Only Insurance.com - Greener driving due to car insurance

Car Insurance - Greener driving due to car insurance - 23/04/2008

More Drivers are motivated to buy greener cars because of financial reasons rather than environmental concerns, according to new research. A survey by What Car? revealed that 47 per cent of car buyers would opt for a greener vehicle because of cheaper costs. Some 19 per cent were driven by environmental concern.

Motorists who chose greener cars have been helped lately by government initiatives revealed in the budget.

From 2009 new road tax bands will be introduced that will see those buying fuel heavy cars paying more tax than those with more economical vehicles.

In the following year a 'showroom tax' will apply which will entail buyers of excessively polluting vehicles to pay more tax for the first year they own the vehicle. Tax will be cut in the first year for buyers of less environmentally damaging vehicles.

Steve Fowler, group editor at What Car? said: "With the cost of living increasing and wages failing to keep up, car buyers are saying that financial pressures are of more concern than helping the environment." Recent figures from AA British Insurance Premium Index have shown that average car insurance premiums have not risen in the past year.