a typical motor policy. ‘We are witnessing sustained price increases once again which is bad news for drivers,’ said Michael Lloyd, the AA’s director of insurance. In other motoring news, new data from uSwitch.com suggests that millions of motorists risk paying an average of £691 too much to insure their cars because they mistakenly believe a third party only policy will be the cheapest available. Nearly three quarters of consumers believe that taking out a fully comprehensive insurance policy will cost them more than a third party only policy. However, the figures from uSwitch.com reveal the average cheapest quote for a fully comprehensive policy is £691 cheaper than the average third party quote – a total saving of £7.2 million across all customers. Despite this, nearly seven in ten drivers who search for a third party policy don’t compare both types of cover, meaning the vast majority could be missing out on huge savings. Meanwhile, the AA’s Index reported shows that the average quoted premium for a typical combined home buildings and contents policy has fallen by 1.1 per cent or £1.75, over the three months ending 30 September. However, that fall masks big differences in movement between standalone buildings and contents policies. Economy According to the ONS, UK GDP grew by 0.5 per cent in the three months to the end of September, down from the growth rate of 0.7 per cent recorded in the second quarter, but better than most economists were expecting. Maternity leave The Chancaller should spend £2.1 billion in the autumn statement on extending maternity leave to encourage more women to return to work, the CBI has said. The Guardian reports that the business lobby group has urged Philip Hammond to adopt an £11.5 billion shopping list of measures, including lengthening maternity leave from nine months to a year to bridge the gap with the earliest date from which parents can claim childcare support. Pensions

Hundreds of thousands of savers have cashed in over £7.6 billion from their pension pots using the Government’s pension freedoms.

PPI Barclays says it set aside an extra £600 million to cover the mis-selling of payment protection insurance in the third quarter. That brings the total provision over the past two quarters alone to £1 billion, after £400 million was put aside in the second quarter. Lloyds also set aside an extra £1bn for PPI claims yesterday. Shopping

The nation’s love for shopping anytime, anywhere is fuelling a so-called ‘Vampire Economy’ – which is boosted when the clocks go back – with one in three Brits saying they now spend more money shopping online at night than they did five years ago.

The research finds that as nights draw in, night time shoppers spend on average 2 hours 12 minutes browsing after dark each week, up from 1 hour 30 minutes during the summer. According to Barclaycard, which processes nearly half the nation’s credit and debit card transactions, 10:18pm is the peak time to purchase.

BT BT’s sales have risen by a third following its acquisition of mobile operator EE, but the telecoms giant still faces the spectre of a ballooning pensions deficit and a growing debt pile. The Telegraph reports that BT’s pensions black hole shot up to £9.5 billion at September 30, increasing by £3.3 billion in the space of just three months. City analysts have warned the deficit could put its shareholder dividends at risk.