Author: News Desk

Top Tips for Keeping Van Insurance Down

Posted on by News Desk

You know us, here at Cheap Van Insurance. Always on your side, always backing the little guy, the honest van drivers of the UK, as you speed up and down the country, doing what you do best – getting stuff done.

So, this week, we thought we would put together a little aide memoire of all those tips and tricks we like to share with you each week, of how to keep your costs down when taking out your next van insurance policy. 

1: Shop around

It goes without saying, but you’re in the right place to start. Everyone should shop around for their van insurance, to find the best possible deal, but there’s no need to traipse from site to site, or broker to broker. Who has time for that? Our simple form gets the brokers and insurance providers coming to you, with their best deals and offers. 

Because let’s face it, life is hard enough. But shopping around for the best van insurance deal doesn’t have to be.

2: Don’t auto-renew.

Shop around! Last year’s van insurance may have been the deal of the century at the time, but as we have reported here, a lot has changed in the last 12 months (even more than usual), so it makes sense to see what new deals are out there and have some better quotes to go back to your current insurer with, should you really want to stay with them.

Knowledge is power.

3: See what else you can get:

Once you have some competitive quotes, see if you can haggle a bit. See if one of the companies will throw in a useful added extra (we don’t mean a cuddly toy – something actually useful) that will save you money. 

4: Mileage:

Don’t underexaggerate how far you travel. Often, the difference between mileage is negligible when it comes to the cost of your van insurance premium, so do the right thing and tell the truth. The same goes for where your van is kept and what it is used for. 

5: Named drivers

You may have always had the missus on your van policy, just in case, but if she has got some points on her car license recently, you may wish to reconsider if she doesn’t actually drive the van. It’s the same with employees – only have those ones on the policy that will actually drive the van. And make sure you are hiring people with a clean license that won’t cost you a fortune to cover in van insurance fees.

6: Tools:

We talk about this in-depth next week, but it’s essential that your tools are covered with a good policy. The optimum is the firms who offer 24-hour replacement for stolen tools, so you’re not stuck twiddling your thumbs, waiting for your replacements to come through.

Do all the above and make the most of our free quote tool, and you can thank us for making your life that tinny bit easier. 

You’re welcome. 

The Irish Example

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Good news for Irish van drivers this week, with the launch of a scheme that we very much hope to see cross the Irish Channel and trickle into the British system.

If you are fortunate enough to be living and working in Ireland, you will no doubt have heard about the new grant scheme that has been launched to support tradespeople in this post-COVID economy.

Yes, over the water, they have launched a new Enterprise Support Grant, which offers tradespeople a grant of us to €1000 per sole trader who do not qualify for other government support. 

Welcomed by tradespeople over, there, the grant is helping take the strain off the nation’s sparkies, plumbers, builders and carpenters who are able to claim the grant to help make their life a little easier in this post-COVD economy. 

What is really great about the grant is that not only can it be used for stocking up on tools and equipment, but the money can also be put towards vehicle running costs, including fuel, servicing, and van insurance too.

As we all know, insuring a van is not cheap. For many tradespeople, it represents a large chunk of expense towards doing and running their business. And while here at CVI, we do our very best to ensure that all van drivers get the best possible deal on their van insurance, irrespective of age, gender or trade, we know that since the economy ground to a halt earlier this year, getting back up and running has been a massive struggle for many. 

We very much welcome this news and hope that our own Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, sees this initiative and takes inspiration from it, and offers a similar scheme to the van drivers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

After all, with the government desperate to get us all back to work, we can only hope that they don’t forget the role of the British van drivers play in the economy and that they do their bit for those who may have missed out from other initiatives, such as the furlough scheme or self-employment grants. 

Here’s looking at you, Rishi.

COVID Cycle Lanes – Coming to a Town Near You

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You know when you open up Cheap Van Insurance to see what’s new, that you’ll always be met with the latest news, views and opinions from the world of van driver news and motoring. And, dear readers, while we don’t like to blow our own trumpet (bar the odd toot), it seems rumblings posted here first are gathering momentum.

Yes, it seems the mainstream media have cottoned on to our lament of some weeks now – that cyclist groups and teams of eco-warriors are using the COVID crisis to take advantage of local councils and use the current health crisis as an excuse to close roads and put restrictions in place.

Yes, we called it some weeks ago, but it seems our local case is not in isolation. Up and down the country, including London, Manchester, Birmingham, York, Oxford, Derby, Nottingham and Cardiff are all seeing the very thing we warned against. 

Thanks to these groups, van drivers up and down the country are seeing road closures, parking bay suspensions, major diversions and extra cycle lanes appearing out of nowhere. But, far from making everyone’s lives better, these restrictions and alternations are making the life of van drivers in particular, absolute hell.

Traffic jams, causing pockets of super high emissions and pollution hotspots are springing up left, right and centre, as tailbacks mount as a result of these changes. Not only are van drivers getting held up on their deliveries, but once they reach their destination, they are finding parking to drop off impossible, thanks to parking bays being suspended in a bid to free up road space for pedestrians’ use. 

Cycle lanes that are barely being used are causing huge tailbacks as roads are narrowed to single lanes to accommodate them. 

The movement is said to be spending upwards of £225m on these changes, most of which are being sneaked through without any, or very little, public consultation. Were there consultation, we know that ordinary motorists, van drivers and business owners would all have quite a lot to say about these changes. Business owners are not only struggling to get deliveries, but also missing out on vital business that comes from people who need to drive to reach them and find themselves unable to park.

Think about it – those who are reluctant to use public transport – quite a few in these COVID teams we are living in, are being prevented from getting into their local towns because the local councils have made it all but impossible for them to park.

The knock-on effect is catastrophic. No businesses means no van deliveries. Which means no jobs. These short-sighted councils are seemingly hell bent on putting green policies ahead of keeping struggling small businesses (and all the trade they generate) out of business. 

If it is happening near you, we urge you to take action. Speak to your council. Sign petitions. Speak out. Otherwise we all face a future where you may not need the best deal on van insurance – because there are no businesses to deliver to.

It’s time for UK van drivers to come together and have their say. 

A Week of Heroes and Villans

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We start this week with some good news for a change. Yes, despite the weather being more variable than a typical Aston Villa footballing season, we have some good news this week. (No, Villa haven’t signed Gareth Bale – well, not yet, anyway).

The good news is that since lockdown, the average cost for van driver insurance is down. Not by a massive amount, but by 2.3%, which can still represent a good saving on van insurance for most van drivers.

Latest research shows that the van insurance industry has put a pause on their typical insurance price increases, and instead of a hike, have taken a cut.

This is a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has seen a marked reduction in the number of white van men and women on the road throughout the UK. This has meant that unsurprisingly, there have been fewer van insurance claims made and so the cost has come down. 

This is particularly good news because prior to COVID bringing the UK industry to a grinding halt, van insurance premiums were at something of an all-time high. 

The group of van drivers who have seen the biggest drop in their van insurance renewal costs are young van drivers, who have seen the cost of insuring their vans decrease by around 14% (although bear in mind, van insurance for young drivers remains eye-wateringly expensive, with an average annual policy costing upwards of £3,000 compared to the overall average policy cost of a smidge over £1000 – representing a drop of 2.3% in the last few months.

The average premium on van insurance has seen a drop of 0.9% over the last year, so the recent drop of 2.3% is a big change downwards, by comparison.

If you are driving your van for work and using it at home on a ‘Social, domestic and pleasure’ policy, if your van insurance is due, you too, should see a drop although it will be around the more modest 1.2% mark.

Of course, like most good things, they are often fleeting (like the feeling of relief felt when Villa scraped through being relegated), because the future is, like football, less certain. With things returning to normal on the roads, there will inevitably be more accidents, and with more accidents come more claims and that of course means an increase in insurance premiums too. 

So, if your van insurance is due any time soon, make hay while the sun shines. Use our free quote tool, to triple check that you are getting the best possible van insurance deal. 

… And finally,  before anyone writes in to complain of Aston Villa bias or to send Villa-related abuse, let us remind you that the future King of England is a Villa fan, and if he has anything to do with it, you’ll all be Villa fans when he’s in charge.

Until next week.

Bad Back? You’re not alone.

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As this week sees the brave and fearless van drivers of the UK go out of their way to get things to the places and people that need them, all in spite of sweltering heat and traffic jams all around the coast, all we can hope is that you all made time to have your air conditioning re-gassed before the hot weather began. Otherwise, we can’t imagine you’re having too pleasant a time of it.

Whether your office is on the road or in a building, there’s no escaping the heat.

Something else that most van drivers can’t escape is back pain. Sitting in a cab all day, lifting deliveries in and out and the constant stress can all play a part in contributing to a bad back. And it isn’t nice, we’ve all been there. It can play havoc not only on your waking life, but on your nocturnal one too. 

And we know that we’ve talked about it before, but a sedentary life and poor physical fitness is the one thing that can help to make a difference. Maybe shifting a few pounds and getting fit before winter this year is really worth doing more than just talking about it.

But here are some ideas for how you can make those aches and pains a little bit easier to take.

1: Check how you are sitting

Check that your backrest is following the contours of your back. You don’t want big gaps. Try not to recline too much, a straighter posture will force you to stop slumping in your seat a little. If you have an adjustable base, extend it so it supports the ensure length of your thighs. Finally, check your headrest aligns with the middle of the back of your head, and don’t forget to use it. If you need any lumbar support cushions, get them. And use them.

2: Check the steering wheel and mirrors. 

Now everything about your chair is right, try and adjust your steering wheel so your elbows are at a 90-degree angle, but not too close to your chest Adjust the mirrors too.

3: Try and take breaks. 

It’s hard in a COVID world – you don’t want to keep getting out of your van for the sake of it. But a quick get up and move every few hours can get things moving and make all the difference. 

4: Watch your posture.

It’s so easy to start slumping behind the wheel. Try and adjust your posture as often as you can, so that you are sitting tall, in the back of your seat, with your shoulders back and your neck and head straight, not at an angle. Try and keep everything aligned

5: Find some online stretches for at home

Get a free video to bag a few physio-approved moves for a few minutes after work each day. You can also consider getting a back stretcher, an arched adjustable plastic board that you lie on for a few minutes each day, to help put everything back where it should be and relive any pressure off your spine. It’s suspiring how inflexible you may find yourself to be. 

6: If it persists, see a doctor, physio or osteopath

We love our osteopath and think he is nothing short of a miracle worker. But whatever works for you, just do something to seek help to resolve the issue – nobody should have to live with pain long-term.

Safe and cool driving this week, everyone.

Eat out to help out – if you can find parking

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Good news for van drivers up and down the country today, with the Government’s new ‘eat out to help out’ incentive, meaning British workers can take advantage of cut-price meals up and down the country, including many popular takeaways. The scheme which runs Monday to Wednesday through August means that lunches can be on Boris and Rishi for our UK van drivers! To find out which eateries near you are offering the deal, check the website which will give you all results within a five mile radius. We suggest everyone takes advantage of the scheme while it’s on offer, and put a few quid back in your pocket whilst helping the service industry get back on its feet. 

You’ll remember a few weeks ago we were bemoaning the fact that local councils are going gung-ho through town centres, deciding arbitrarily to pedestrianize roads and close off parts of towns to traffic. Well, it seems this is happening across the country, not just in our own little local enclave. Where we are, the latest Highways England/Local council have proposed suspending all parking bays in the centre of town to be able to make those spaces pedestrianised to enable social distancing. Which is great (well, to some, the local cycle groups seem to be lobbying hard for it), but the problem is that not only does that stop local businesses from being able to welcome customers who are able to pop in and visit (our town centre is on a very steep hill, which would make walking to shops impossible for elderly customers), but it also places additional pressure on the limited number of public car parks in the vicinity, which are overstretched as it is. 

This also of course, has a knock-on effect for delivery drivers. Where are they supposed to park to make deliveries, especially those for large goods or bulky items which can’t be lugged up hills from miles away? We don’t know how you guys are supposed to deal with that. And of course, that has a knock-on effect on the shopkeepers too, who need those deliveries to be able to keep trading in what are already challenging times. And that’s before we take a moment to consider those of you who support local delis and sandwich shops by popping in to grab lunch from them. You’re not going to do it if you need to park miles away. 

It seems this is a countrywide issue, with latest reports suggesting that local councils who do impose these measures without public consultation could be liable to legal action as a result. Good! It’s all well and good being able to want to cycle more freely and we understand the environmental benefits that brings, but the reality is that many towns and cities in the UK were created many hundreds of years ago and the way they are built simply doesn’t support that. 

There also appears to be another knock-on effect of these closures creating pinch points, which are increasing pollution as a result of added congestion. Emergency services are also reporting delays in being able to attend emergencies as a result of the congestion. 

If these things are happening in your area, please do take a moment to email your local council or highways agency and make a complaint. Making a living as a delivery driver or shopkeeper right now is hard enough – let’s all try and work together to stop the council do-gooders from making it even harder. 

Time for a little good news?

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Picture the scene (we know you’ve all been there). You’re on the road. On the motorway, to be exact. It’s busy, but its okay. Things are moving. Then, all of a sudden, things start to look busier ahead. You start to slow. You see the familiar yellow signs of roadworks ahead. You groan to yourself. Roadworks for how long? 10 miles? You’ve got to be joking. You’ve places to go and people to see. This is not what you need. But, you do what you need to do, you slow down. Right down. (You’ve clocked the speed cameras there, you can’t afford to get 3 points on your license). And through you drive. Past the road cones, closing one lane… for seemingly nothing. There’re no crews, there’s no lorries, there’s no sign that anyone has done any work here at all. Or looks likely to. What was the point?

Agh! Infuriating, right?

Well, while there isn’t much we can say to make that better, the good news is that Highways England has announce that the typical speed limits imposed at the sites of those repairs is being increased from 50mph, to 60mph. This should lead to a time saving of somewhere between 8%-14%, meaning you will get to where you are going faster as a result. 

While Highways England are saying that this will not apply to all roadwork sites, you can expect to see the increase in many sites, especially those on large stretches of motorway

But of course, what they give with one hand, they take with another. In some areas of high traffic pollution, they are cutting speed limits, in a bid to minimise emissions from vehicles. While they are also looking for other ways to do so, that do not mean a cut in speeds, there are targets that they need to meet, which they have not found other solutions to, despite only using half of their allocated budget on discovering better ways to fight pollution. We hope that these are only temporary and that they can discover some measure that do not mean a reduction, in speed, which, by our logic, can only lead to more congestion as things slow down (otherwise why would they be increasing the roadworks limits)? 

But if the last few months have shown us anything, it’s that nothing makes sense any more, really. At least one thing is unchanged – that if you are on the hunt for the best van insurance deals around, you’re in the right place. 

Don’t Get Tired of Your Tyres

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New rules are coming in to impact not just classic car and van owners, but might also apply to some of our van driving readers. From September, tyres aged ten years or older cannot be used on the front wheels of buses, coaches or lorries. If it is a minibus you’re driving, then you can’t use them at all. 

Also, if your steep mileage means you use re-treaded tyres a lot to save yourself a few quid, those days might be coming to an end sooner than you think. While not being banned outright, these will need to be clearly marked with their original date from the autumn. This is as a result of older tyres being more prone to corrosion which can have deadly consequences should they fail at high speeds.

This follows on from a report by Halfords late last year, which shows that up to four million vehicles across the UK are being driven with bald tyres. A huge 13% of drivers said they were aware that their tyres were not above the legal minimum tread depth. 

A massive 65% of people surveyed did not know the laws around maintaining a minimum tread, despite the fact that there are heavy fines if you are caught with your tyres below that level.

And, while we expect van drivers to know a little bit more than Joe Public about the rules of the road, we will bet our bottom dollar there’s a good few of you lot who don’t really know what’s what either. 

A tread depth of 1.6mm is the bare minimum for most vehicles, across three quarters of the face of the tyre. (Of course, you knew that, obviously). For LGVs, it’s 1mm. But let’s be honest – when did you last check yours?

Get pulled over for it and not only is there a £2,500 fine for each tyre below that minimum, but there is also three points on your license. Per tyre. Do the maths there – a set of dodgy tires could cost you £10k and 12 points. 

Ouch.

Not only is it a sensible precaution for your health, safety and your wallet, but of course its important for other road users too. Bald tyres can reduce the ability to brake and steer, especially in wet weather. 

And we’ll end this week with an ‘and finally….’ Of the bad news. If your tyres are below the legal tread depth and you are involved in an accident that could have been avoided had your tyres been road-legal? Yes, you guessed it, it could invalidate your van insurance too.

In the meantime, if your van insurance is due, while we can’t make sure your van is insurance worthy, we can point you in the direction of the best deals around.

The World Opens Up, but What Next?

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So, the world is now pretty much out of lockdown and the roads back to pre-corona levels of traffic. And for those of you who are finding life a bit of a struggle financially, don’t spend too much time thinking about your van insurers.

Why do we say that? Well, because the news is that while the UK was locked down, the car and van insurance companies of the UK pocketed a massive £1.3 billion in savings, as a result of fewer vehicles on the road and fewer accidents.

Now, a few of them, such as LV and Admiral have given back a rebate to some, including to van drivers.

But an awful (In fact, all of them with the exception of the two above) have not. That is a lot of our money that they have pocketed, without so much of a “here, have a few quid back, mates, it’s only fair.”

We don’t know what can be done about it, but we’re just annoyed that there seems to be no recourse when so many people are struggling right now and when the regular people have clearly overpaid for services, it’s not right that they don’t get a refund. 

On the flip side though, we are seeing a huge leap in accidents involving van drivers being reported. We aren’t sure if this is largely to do with the fact that there were fewer cars on the road during lockdown, so comparatively the amount of van driver accidents is up, or if it’s more to do with the fact that there have been quieter roads, which have led to more stupid decisions being made.

Well. If nothing else, it probably helps balance out the van insurers not giving any rebates.

We are also still seeing increased pressure in some areas of the UK to make town centres pedestrian or cycle only. An unmitigated disaster for van driver and the businesses they serve. Let’s hope they die a death in the same way social distancing appears to be doing. How is it round by you? Here it’s like COVID never happened. It will be interesting to see if that second wave comes and if it does – then shouldn’t we be thinking of ways for van drivers to protect themselves to be able to carry on? We don’t know what the answers are, but maybe a van driver’s charter is in order….

Surges and Savings

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As another big tranche of the work gets back to work this weekend, there is, inevitably, more traffic on the road than before. Every van driver’s nightmare. What is worse is that many of these drivers are going to be out and about at rush hours, because they are choosing to drive, rather than commute using public transport. In fact, some reports are suggesting that there may even be twice as many using their cars to commute than there were pre-covid.

And as if dealing with more traffic isn’t bad enough, we are still waiting to see if any of the powers who be do anything about the fact that the massive savings that car and van insurers made during lockdown have not been passed on to us, the humble drivers who all do our bit to follow the law with a good and valid car or van insurance policy. 

Car and van insurance for new customers has gone down in that time, but if you haven’t renewed recently, you’re unlikely to be one of the few whose insurers have refunded them some of the savings they have made or to have seen any savings being passed on to you. 

It also looks like the van industry is getting back on its feet after a turbulent few months, with van insurance quotes up a massive 37.7% in May, compared to April of this year. 

This is good news – a buoyant van industry means more work for us all. But what this also means is that these people renewing or getting new van insurance now are going to be saving more than those whose policies run out at the end of the year. 

It’s worth calling your van insurance company to see if there are any savings they can offer. If your policy doesn’t have long to run, you may save money by renewing sooner (remember, about 3 weeks before it expires is usually the best time to save money). But if you don’t ask, you don’t get and with all this extra money kicking about at insurance companies, while the rest of us are scraping together a living, it won’t hurt to ask.

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