Cover Stories

A summit of top brass cabinet ministers was held last week to tackle the chronic increases in car insurance premiums.

David Cameron met with the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and leading insurance firms to discuss ways to slash the number of whiplash claims forcing up car insurance premiums in Britain.

The Prime Minister made it clear that a ‘damaging compensation culture’ has been responsible for pushing up premiums.

There are currently 1,500 whiplash claims made every day in the UK, costing the insurance industry £2bn a year.

If you’ve ever had a crash, you’ve more than likely been hassled by phone calls in the early evening, telling you that you are entitled to compensation. Lawyers can earn a fee of £1,200 from low value personal injury claims, so the motivation for processing so many of these claims is all too apparent.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Transport Secretary Justine Greening said: "From texting and cold-calling drivers involved in accidents, to running high profile advertising campaigns, lawyers are encouraging people to claim for whiplash injuries sustained in the most minor of incidents - which barely damage the car's paintwork, never mind its driver.”

"As Transport Secretary I believe it is time to confront these issues and I'm determined to take a serious look at what can be done. Premiums are not simply the price of an insurance policy, they are a contract of mutual responsibility and insurers must live up to their side of the bargain. It is time for them to get a grip and put their houses in order."

Nick Starling, Director of General Insurance at the ABI, echoed the frustrations of ministers, saying: "Honest motorists have rightly had enough of paying for ambulance chasing lawyers, claims management companies and fraudsters who milk the compensation merry go round through higher premiums.”

Despite upsetting the Law Society, who clearly felt that they too should have been invited to the party, but weren’t, Cameron said that following discussions at the summit, insurers had committed to adjust premiums to reflect any reductions in legal costs.  In short, if more people stop claiming for whiplash, the cost to insurers will reduce and they ‘promise’ to pass the savings back to the customer.

Cameron added: “The insurance industry plays such an important part in all our lives - it is there to help when we are at our most vulnerable and at greatest need. But I want to ensure that we all do what we can to help people through this difficult time.”

The Motorhome Caravan and Camping Show 2012 opened this week on the 14th Feb for the first time in London at ExCel.  The event is organised by the Caravan and Motor home industry and supported by the NCC.  This is a welcome introduction to the Southern market which has never had their own regional event.

It appears from reports that attendance has been great so far and initial feedback from the show is all positive.  Everyone is looking forward to a strong footfall at the weekend to help boost sales.  With ExCel being double the size of Earls court it can house something for everyone bring broad appeal to this new show.

The show is supported by all the major brands, including Elddis, Lunar, Bailey, Swift and the Trigano Group.  The Caravan Club and the Camping and Caravanning Club will have major exhibition stands at the show.

Unfortunately Specialised Covers are not attending the show this year.  With strong sales and a significant efficiency drive underway within the company for 2012 to improve all aspects of the business, from manufacturing output and quality to after-sales support, we feel the expense of these shows would be better spent invested back into the company to further improve an already successful initiative.

As we won't be attending the Motorhome Caravan & Camping Show 2012 at ExCel, London, we will still be offering a 20% discount off the price of our Tailored Caravan Covers. Quote the code EXCEL to claim your discount.

However the below comment from one of our competitors has been brought to our attention by customers.  We would like to let our loyal customers know that we were the innovators of the Tailored Caravan Cover and we supply the best quality, protection, and after sales support in the market.  This is supported by 30 years in the Cover industry.

We also cannot be beaten in Design and Innovation as proven in Patent County Court. With a competitors failed attempts of accusing Specialised Covers of Infringing their Intellectual Property Rights which were fervently defended, with Judge Meade concluding that Specialised Covers did not copy.  The claimant was then instructed to pay £30,000.00 of our costs.

"Our competitors may be able to beat us on price, but they CANNOT beat us on quality, protection or after sales support." Competitors quote from website

After more design inspired research on the web I came across this amazing women who has turned her passion for knitting into Art and Graffiti.

Considered to be the mother of yarn bombing, Magda's work has evolved to include the knitted/crocheted covered bus in Mexico City, as well as her first solo exhibit in Rome at La Museo des Esposizione in the summer of 2010 . She continues to lead community-based projects and works on commissions around the world with companies such as Absolut Vodka, Gap, Mini Cooper, and Smart Car as well as participating in shows at Milan's Triennale Design Museum, Le M.U.R. in Paris, and the National Gallery of Australia, among others.

She continues to expand her boundaries by joining integrated media company 1stAveMachine as one of their directors which will serve as a platform for new types of experimentation and collaboration.

These kind of designs and unique one offs are what we want to bring to our car enthusiast.  This is not just a thing to cover your car, its a statement, a lifestyle, a choice of how the things around you reflect your personality.  The aesthetic is become as important as the function, we hope to bring you both.

www.knittaplease.com

www.facebook.com/pages/Specialised-Covers/196314287053245?sk=wall

At the premiere of the 17th BMW Art Car Jeff Koons unveiled and signed his car in front of 300 international VIP guests on June 1 in the Centre Pompidou, one of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions for modern and contemporary art.  As part of his creative process, the artist collected images of race cars, related graphics, vibrant colours, speed and explosions. The resulting artwork of bright colours conceived by Koons is evocative of power, motion and bursting energy. Its silver interior along with the powerful exterior design, the Art Car will impart a dynamic appearance even when it’s standing still.

Another collaboration between Richard James and Saab created a  customised silhouette of the car with every detail taken into consideration.  Richard James described it as  "almost a caricature of a suit".  He designed the cover using the same principles we also use at Specialised, creating a calico toile which is pinned, shaped and sculpted to the car to create the perfect fit.  This method and design ethos is why we refer to ourselves as the Saville rd designers of Cars Covers.

These calibrations between artists and designers with the car industry have inspired and encouraged the design team at Specialised to look at how we can incorporate this type of creative thinking into our Car Covers.  We are currently looking at working with up and coming artists from our local area to offer a unique experience and product.  We hope this culmination will spawn the creation of a custom design service.  This would enable the customer to provide the in house design team with a creative brief with bespoke requirements so that the covers created are one off in fit, form or function.  Longterm we hope to establish ourselves with a number of designers who services we can offer and apply to our products creating a bridge between the two sectors.  The possibilities are endless with new technologies and techniques being introduced in to the market place from fibre optics to glow in the dark materials this ideas are inspirational.  Thus making form and function equal in the final design.

We are concentrating on being and creating the remarkable.

This week saw the first pre-season test before the 2012 Formula 1 season. Although testing times are known to be unreliable and in fact give little indication to in-season form, it does give the teams a chance to iron out problems and tweak the cars before the season kicks off.

Specialised Covers flew out to Jerez to tailor FIA approved Parc Ferme covers for most of the cars on the grid. These specially designed mesh covers must adorn the cars for FIA inspection within three and a half hours of a qualifying session. Unlike a standard cover, the mesh fabric allows big name sponsors to remain visible!

Although Specialised tailored covers for many of the big names last year, more teams began requesting covers for the 2012 season! The winter test seemed like the ideal opportunity to work on multiple cars…oh, and go to Spain!