Cost to defrost

• Motorists are wasting nearly £50 million in fuel every winter defrosting their cars
• Drivers making thieves’ lives easy by leaving their cars unattended with engine running

UK motorists will waste nearly £50 million1 of fuel this winter by leaving their cars to idle with the engine running in order to defrost them, a new study2 of regular drivers by Direct Line Car Insurance has discovered.

The fuel wasted equates to over 300 million3 road miles and would enable someone to drive an average size car more than 13,0004 times around the world.

This large amount of money going up in smoke is despite the average person taking only three minutes to defrost their car; with high fuel costs, even the smallest amount of waste can cost motorists dear.  The study also found that five per cent of motorists admitted to letting their engine run for ten or more minutes before setting off on their journeys5, making them responsible for £2.45 million of the total wasted on fuel.

Wasting money on fuel is not the only thing motorists should be worried about. Of those questioned, 42 per cent admitted to leaving their cars unattended with the keys in the ignition, making them a perfect target for thieves and risking invalidating their insurance should the car be stolen.

Gus Park, commercial director at Direct Line Car Insurance, said: "With fuel prices having risen more than 40 pence per litre since 20076, it makes more sense than ever to consider alternative methods of defrosting your car on icy days.

"It is really important that drivers never leave their cars unattended with the keys in the ignition under any circumstances, but particularly when defrosting their cars. Many of us are pressed for time in the mornings and so leaving your car to warm up whilst running back indoors to tie up some loose ends can seem like a clever use of our time. However, if a theft occurs under these circumstances policyholders may not be covered."

Direct Line de-icing tips7

• Prevention is better than cure. Where available, park your car in a garage overnight in order to drive away frost-free, and without any scraping, in the morning
• Alternatively, invest in a windscreen frost guard for around £6.99 or a car cover from £27.99 to £34.99, depending on the size of your vehicle
• Night before aerosol sprays are available (£2.99) as another preventative measure. You spray your car’s windows when leaving it overnight and the ingredients prevent the ice from building on the glass
• For quick and easy ice removal, invest in a cheap de-icer aerosol, available for £1.99, coupled with a scraper for 99 pence, remembering to clear all the windows around the car. Failure to fully de-ice your windscreen could land you with a fine and even points on your license
• If you do not want to purchase a car cover, an old blanket will do the trick. Lift the windscreen wipers up, stretch the blanket across the windscreen and secure it in place by closing it in the front passenger and driver doors, then lower the windscreen wipers. In the morning, remove the blanket to reveal an ice-free windscreen.
• You should allow an extra ten minutes in the mornings to de-ice your car and sit in it whilst it is warming up, only setting off once all windows are clear and you have full visibility

- ENDS -

For further information please contact:

Chloe French
Direct Line Press Office
Tel: 0208 285 8848
Email: chloe.french@directlinegroup.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

• All calculations based on Ford Focus 1.6i Duratec petrol – Manual transmission. Fuel efficiency (combined cycle): 42.2 mpg.
• 1Cost calculated using: the litres of fuel consumed per hour for an idle running engine, the average petrol price per litre, average cost of fuel and average time spent defrosting a car over the winter, by the number of people who drive to work. Source for this information was:
  • Fuel price as issued by the Department for Energy and Climate Change on 29/10/12
  • Number of motorists using their car to get to work source: ONS, November 2011
  • Number of litres consumed in an hour of idling http://www.ecodrive.org/en/what_is_ecodriving-/additional_tips_and_tricks/
  • Winter defined as a 4 month period (Nov-Feb) with every other week day as a frosty day
• 2Direct Line car insurance commissioned Opinium Research to carry out an online survey of 2,010 UK adults aged 18+ from 26th to 29th October 2012. Of those, 1,394 drove regularly. Opinium research also carried out an online survey of 2,013 UK adults aged 18+ from 19th to 22nd October 2012. Of those, 1,333 drive regularly. Results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria. All statistics referenced in the press release relate to people that drive their car regularly
• 3Road miles calculated using 42.2MPG engine. If 4.54609litres = 1 gallon, the Focus would do 9.28 MPL. Total litres wasted (34,416,507) multiplied by 9.28 (MPL of the vehicle used to drive around the equator) = 328,665,184.9 miles
• 4Times driven around the world based on the total number of equivalent road miles being wasted on the fuel consumed running cars idle in the morning (328,665,185), divided by the 24,901.55 miles equator of the Earth.
• 5Excluding those that do not leave their engine running/do not defrost their car
• 6Petrol price over the past four years www.petrolprices.com/the-price-of-fuel.html
• 7De-icing product prices taken from www.halfords.com
• A regional breakdown of how long drivers are leaving their engines running to defrost their cars is available upon request

Direct Line

Started in 1985, Direct Line became the first UK insurance company to use the telephone as its main channel of communication. It provides motor, home, travel and pet insurance cover direct to customers by phone or on-line.

Direct Line general insurance policies are underwritten by U K Insurance Limited, Registered office: The Wharf, Neville Street, Leeds LS1 4AZ. Registered in England and Wales no 1179980. U K Insurance Limited are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Direct Line and UK Insurance limited are both part of Direct Line Insurance Group plc, which is wholly owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

Customers can find out more about Direct Line products or get a quote by calling 0845 246 3761 or visiting