RBSI rumours continue

An unusually high number of sources claim that the deal is all but done with one insurer, though without it being confirmed by any of the interested parties, a reputable publication like PB is unable to name the supposed buyer.

The public declaration by Sir Fred Goodwin that RBS needs to raise £12bn in its latest rights issue means that despite the current economic climate, the RBS board won’t be accepting a low offer for the business. Current estimates place the value of RBS Insurance between £5bn and £10bn.

Check out the May edition of PB for an analysis of RBSI’s strange reaction to the Heathrow baggage handling crisis.

Car insurance quirks

Scots are apparently the biggest fibbers when it comes to filling in their car insurance proposal forms. According to Sainsbury’s Finance’s latest survey, a third of Scots admitted to distorting the truth or writing down facts on their policy forms without checking them. When asked why, the majority claimed it was to save money.

But before the English among you get carried away on your high horses, it was an English teenager who hit the Chester newspapers' headlines this week for claiming drug dealing was the only way he could afford his car insurance.

Peter Cottrell, a 19-year-old from Chester, told the arresting police officer that he needed to sell the 500g of skunk cannabis, estimated to have a street value of £1,200-£1,700 to pay his insurer.

At his court hearing however, Judge Elgan Edwards, the Recorder of Chester was refused to accept Cottrell’s excuse as a legitimate one. He lamented: “We’ve come to a very sorry state when young men like you feel that a legitimate way of paying your car insurance is to supply skunk cannabis.”