Fuel Duty Reduction Doesn't Cut it for Majority of People in the UK

CHESTER, England, March 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- 86 Per Cent of People Say the 1p Per Litre Reduction Makes no Difference to Their Day to Day Finances

Despite yesterday's announcement of a 1p per litre reduction to fuel duty, 86 per cent of people don't believe this will make a difference to their finances, according to new research from moneysupermarket.com (http://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/).(1)

Britain's number one comparison site asked users whether 1p off a litre of fuel will make a big difference to their personal finances. Over 7,300 consumers responded in just over 12 hours to voice their opinion. A shocking 86 per cent said the cut won't make any difference to them at all.

Kevin Mountford finance expert at moneysupermarket.com (http://www.moneysupermarket.com/) commented: "Yesterday's fuel duty reduction of 1p per litre is a step in the right direction but doesn't go far enough to really make a difference to despairing motorists. Fuel prices have escalated higher than many people would've expected and UK drivers are desperate to see costs come down to a more affordable level.

"Motorists are all also being hit hard in the wallet by the rising cost of car insurance. Our recent research showed car insurance prices increased by 31 per cent from January 2010 to January this year(2) - or 44p per day, and unfortunately there still aren't signs of increases slowing down.

"Although there is little you can do about the rising cost of fuel, you can take control of some of your motoring costs. Rather than accepting your renewal price on car insurance, shopping around for a better deal will save you money. Consumers switching car insurance through moneysupermarket.com save on average GBP283."

    
    Top tips to reduce the cost of motoring:

    - Shop around for car insurance and buy it online - Many car
      insurance providers offer discounts to customers who buy online.
    - Compare petrol/diesel prices - Although the cost of fuel is high
      everywhere there are still variances between petrol stations, even 
      those that are quite close to each other.
    - Drive in the highest gear - You use less petrol when you keep
      engine revs at low levels, driving in a higher gear helps you do this.
    - Don't carry excess weight - having a roof rack or lots of
      unnecessary items in your car can weigh it down and cause you to use 
      more fuel. Remove anything that you don't need from your car to make it
      lighter.
    - Keep your tyres inflated to the right level. Keeping your tyres
      pumped up to the correct level can help the fuel economy of your car. 
      If tyres are underinflated they don't run as smoothly and cause you to 
      use more fuel. Air is freely available in many petrol/service stations 
      so check your tyre pressure regularly.
    - Don't drive erratically. If you are always accelerating quickly
      and braking sharply when you drive you use more fuel. Use cruise 
      control if you have it or alternatively aim to drive more smoothly by 
      reading the road ahead and giving your self plenty of time to adjust 
      your speed.
    - Don't overuse the air con or heaters.

Notes to editors:

(1) Weekly Poll:

Thank you for voting.

1p off a litre of fuel - will it make a big difference to your personal finances?

Yes - 9.3%, No - 85.8%, I don't know - 5%.

Total votes: 7371.

(2) The rising cost of car insurance

Over the past year car insurance quotes have increased on average by 31%. The average moneysupermarket.com quote has gone from GBP519 to GBP680 (44p per day). Figure calculated using 21,370,762 enquiries made between 11/01/2010 and 13/01/2011.

    
    moneysupermarket.com's customer commitment

    - No other site compares more prices or products
    - We are independent so only find the best deals for you
    - The price you see is the price you pay - you don't need to go
      direct and you won't get a better deal doing so
    - Your details are safe with us and we wont sell them to anybody


    moneysupermarket.com compares (at 24th February 2011)

    - 100 car insurance providers and 76 home insurance providers
    - 20 broadband providers and 18 energy providers
    - 27 unsecured loan and 5 secured loan providers
    - 65 mortgage lenders and 33 credit card providers
    - 65 savings providers and 32 current account providers.
    - Over 865,000 mobile phone deals

    We promise to be clear and impartial

    - All the products in our full search results tables are
      displayed in a completely unbiased manner.
    - We don't add fees or commissions on to the prices we compare.
    - There may be times when another site compares more companies
      than us on a particular product, perhaps because of market changes or
      technical issues. You'll be able to see this and know we are working 
      hard to fix it.

    We promise to be trustworthy

    - We never use your data to make unwanted sales calls or send
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    - You can use our community forum to get information and help
      from other customers.

If you need further help or support, you can contact our sales advisors, customer services agents.

    
    For further information, please contact:

    Katherine Hobby / Lucy Banks
    Lansons Communications
    +44(0)20-7566-9704 / +44(0)20-7294-3689
    moneysupermarket.com@lansons.com

    Paul Lawler
    PR Manager (Financial Services)
    +44(0)1244-370317
    paul.lawler@moneysupermarket.com

    Nicki Parry
    PR Officer (Financial Services)
    +44(0)1244-370318
    nicki.parry@moneysupermarket.com

SOURCE moneysupermarket.com