Reader Letters: Insurance groups and motorway gantry gaffes
Your correspondence
Sign language
Terry Lockhart asks whether there’s anyone you can call about incorrect motorway matrix signs (“Motorway confusion”, Letters, November 13). The Highways Agency operates a 24-hour line on 0300 123 5000. However, most signs use a system called Midas — Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling — which sometimes does not close down and must be manually overridden.
Andrew Woodthorpe, Harrogate
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Risk assessment
Huw Beynon asks what insurance rebate a reader got for painting his car a different colour (“In the dark”, Letters, November 20). I’d guess none. Admiral greeted my change of an Audi A3 cabriolet for a Mini One D, which is in a far lower insurance group, with an instant rise in my premium. I phoned the company many times and finally was told “driving an unfamiliar car created a higher risk”.
Stuart Thompson, Shamley Green, Surrey
Old prejudices
I fear that Derrick Newland’s experience with Liverpool Victoria’s unrealistic insurance renewal charge is a portent of my own renewal, which is due this month (“Double or quits”, Letters, November 20). I too have a faultless driving record but this might not be relevant, as LV appears to have an overcautious attitude towards the over-80s.
Vic Queen, Hertford, Hertfordshire
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