Employees in the healthcare sector are among the most accident-prone drivers in the UK, although insurance workers are also on the list, new research suggests.
According to the study, general practitioners (GPs) are the professionals most likely to make a claim on car insurance. In the past five years, nearly 13% of these professionals have made at least one at-fault claim, more than twice the 6% national average.
Several other healthcare occupations, including hospital doctors, health visitors and dental surgeons, dominated the list of professions that have particularly high car insurance claim rates:
- General Practitioner (12.58%)
- Hospital Consultant (12.05%)
- Outreach Worker (11.05%)
- Hospital Doctor (10.46%)
- Surgeon (10.41%)
- Health Visitor (10.37%)
- Insurance Consultant (10.18%)
- Psychotherapist (10.07%)
- Dental Surgeon (9.93%)
- Psychologist (9.76%)
Besides those from the healthcare industry, insurance workers also tend to have high claim rates, with three professions in the top 20 – insurance consultants (10.18%), insurance representatives (9.42%) and claims adjustors (9.39%).
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By contrast, the occupations least likely to make a claim include car dealers, abattoir workers and car wash attendants.
“While it’s ironic that those best placed to deal with accidents in the car make up the majority of our top 10, this study highlights the importance of concentration while driving,” said Matt Oliver, car insurance spokesperson of aggregator site GoCompare.com, which produced the study by analysing quotes generated by customers on the website in 2016.
“Driving while stressed, tired or frustrated can lead to accidents. As well as putting yourself and others in danger, if it’s deemed that you were at fault for an accident due to negligence, it can affect your car insurance,” Oliver was quoted as saying in a report by
AOL.
Oliver said at-fault accidents tend to affect car insurance premiums more than other claims as insurers will deem the driver as higher risk.
“Drivers with an at-fault claim could see their premiums rise as much as £70,”
AOL quoted him as saying. “However, how much premiums go up could depend on the severity of the claim.”
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