Car insurers save £500m
CAR insurers saved £500million in payouts last year – but prices for motorists stayed the same.
Lockdowns meant far fewer cars on roads, and fewer crashes.
The Association of British Insurers said claims fell by 19% – or 500,000 – to 2.1 million, with payouts down 6%to £8.3billion.
Yet the average private comprehensive policy remained around £465.
Consumer watchdog Which? advised motorists to shop around.
SLUGS and snails topped a list of pests that plagued gardeners last year.
The slimy molluscs were at No1 on the Royal Horticultural Society’s annual pest list, which is based on gardeners’ inquiries, for the first time since 2017.
The box tree caterpillar, which strips box plants of leaves, dropped from first to third in 2020, as reports of the invasive bug fell 40%.
Overall, the RHS’s advice service had an 88% rise in queries as people spent more time in their gardens due to the pandemic.
Andrew Salisbury, of the RHS, said: “Some age-old pests and diseases persist.” Top 5 pests in 2020: 1. Slugs and snails 2. Vine weevils 3. Box tree caterpillars 4. Ants 5. Woolly aphids. Top 5 diseases: 1. Honey fungus 2. Pear rust 3. Leaf spot and canker of Prunus. 4. Rose black spot 5. Bracket fungi.
THE daughter of a murdered woman whose death remains a mystery after 30 years has made a fresh appeal for help.
Company boss Penny Bell, 43, was found in the front seat of her Jaguar in a swimming pool car park in Greenford, West London, on June 6, 1991.
The mother of two had been stabbed more than 50 times in a frenzied attack.
A £20,000 reward is being offered to anyone who has information leading to the arrest and prosecution of her killer.
Following an appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch Roadshow Live, her daughter Lauren Bell said: “Thirty years marks an extremely painful milestone but we could be one step away from finding the perpetrator.”