Author: News Desk

Pay as You Drive?

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As if the news isn’t bad enough right now, with no end to lockdown any time soon and more misery through to the new year if the news is to be believed.

And now news reaches us here at Cheap Van Insurance that the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is considering adding a levy to drivers to plug the £40 million-pound gap in the economy. 

How is he planning to do this? By charging drivers to use the roads. 

Isn’t that what road tax is for?

Apparently not. The deficit in the government coffers comes from the switch to electric vehicles, which we have all been encouraged to make, with grants and discounts for those who have already made the switch. The government is planning to ban the sale of petrol, cars earlier than planned, now with a rumoured end date of 2030, just 9 years from now. 

And of course, there is also a darker side to this. If it wasn’t bad enough already, consider how they will charge per distance travelled? That’s right, enforced black boxes in all of our vehicles to track where we are going and what we are doing. It’s a dystopian future that none of us really want to contemplate, but may soon be coming to a vehicle near you.

Van Insurance Set to Increase

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As if the current lockdown wasn’t enough to have us all hunkering down for the winter, news this week is that van insurance is set to go up in cost. In fact, since the end of the last lockdown, they have, reports suggest, already increased by 1.6% in the last 3 months, compared to a drop of 2.4% during lockdown.

If you get all whizzy with the maths, that is still a net decrease of 0.8%, but given that many van insurance commentators (yes, they actually exist), had predicted a much greater fall, it doesn’t make for happy reading, especially considering that van drivers were one of the most affected jobs as a result of the lockdown, either by being unseasonably busy or simply unable to work.

There is some good news if you use your van as your main form of domestic transport too  with a social, domestic and pleasure policy – there has been a drop in the cost to renew your van insurance, but given that most of us use our vans for work, this doesn’t really help the drivers who use their vans to earn a living.

Also, with more people looking to switch career and get into van delivery driving due to the cut of jobs in other industries such as hospitality and leisure, bad news for the younger van drivers out there. Unless you are prepared to install a telematics device to reduce the cost of van insurance, the average cost of annual van insurance for the under 25’s is a whopping £3,091. 

What happens next? Well, if this year has taught us anything, it’s that none of us really know. But if you do want the best deals, our advice remains the same – complete our simple quote tool, and let the very best van insurance deals come directly to you. After all, life is hard enough. 

It’s that time of year…

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No, not when Britain locks down again, although it is starting to seem like an endless hamster wheel of doom and gloom. Hopefully for many of you, life will go on and work will continue and you won’t be putting in extra hours as a result of the new lockdown.

But it is the time of year when the days are shorter and winter driving comes into play. So, it’s a smart move to keep on top of what’s going on with your van, and doing what you can to keep things in good working order. A lot of issues and van trouble can be pre-empted by a bit of home maintenance and regular checks to keep things ticking over. 

Get in the habit of walking round your van each day before you set off to give it a quick check over. Are your lights working? Are your tyres all looking okay? Check the tyre pressures weekly, while you’re at it.  Are all your doors secure and your fuel cap tight?

We spoke about van security last week, but it’s important to keep an eye on any doors or windows which could do with some extra security. Always try and park it somewhere that you can see it. 

Regular services are a must. At least once every 10,000 miles is necessary. Make sure you keep everything safe, secure and road-worthy, especially as the weather is getting worse – and make sure you have breakdown recovery, just in case you need it – this weather is not the time to be broken down in the middle of nowhere with no help at hand. 

And of course, make sure your van insurance policy is up to the job. Goes without saying, really.

We’ll talk more about the lockdown and what it means for van drivers next week, but in the meantime, stay safe. 

How Safe is Your Van?

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News this week for van drivers to lose sleep over is a report that theft from vans is costing van drivers a whopping £264 million a year. A study commissioned by van insurance company Honcho, reports that each van break in costs tradespeople a massive £5,584 a time. 

Theft from vans occur in the UK once every 23 minutes. While some insurance companies are on top of this and help out by offering 24-hour replacement services for items stolen, so that van drivers and tradespeople can get back to work, pronto, many don’t and still take their own sweet time sorting out a payout while you watch the work slipping away. It can, on average, put a tradesperson out of work for around an entire month.

If you’re a sparky or a plumber and you see your van being broken into, the average loss from a theft would take two months wages to replace all the lost items. 

Yet still, 89% of you are not fully covered for loss of goods as a result of a thefy, and 84% of you don’t have a courtesy van on your van insurance policy. 

This makes the need for ensuring your in-vehicle security is as good as can be, with lockable storage and additional locks on entryways. 

If you don’t have the added extras you may need if you become another one of those unlucky victims of van theft, it might be worth checking out what a new van insurance policy can do for you. 

Tax Tales and Fuel Foes

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Bad news for van drivers up and down the UK, as chancellor Rishi Sunak has hinted at a double whammy of tax increases incoming next year for van drivers.

He is looking to not only end the freeze on fuel duty, but also increase taxes for the self-employed next year. Fuel duty has not been increased in over 10 years, but in a blow to van drivers, this looks set to change as the chancellor looks to find ways to pay back the cost of the COVID crisis. 

The suggested increase appears to be somewhere between 3-5p per litre, putting a decent whack of change on the cost of filling your tax next April onwards. This is a tough blow for many, following on from the impact that COVID has had on many households up and down the UK. Fuel duty is currently 57.95p per litre and has been that amount since 2011. There’s no doubt an increase will upset many voters, who are already facing huge difficulties as a result of COVID measures taken by the government, especially the lack of help and support for the newly self-employed. 

And if that wasn’t bad enough, it seems that self-employed van drivers will also see their National Insurance contributions go up, from the current rate of 9 per cent, to 12 per cent, in line with the amount currently paid by employees. There appears to be a lot of resistance to this, given that the self-employed do not receive the same rights as the employed, in terms of sick pay, annual leave, redundancy pay and more. 

So, we are glad here at Cheap Van Insurance that at least we continue to do what we do best, and help you save a packet on your van insurance. It sounds like you may need the savings next year. 

Time for an Electric Van?

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It seems the world of vans is heading into an all-electric future. This week, delivery giant Amazon unveiled their new custom electric delivery vans which they are rolling out on a large scale through the next few years, with plans to have 100,000 on the road by 2030. 

The van was designed in part with input from Amazon delivery drivers, and features in built Alexa, state of the art traffic sensors, hands-free, real-time navigation, an ergonomically designed driver’s seat, improved access to packages, thanks to a new interior layout, and 360-degree cameras around the vehicle. The company developed the vans as part of a wider green initiative to be carbon neutral by 2040. 

Meanwhile, Kier group, who are responsible for many of the motorway and major road repairs in the UK have also just added electric vehicles to their fleet, in the form of electric taxi vans that are capable of carrying two Euro sized pallets with a payload of up to 830kg. 

These taxi vans will deliver supplies to roadwork sites up and down the country and are currently being tested around the UK. Again, these form part of a bigger goal towards carbon neutrality for the Kier Group. 

The good news is that the drive for electric vehicles by these companies is seeing electric technology being integrated into many commercial vehicles rather quickly. This means that prices are starting to become realistic, the technology more reliable and the savings from owning an electric van are becoming something worth considering for many van drivers. Maybe next time you are due a van upgrade, it will be worth taking a look.

Van Driver Heroes

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You know here at CVI, we’re always doing our bit to celebrate you, the unsung heroes of the UK, the relentless van drivers who get out there come rain, shine or COVID 19 to get things done. And what a lot of grafters you are. 

But it isn’t just us who want to celebrate the great British van drivers of the UK. What Car? Magazine have teamed up with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles to find those great British van driver heroes that we all know and love. 

We know you’re a modest lot, but friends and family can also nominate you, and as a thank you, the best 10 van driving heroes will be chosen and their achievements and examples of going above and beyond will be celebrated across social media for their commitment to getting it done. 

The competition is fronted by TV personality Edd China and he too, will be sharing on his socials those winners, giving them a great bit of free publicity and of course, the recognition that they deserve. 

Getting involved is easy – just send in up to 300 words explaining why you, or a van driver you know, deserves the recognition and any supporting photos or video and send them using this link. But you need to move fast – entries close this Friday, 9 October. 

This has been quite an extraordinary year, so what better time to celebrate those extraordinary van drivers of any trade or profession who have done their bit and made a difference?

Adding some flex to van insurance

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It’s a dog eat dog world out there and latest news shows that, with an uncertain future ahead of us all, and no knowing if we will be locked down once more any time soon, it seems that more people are turning to van driving as their career of choice.

Latest news suggests that van insurance policy numbers are on the rise, with more people looking for job certainty and, faced with another potential lockdown, many have decided that working as a delivery driver is the career for them.

And we can’t blame anyone. While the world ground to a halt earlier this year, one of the careers that endured was that of delivery driver. Likewise, the building trades appeared largely unaffected, with more people deciding to spend their holiday savings on home improvements instead. So it’s fair to assume that should we face another national lockdown, that those trades will be the ones that carry on as before. 

In fact, there was a 52% increase in requests for van driver insurance quotes between April and June of this year as lockdown started to ease up. 

Van driver insurance companies have begun to respond to this with improved, more flexible van insurance policies becoming available, from single, by the day cover, to monthly policies that can be used as and when people need it. We welcome this, as with other changes in the van insurance world, to a more flexible approach that can mix and match with people’s needs. The car insurance world recently saw a new type of policy come on the market, where people pay to unsure by miles driven and we suspect that some bright spark won’t be far behind doing something similar for the van drivers of the UK soon. With such uncertainty of where we are headed as a nation this winter, we can imagine some people will be very happy to see this kind of insurance policy around. 

Another Lockdown Looms?

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Well, today we find ourselves – van drivers and non-van drivers alike, on a precipice. While we don’t mean to come over all prime minister on you all, it appears that today or tomorrow might see the UK go back into some form of lockdown which may be two weeks, may be longer. Either way, it’s going to be pretty crappy news for van drivers. 

A short lockdown will see many things once again grind to a halt – from beauty salons to builders’ merchants, shops to suppliers, the only upside for those who drive vans is going to be food delivery drivers once more, we suspect. Which kind of sucks. 

Of course, we can speculate as much as we want, we don’t know and to be honest, it doesn’t really feel like those in power have much of a clue, either. All this talk of ‘circuit breaks’ and new laws imposed… who knows? 

While it appears that much of the building industry is enjoying something of a renaissance as those in power chase their tails and those who were off on holiday decide instead to spend a little on some DIY, the rest of the UK is left in limbo, with furlough due to end, which will inevitably lead to some job losses and another lockdown could see many local businesses collapse, forced to close their doors once and for all. All of which will inevitably affect van drivers of the UK in some way shape or form.

If you did skip out on MOT-ing your van during lockdown, we do suggest doing it now, while you can, because who knows if there could be another blip which means that those without MOTS who can’t then get one as a result of a lockdown could find themselves up the creek without a paddle. 

Of course, we will know by this time next week what is going on (perhaps, maybe… maybe not), but for the self-employed and small business people like the van drivers of the UK, it could indeed by the apocryphal winter of discontent. 

Don’t Let Your Tools Go AWOL

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Here at CVI, we are sure you’ve heard ad infinitim about the risk of keeping tools in your vehicle. We know our readers are generally a pretty smart and savvy bunch, and so those of you who do carry tools, are, we are sure, know to display all the warnings, such as one of those stickers saying ‘no tools left in the van overnight.’

And it’s a good job you’re cautious, too While we know that tool theft was a thing (incidentally, catalytic converter theft is also on the up), did you know that tools are actually stolen from the vans of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland a shocking once every 20 minutes?

20 minutes?

That is a ridiculous number of tools to be going AWOL each year. 

According to research, tools went AWOL from vehicles 28.681 times last year. And that is just the thefts that were reported, so we can only imagine what that tally may be when you included the ones that didn’t even get reported. 

That equates to 78 incidents of tool theft every single day of the year. 

Of those thefts that were reported, the majority happened in London, followed by the North West, Yorkshire and Humberside. A whopping 4,400 crimes were reported in Lancashire alone last year.

This just goes to show how important a great van insurance policy is. If you don’t have your tools covered, you can wave goodbye to that job – and that’s something none of us can do with as things stand with the uncertainty of a winter of coronavirus approaching. 

Of course, personal responsibility also plays a part, and ensuring tools are well secured inside the vehicle, that the van is kept locked and well supervised can all help to reduce incidents of told theft from vans.

The good news is that some instance companies are now offering specialist tools insurance for van insurance policies, some even offering full replacement of any stolen tools within 24 hours – so there is no waving goodbye to those jobs you’ve got lined up, after all.

To stop the chances of it happening, here’s our advice:

  • Leave your van where you can see it – on site, if possible
  • Always lock it between trips to load and unload
  • Make sure you have a sticker advising you don’t leave your tools in there overnight and that your van is alarmed – it’s always worth deterring them from trying
  • Make sure you have lockable storage inside your van that is fixed to the vehicle – there are some great storage cages which can prove worth every penny
  • If you have safe overnight storage for your tools – use it!
  • Try and park the van somewhere secure overnight

We can’t guarantee you won’t get your tools nicked, but you can do your bot to try and prevent it from happening. After all, it’s another insurance claim that nobody needs to make….

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