Why in the World Do You Need 37,674 Words for a Car Insurance Policy?

Who Needs a 37,674 words long Car Insurance Policy?

Do you remember how many words the classic novel ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell had, well it was less than the bulky paperwork by car insurers Endsleigh at 37,674 words. This by far is the longest piece of paperwork by any insurer and is double the amount of the average 18,000 words used by other insurers. A research conducted by Fairer Finance found that Sheila’s Wheels was next on 32,860 words, just beating Esure at 32,631. LV has the lightest paperwork at 6,901 words which is a long way from the second best, Nationwide on 9,302.

The 18,000 word count was derived from a study done by Fair Finance on 40 major Car insurers as it started a campaign to get rid of unnecessary small print. The study showed that only 73 per cent of people don’t read their policy and only 17 per cent understood all of it.

Steve Jenner, a spokesman for the Plain English Campaign, said: “The revelation that the ‘small print’ contains more words than a major novel is a disgrace. It is difficult to see this as anything other than a cynical ploy, designed to confuse and frustrate the customer.”

James Daley, founder and managing director of Fairer Finance, said: “If next to no one is reading terms and conditions then what exactly is the point of these documents?”Adding: “If one company can do the job in less than 7,000 words, there’s no excuse for insurers who are producing documents that are five times as long.”

A normal adult can read 250 words per minute on average which means you will need two and a half hours of your life to read Endsleigh’s policy. It’s not surprising that the insurers reputation is on the low as late payouts, soaring premiums and perplexing terms and conditions are on the rise.
Do you think you can read all of the Endsleigh policy? We must warn you though it’s 37,674 words long.