Van insurance news roundup: 7 days ending 8 Nov 2013:
Companies with large fleets of commercial vehicles may be in trouble, even as there are new van insurance products on the horizon that could make lives easier.
If you’re a business that has its own fleet of vans or other commercial vehicles, there’s a new car insurance product on the horizon that’s going to be of interest to you. A new telematics-based fleet management system, which would include commercial van insurance cover, is in the works thanks to a joint development project between Masternaut and KPN.
Telematics is all the rage right now when it comes to insurance products – especially car and van insurance – because it offers detailed feedback on driver behaviour and it can lead to deep premium discounts for van drivers that can prove their actions behind the wheel are safe and responsible. This helps to keep costs for business owners down in a major way, and with a more over-arching approach to telematics data gathering, especially in the realm of large fleets, will help employers organise their businesses much more efficiently if you ask me.
So that’s the good news, but there’s some bad as well – especially for these same commercial vehicle fleets that might benefit from this new telematics initiative. It turns out that new vehicle deliveries to many fleets may be delayed, simply because some leasing firms aren’t keeping up with the newly-revamped rules that permit vehicles to be driven for up to a fortnight without having a valid tax disc displayed.
It’s been more than three months since this 14 day window was put into place alongside a raft of changes dealing with licensing and registration of fleet vehicles. It was part of the Government’s plan to modernise and streamline DVLA services – a plan that included the shuttering of nearly 40 DVLA offices.
Meanwhile there are leasing companies out there that aren’t allowing franchised dealers to deliver vehicles to them without having that tax disc affixed, despite the fact that there’s a two-week grace period. Why is this happening? Well, nobody truly knows at the moment – apparently it’s some big mystery. The leasing company industry hasn’t responded to any enquiries as of yet, but it’s only a matter of time before someone just goes up to them and asks them what they’re on about. If you ask me, this better happen sooner rather than later!
