Social driving can lead to the kinds of distractions that drive up car insurance rates to unbearable levels, one insurer recently warned.

While ‘social driving’ may make you think of chatting up your mates sitting in the passenger seats whilst on the road, the truth is that it’s much more dangerous than that, according to a provider of van insurance quotes and fleet insurance cover.  The insurer’s research discovered that as many as 37 per cent of drivers in the UK can’t stand to ignore alerts from their mobile phones while they’re driving and will take their eyes off the road to examine their smart phones, and even worse is that anywhere from 8 per cent to 9 per cent of cheap car insurance customers will actively use their phones  to send text messages or use smart phone apps whilst behind the wheel.

Research has also shown that the use of smart phones to engage in social networking while driving is more dangerous than drink driving or getting behind the wheel while under the affects of cannabis.  Reaction times can be slowed by as much as 37 per cent while social networking, research studies have found.

It’s not just dashing off a quick text message that motorists are doing, either, as some drivers admitted in the research study that they have not only used their smart phones to snap digital photos while driving but then attaching them to a message through social messaging app Twitter, despite the fact that engaging in such activity could prove to be a fatal distraction.

Businesses may have access to more cash in order to buy more stock or increase their level of commercial van insurance cover, thanks to a new scheme backed by the government promoting more affordable lending to small and medium sized businesses, experts say.

Many owners of small businesses may be able to consider expanding their options in regards to insurance cover related to their business activities, now that they have better access to finance.  As a result, any firm that has been holding off on increasing its fleet of commercial trucks or vans because thy could not afford to purchase expanded van insurance can now do so, which will lead to their investment being properly protected against harm.

The Government’s recent confirmation that the nation’s lenders will be offering loans discounted by 1 percentage point from their standard rates to SMEs under the new National Loan Guarantee Scheme has been met with relief by businesses that have struggled to gain access to credit since the global economic downturn.  Around £5 billion in borrowing guaranteed by the government has already been made available, with the scheme having a final target of £20 billion over a period of two years.

Businesses that are taking advantage of these new, cheaper loans guaranteed by the Government are taking precautions to protect their investments, especially when the cash borrowed is to go towards increasing a fleet of motor vehicles.  With the cost of car insurance rising ever higher, it would be prohibitively expensive to purchase cover without the newly-increased access to credit, experts say.

A provider of cheap van insurance quotes has recently come forward with ways to save when it comes to the petrol pump, as professional drivers have been feeling frustrated and angry with the new Budget announcement that fuel costs are going to go up this August by around 3p per litre.

The budget van insurance provider has been looking into the petrol price problem in order to offer its customers ways to keep their operating costs down in an economic environment that makes every last pound and penny count.  One of the best ways to do this, the insurer says, is to choose the right sized van for your needs, as choosing one that is larger than you could possibly need will result in needlessly wasting fuel by carrying around all that unnecessary weight – as fully loaded but smaller vans are much less expensive to run than a large van that’s always half empty.

The insurer also added that if you plan ahead and ensure that you only keep what you need with you in the van on any given day, you will spend less money on fuel as you would otherwise.  If you only need something on Thursday, don’t put it in the van on Monday, especially if it’s a particularly heavy load – you’re just weighing down your van without reason, which leads to an unnecessarily high level of fuel consumption, the van insurance expert warned.

Finally, you should keep checking your tyre pressure on a regular basis, as experts say underinflated tyres can not only wear faster than properly inflated ones but can also contribute to your fuel costs by as much as 3 per cent.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists is beseeching parliament to work with insurance companies in order to deliver affordable van insurance for teenagers and those in their early twenties. For the self-employed individual hoping to make their mark in the world, finding a cheap van insurance policy to run in conjunction with a probationary period at work is becoming a very real burden on the young motorist’s shoulders.

IAM is calling upon the government to get into bed with insurance companies in order to assess exactly where cost savings can be made on the applicants request for van insurance, specifically those young drivers who go on to advanced training after they have their first lesson under their belt.

Typically, the average van insurance policy for a young male driver comes in at just under three thousand pounds per annum, with the female equivalent of a little less than £1,700, although that will be levelled in December when there will be no cheaper van insurance quotes as a derivative of gender. Either way, both prices are shockingly high compared to the average policy for those above the 17-22 year old parameter of £907.

Young drivers don’t make it easy for them selves

A select panel of MPs has been investigating the evidence by which young drivers are assessed and the results of a survey of 2,000 young drivers quizzed about their thoughts on driving, rather than actually driving the van themselves.

The survey showed that more than one in five drivers between 17-22 had considered driving without valid insurance of any kind, blaming the high cost for being prepared to have license points added if they were caught. Of those that have looked for cheaper van insurance, three in every ten young drivers have been tempted to provide false information to get a lower premium and run the gauntlet of having their van insurance worth nothing in the event of an accident, especially if the root cause is suggestive of the evidence they provided false information about.

It has long been accepted that the current driving test system – and more lately the Pass Plus – no longer reflects the way people drive. Indeed, of the 2,000 young drivers surveyed only 50% declared that they were totally happy to drive under their own steam, even though they had passed the necessary tests to legally place them behind the wheel.

Simon Best, IAM’s CEO, believes that the only way that young drivers will receive a cheap van insurance quote is by the age group collectively driving with fewer accidents; on van insurance claim evidence, that is a long way from actually coming to pass. He even suggests that the Pass Plus system is already past its sell-by date. He is calling for the government, road safety industries and insurance companies to come together to provide a product that is both affordable and will actually cover young male drivers in the case of an accident, which they are more likely to have than any other grouped set of drivers. We will have to see what comes to pass and just hope that they all act sensibly to produce suitable cover at an affordable rate for all young motorist, no matter what they drive and who for.

We’ll keep you updated for further information appertaining to this very real and costly issue.