Author: News Desk

Van insurer warns against catalytic converter thefts

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Of all the things to worry about, now van owners and operators have to be on the lookout for criminals making off with their catalytic converters right from underneath their bonnets.

One van insurance provider has recently warned of a crime spree over the past few weeks that involves the theft of catalytic converters. The commercial van insurance company has begun to urge van drivers to be much more careful where they choose to leave their vehicles overnight in an effort to help them avoid being the victims of such a theft.

June’s crime figures saw the Leicestershire area particularly hardest hit, with almost 250 thefts occurring between January 1 and June 1. This figure is incredibly inflated from last year’s figures, where the first half of the year saw only 47 reported thefts, the car insurance provider remarked.

The insurer’s representative, Joe de Vries, commented on the new report, stating that the increase in catalytic converter theft is ‘terrible news,’ adding that van owners across the country need to be much more vigilant in order to prevent their own vans being subjected to the same fate. Mr de Vries said that van owners should park their vehicles in secure areas overnight, such as a garage, but as not everyone has access to such facilities, parking a van in a well lit area such as directly below a street lamp would be the best way to deter thieves.

The rise in catalytic converter theft is believed to be linked to the cost of scrap metal, which has been on the rise. Organised gangs have been harvesting the components to send overseas, where they are stripped of their metal, law enforcement officials say.

Van registrations rise, insurers brace for new customers

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Insurance providers are bracing for an influx of new customers after it was revealed that the number of van registrations recently increased.

The Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders released their most recent figures, reporting that total van registration figures have gone up by 6.7 per cent in comparison to last year. The 2t and under category increased even higher, with an impressive 11.6 per cent rise in total registrations as of May 2012.

Commercial van insurance providers are using the information to prepare for the influx of new customers on the search for van insurance. Comparison sites are also girding their loins, as the current state of the UK’s economy has led numerous Brits to become much more diligent in searching out the best deals in an effort to save money.

The cost of motoring has been increasing steadily over the past few years, whether it be from insurance rate increases or rising petrol costs, and drivers have been looking for any way to save that they can. Other economic factors, such as high unemployment, have attributed to consumers looking for ways to make their money stretch even further, leading to comparison websites becoming wildly popular, as these websites offer Brits a way to select financial products that are the best value for money.

An insurance director at a major comparison site, Simon McCulloch, commented on the news, stating that insurance quote aggregration sites are a valuable resource for savvy consumers, as you’ll be hard-pressed to find more competitive rates anywhere else. Many comparison sites offer not just savings on car or van insurance but a wide range of financial products, such as credit cards and life insurance, and many also offer comparison services for utilities such as gas and electricity as well.

Paying for no-claims protection may not protect you after all

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Your no-claims discount is a key way to save money on your car insurance or van insurance, and while it seems like a foregone conclusion that it’s a safe bet to pay a bit extra to protect it – but new evidence has emerged that even if you purchase no-claims protection, your rates might still go up after an accident.

Motorists pay around 10 per cent extra on top of their annual premium payments in order to safeguard their no-claims discount. The lion’s share of drivers are more than happy to do so, as the £70 or so on average that they pay to preserve their bonus is a small price to pay for a deep discount of as much as 90 per cent off in some cases, but insurers are finding a way around this in an insidious way.

Some customers are finding that the amount they pay to their insurers has gone up at renewal after they’ve been involved in an accident, regardless of whether they were at fault or if they pay for no-claims protection. Insurance companies will honour their agreement to leave a no-claims discount intact, but will instead simply change your rates before the discount is applied, sometimes resulting in increases as high as twice what drivers were paying the year previous.

The loopholes such as these that insurers exploit are necessary, insurance providers say, in order to recover their costs incurred by rapidly rising accident claims figures. In fact, the number of claims being made where bodily injury is present rose by 18 per cent last year, even as the number of accidents reported dropped by 11 per cent, and industry experts say that disreputable claims management companies are driving up costs for the insurance industry by encouraging spurious accident claims.

But even drivers who have not been in an accident and have protected their no claims are being hit by soaring premiums. Typically, someone who has driven for a year without a claim will get a discount of 30 per cent, rising to 40 per cent in their second claim-free year.

Comparison sites brace for impact as vehicle sales increase

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Car and van insurance comparison sites have been bracing for a fresh influx of new consumers after new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders indicate that the sale of new vehicles in the UK has increased dramatically.

The SMMT announced that May’s new car sales increased by 7.9 per cent year-on-year to a new high of 162,288, the largest sales increase of its kind for nearly two years straight. The current number of vehicles sold in the UK during the first five months of the year now stands at 868,166, a figure that represents an overall increase of 2.6 per cent, according to the SMMT’s figures.

Anticipating heightened demand as consumers seek out personal car insurance and commercial van insurance for their new vehicles, comparison sites have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to help Brits find the best deals when it comes to insurance. Comparison sites do not exclusively deal with car and van insurance comparison services, as many will also offer comparison services for financial products such as credit cards, bank accounts, and other insurance products such as pet or travel insurance, but with so many Brits looking for ways to save money in the current economy – and with motor insurance compulsory – nearly every comparison site boasts a large panel of insurer partners to provide high levels of customer service to price-conscious consumers.

Comparison sites provide a time-saving benefit as well as a cost-saving one, as consumers can simply put their personal details in once and let the website do the rest; in moments the site will return a long list of different insurance quotes for the consumer to choose from, eliminating the need for tedium and making the entire process as painless as possible.

Drivers fed up with road injuries, favour harsher penalties

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A new survey from a personal and commercial van insurance provider recently found that UK drivers have little patience with those who cause road injuries that lead to severe injury, with an overwhelming number coming out in favour of much harsher penalties in such cases.

Motorists in the UK have enough to put up with, whether it be the rising cost of petrol or the near-constant increases to their insurance premiums, leading many to be completely unsympathetic to anyone who causes road traffic accidents that lead to lengthy stays in hospital. Pain and suffering aside, Brits simply can’t afford time away from work in order to recover from such serious accidents – at least not in the current economy – and with car and van insurance companies rising rates after even a no-fault accident, a single incident could have ruinous ramifications.

The insurance expert found that, out of every 20 respondents, an overwhelming 19 said that they would like to see plans for instituting a new driving offence pushed through by the government. The new rule would make dangerous driving that causes serious injury a crime, which would carry a much stronger penalty than dangerous driving, the current offence in such situations.

Dangerous driving is a severe crime, and does carry a severe penalty, yet does not address any physical injuries caused as a result of dangerous driving. However, the new law would change this, resulting in much higher and more serious penalties for offenders.

Industry experts say that in order for the enforcement of this new offence to be effective, there may be a need for increased police presence on the nation’s roadways.

Break out from the crowd – don’t auto-renew

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It can be incredibly expensive to secure insurance for either your personal vehicle or the lorry or van you use for work, but you’re only making it worse if you follow the crowd and auto-renew your current insurer’s latest insurance quote, industry experts recently said.

However, up to 23 per cent of motorists in the UK do just that when it comes time to renew, and don’t even shop around for the best deals in an effort to save money on their personal or commercial van insurance, according to a recent survey. A large number of research respondents said that they felt it was too difficult and time-consuming to hunt down quotes from a car or van insurance provider, instead taking the path of least resistance and simply auto-renewing to save time.

Saving time is one thing, but saving money is another – especially in the current economy – and if you’re trading financial savings for ease of use, experts say you probably need to have your head examined. If you’re looking to save both time and money, industry insiders recommend you make use of a car insurance comparison website, as these sites provide the valuable service of acting as an aggregator of insurance quotes: put your personal details in once, and you’ll get several quotes back at once so you can compare them to one another as well as what you’re currently paying.

However, you need to keep aware of a few things if you do use a comparison site: no two policies are exactly alike. Even if they’re both offering ‘comprehensive’ cover, some insurers will provide different services, such as breakdown cover, as standard, so make sure you read all the fine print before signing on the dotted line.

Are insurers responsible for £225m in increased costs?

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Industry experts say that car and van insurance providers are responsible for running up £225 million in costs – that were passed along to motorists in the form of higher rates – due to ‘dysfunctional’ practices.

The entire market, personal and commercial van insurance providers alike, has been referred to the Competition Commission by the Office of Fair Trading after the OFT found that some companies were inflating the costs of repairs and replacement car parts following road traffic accidents. The watchdog agency remarked that the practice has is effectively holding insurers of at-fault drivers for ransom, depriving them any sort of choice in the way repair work is carried out.

Investigations found that the cost of providing a replacement vehicle was increased by around £560 for each instance. Repair costs were also found to b inflated by an additional £155 by insurers.

With drivers bearing the brunt of such actions through increased premium prices, consumer groups have praised the OFT’s announcement as an important first step in wrenching control away from a dysfunctional insurance system. The possibility now exists that a greater measure of transparency will be put in place in order to prevent the kind of complex and convoluted charges and fees that insurers have been using to drive up premium pricing, experts say.

Attempting to gain a competitive edge over their rivals by making it more expensive for competitors to do business is simply counter-productive, the OFT believes, adding that the market would work much more efficiently if insurance providers should simply concentrate their efforts on supplying high levels of service and quality to their customers.

Leading insurance comparison site announces new panel member

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One of the nation’s largest insurance comparison sites recently announced that a new insurer – a telematics specialist – has joined its panel.

One of the most in-demand types of vehicle insurance due to its ability to save drivers of both personal and commercial vehicles on their premium payments, telematics-based insurance records the behaviour of a driver whilst behind the wheel, awarding them with lowered premiums in exchange for responsible driving. Van insurance policyholders have been very interested in the technology, as it can also be used to provide evidence in cases concerning duty of care, as information such as how fast a commercial vehicle was traveling can be used to settle legal disputes.

The comparison site’s newest insurer, a firm that has specialised in telematics insurance primarily for personal motors, offers a range of options to its customers. A driver taking out insurance with the firm gains 6,000 miles for the year, with more miles available for purchase later, while safe drivers are rewarded with an additional 100 miles as a bonus each month and offers lowered premium prices for any safe driver that renews their policy after the end of the year.

The new firm joins three other telematics-based providers on the comparison site’s panel, a change that was made to provide peace of mind for customers, says the website’s spokesperson, Gareth Kloet. The comparison site was pleased to be able to offer a larger range of choice for those customers looking for telematics-based policies, Mr Kloet added.

Meet your duty of care through telematics

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While using the technology can bring excellent benefits such as reduced commercial van insurance premiums, there are other ways that switching your insurance policy to a telematics-based one – including meeting your duty of care responsibilities.

50 per cent of larger businesses operating in the UK that make use of large fleets of vans and other commercial vehicles are using the satnav-based technology in order to minimise their fleet risk while also meeting the duty of care requirements for their firm, according to a new YouGov survey. The research study questioned 100 chief financial officers, controllers, and financial directors for British firms that employed more than 1000 workers, discovering that fully half used telematics in their fleet vehicles in order to confer upon themselves extra levels of legal protection.

Firm directors are responsible to make sure all vehicles used by their employees whilst on the job are both insured properly and are roadworthy – and with health and safety legislation becoming more strict over the past few years, avoiding incidents that could lead to costly fines has become very important to many businesses, especially larger ones. Whether your vehicles are owned by the company or are owned by employees and used to conduct business, it’s simply legally and financially irresponsible to not have an auditable and comprehensive motoring policy set in place, motoring experts say.

One such driving expert, Keith Allen, commented on the results of the YouGov survey, remarking that it was ‘quite encouraging’ to see how many large-scale firms have taken steps to make their commercial fleets safer by adopting telematics-based insurance policies.

Could limiting top speed for vans lead to cheaper insurance?

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Limiting the top speed for vans and other commercial vehicles could potentially lead to not only safer roads but cheaper commercial van insurance as well, one insurer has recently said.

A major commercial vehicle insurance provider approved of a new report from the Freight Transport Association that found limiting a van’s top speed to just 70mph could be highly beneficial. Joe de Vries, the insurer’s representative, remarked that a top speed of 70mph would led to a reduction in the number of road traffic accidents because vans will be much safer in this instance – with the end result that insurance premiums for van owners and operators could drop by a significant amount.

Mr de Vries also pointed out that placing speed limitations on commercial vehicles by their manufacturers could also lead to improvements in fuel economy. Fuel consumption would be lowered by reducing strain on engines that can no longer exceed 70mph, and with the rising cost of fuel in the UK, this could also spell significant savings.

Moreover, maintenance and repair bills will likely be less expensive as well due to a limited top speed. Since engine strain will be less, many van owners will find their vehicles lasting longer between developing faults that need to be remedied. However, with the recent discussions and speculation in regards to the possibility of the motorway speed limit being raised to 80mph, this nascent measure to limit the top speed on the nation’s commercial vehicles may not be feasible after all.

Opponents to the idea of raising the speed limit say that traveling at high rates of speed are not only more dangerous, but will result in reduced fuel efficiency due to increased wind resistance.

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