From February 1st companies found guilty of making such calls risk a fine of up to £2million following the introduction of new regulations aimed at preventing consumers being harassed by repeated silent calls.

The regulatory watchdog Ofcom say that they received over 9,000 complaints last year regarding ’silent’ calls, with a staggering 70% claiming to have been bothered by two or more calls in the same day from the same company.

The watchdog has written to the call centre industry spelling out the changes, which restrict the use of answer machine detection equipment and mean that consumers should no longer receive repeated silent calls from the same company, over the course of a day.

Ofcom CEO Ed Richards, says: “Ofcom has given sufficient warnings to companies about silent calls and is ready to take appropriate action against those companies who continue to break the rules.”

Just as annoying are calls that set off a recorded message when you pick up the phone, urging to listen to their message which ‘isn’t a sales call’ but a public service announcement or some such.

Personally I would also like it to be illegal for these companies to withhold their numbers, making it impossible to know where the call was generated from.

Maybe that will follow in due course.

Please contact us if you are interested, stating your experience and knowledge of the UK insurance markets.

Choosing from cars manufactured in 2003 the ten cheapest to insure are:

Smart Car

Fiat Seicento

Skoda Fabia

Toyota Aygo

Nissan Micra

Citroen C1

Renault Clio

Suzuki Wagon R

Volksagen Fox Urban

Peugeot 107

The plan will pay for private hospital treatment if no NHS treatment is available within six weeks of diagnosis. It will also cover consultant’s fees and follow up consultations and out patient treatment, provided that it is received within three months from the start of the claim.

Cover for the first child is £9.99 per month and £7.99 for each additional child.

Cover includes expenses for parents accommodation if they need to stay away from home to accompany an under 11 year old in hospital, the policy also offers access to healthcare professionals via a 24hour helpline.

Prudential has been operating its insurance business in Vietnam since 1999 and last year launched a successful personal finance division offering loans of up to $2,500. The company is now expanding that business into mortgage and credit card accounts.

The Vietnamese central bank is predicting a rise of 38% in personal and corporate lending for the year.

Prudential are one of very few foreign finance institutions to have been granted a licence in Vietnam, which boasts one of the fastest growing economies in Asia.

With over 80% of their business generated over the internet and 30% of new sales transacted online on a self serve basis, the company has seen the number of visitors to their retail outlets dwindle over the last five years.

A statement from Endsleigh said: “The Board believes that continued investment in Endsleigh’s already established web based offering, supported by an expansion of UK call centre operations, will greatly strengthen the company’s market position going forward”.

Endsleigh plans to create regional based relationship teams throughout the UK to coincide with the closure of the local outlets. Around fifty sales staff will continue to work in local areas particularly with the education and graduate community.

The conference will commence on May 28th, with over 300 delegates from across Africa expected to attend. Numbers will be swelled  further as  insurers and re-insurers from around the world including UK, France, India, Japan and Australia join the meeting.

The president of the Insurance and Reinsurance Union and member of the organising committee Amara Latrous, will be asking delegates to debate whether insurance has a role to play in reducing the effects of environmental risk, with the theme, Environmental risks: contribution of prevention and insurance.

“I started to slow down but the traffic was more stationary than I thought.”

“I pulled into a lay-by with smoke coming from under the hood. I realised the car was on fire so took my dog and smothered it with a blanket.”

Q: Could either driver have done anything to avoid the accident?
A: Travelled by bus?

“I knew the dog was possessive about the car but I would not have asked her to drive it if I had thought there was any risk.”

“Windscreen broken. Cause unknown. Probably Voodoo.”

“The car in front hit the pedestrian but he got up so I hit him again”

“The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intention.”

“I was on my way to the doctor with rear end trouble when my universal joint gave way causing me to have an accident.”

“I was thrown from the car as it left the road. I was later found in a ditch by some stray cows.”

Q: Do you engage in motorcycling, hunting or any other pastimes of a hazardous nature?
A: “I Watch the Lottery Show and listen to Terry Wogan.”