With the shadow of fuel duty looming large on the horizon and acknowledging that cheap van insurance is becoming more important to find in the role to cut down on business motoring costs, the addition of more toll roads on UK roads is perhaps the last thing that the country’s van drivers want to hear.

However, it seems that there is no getting away from the fact that the Government, in true Tory fashion, now want to privatise many main roads upon which van drivers rely to deliver product to their customers time and again. Circumnavigation may be a possibility, but that decision will be fraught with its own difficulties, such as longer routes, more man hours and wear and tear, less deliveries possible and tailbacks as other road users try the same tack.

As much as it will be the van driver in the hot seat, as it were, it will be the small business that feels the brunt of the effect in this change. A sole tradesman or -woman can build the charge into their quote or rate, but for small businesses who perhaps supply line-side systems at contracted prices and low profit margins to be competitive in the automotive industry the new toll roads are going to start biting into profit very harshly and very quickly. To have to be on site two or three times a day, sometimes with low-value product that relies on volume to start making money, is going to have repercussions for their business if they don’t increase their prices or on the automotive industry, ironically, if they do.

One of the largest insurance comparison sites in the market, the one that uses meerkats and laptopomibobs in their marketiing, have spoken out against the provisions by the government to start raising money by charging drivers to use certain highways and byways.

David Jackson, who is Director of Insurance Partnerships at the firm, suggested that van drivers and small business owners attempt to offset projected extra expenditure by comparing van insurance policies online. No matter what line of business you’re in or whether you’ll be using the government’s new money-maker or not, getting a cheap van insurance quote wouldn’t hurt.

To start your journey to finding cheaper van insurance that won’t have additional toll-booths along the way, why not compare your van insurance quote online, now; with sixty providers to choose from, we think you should be able to save a packet in minutes?

Nothing impacts more upon van insurance quotes and subsequent premiums than the massive discounts an accrued no claims bonus can bring, as much as ninety percent in some instances. It is one aspect of van insurance that, once you get to the maximum allowance, usually between seven and nine years blameless driving, you can pay to protect.

Although protecting no claims bonuses doesn’t entirely keep your van insurance premium at the existing rate, it certainly softens the blow that making a claim against your van insurance delivers. One of the most likely ways to jeopardise a previously claim-free driving history is by having the ill fortunate to be in a collision with another driver or a pedestrian not particularly well illuminated in murky driving conditions after the sun sets early in winter.

Although there are times In the year when you seem to be going to work and coming home in the dark, the greater period is the afternoons in winter where it can start to fall dark extremely early, especially after the clocks are put back in October. Driving charity BRAKE believe that, by always being in GMT+1, as we entered yesterday, it would lead to fewer serious collisions and fatal accidents when the afternoons are murky, thus helping retain that cheap van insurance policy you have earned by reducing risk in the winter months when we are in GMT+0.

If UK roads were subject to vehicle-rated deaths spiralling out of control, then BRAKE may have an argument that authorities would listen to. However, with fatal accidents continuing to fall, another 0.5% from the last quarter in 2011, it is highly unlikely that their argument will cut much ice against the benefit that agricultural organisations gain, especially from Yorkshire and further north into Scotland, by the additional hour of daylight in the morning during winter. Indeed, the very reason that daylight saving was introduced, to give more productivity in the war effort from our home grown industries.

As Julie Townsend, the deputy chief executive of BRAKE, alludes, safer roads provided by extended daylight in the evenings and afternoons during winter may help to reduce the number of fatalities by driving. But you also have to consider the other side of the coin.

By making the afternoons lighter, you are making the mornings colder and darker, thus more susceptible to serious accidents, not to mention the effect it would have on farm hands working in even more extreme conditions than they have to already, in winter. Driving in winter before the roads have a chance to start to thaw the overnight frost could be even more damning to UK road safety figures than trying to extend the daylight hours in the afternoon, thus jeopardising your cheap van insurance policy even more.

The other alternative is, of course, to work longer weeks in the summertime when the hours of daylight lend themselves to safer driving conditions for longer periods and reduce the working week in winter time. This would optimise daylight and really give van drivers a chance to protect their insurance through sustained no claims bonus. However, for those who love the early summer evenings and the chance to feel an hour or two of sun on their faces after work, this may also not sit well if working hours were extended. It may also mean committing to fifty-hour weeks in summer and thirty hour weeks in winter. Try getting that past the HSE.

The corridors of power, eh?  As soon as you enter the SMMT designated area in Westminster you’re greeted by a glistening display of ultra low-carbon automotive prowess.  Impressive, it would be, if the public and, more importantly, industry were buying the spiel accompanying the desire to turn UK roads into carbon-free environments.

The newest set of such glistening technology sits there now with the diamond marque that distinguishes Renault emblazoning the electric vehicles that are, if any range is, favourite to turn public opinion in favour of battery power.  The problem is, Renault have got factories potentially full of similar exhibits but on a much grander voluminous scale.  SMMT’s latest display reflects the glory of the ‘presence’ of thr Fluence ZE, Kangoo ZE and Twizy city car.  Despite all of the cost savings on fuel and cheap van insurance and the incentives that the government are offering for plucky van and car owners, where is that ‘presence’?

In two recent reports, it is suggested that Plug-In chargers are the real issue. Whilst the government has seen fit to allow growth through private investment and is unlikely to invest in the public top-up meter infrastructure further, allowing their contribution to the electric revolution to culminate in the discounts offered in the Plug-In grant scheme, the private sector are not rushing to avail trade and public of the chargers in a hurry.

The residential scheme for chargers, nicknamed Polar and backed by Chargemaster, is not a carte blanche free service.  The 4,000 meters it envisages installing across UK roads attract a one-off fee of £95 with a monthly contract usage of between £19.50 and £39.50, dependent upon forecast usage patterns.

Once you start to add up all of these little extras, you can see why the government are having to offer such savings off the purchase price.  Although van insurance will be cheap, it’s not free; the same can be said of fuel, which will cost, using the Polar schematic, £0.95 per top-up.

According to the SMMT report, monthly battery hire from Renault for the models it is showcasing in its display, depending upon type, length of contract and mileage option chosen, will range from £45 to £133.  When you factor all of these additional monthly costs, despite the market entry level of between £6,690 to £17,495 for those in the Westminster showcase, what on the surface seems to be a decent deal is proving quite costly in real terms.

The SMMT, with the delivery of the new exhibition vehicles, has issued the statement that carries the government sentiment about going ultra-low carbon in our driving habits.  But the very real question remains, Can we afford to go green in these austere times?  Are the van insurance savings, the fuel and the knowledge that you’re doing you bit for the environment enough to swing Joe Public and the captains of industry?

It would appear that, until a clear vision of what monthly running costs will be, no amount of discount is going to entice mass  take-up of the government grant.

Van Excellence has, thanks in part to the C V Show, no doubt, seen its 100th customer register their application to be included in the scheme that allows van fleets to show off their above-average credentials. The scheme, officially tagged The Van Excellence Code, was conceived by an assembly of van operators who took on the role of a Governance Group rather than rely on new legislation to highlight the strengths and capabilities of the sector in its drive for excellence.

Launched just eighteen months ago, the code has been successfully attained by twenty four fleets, thirty three are under audit with forty three new fleets now registered and preparing for the auditors to ascertain what they need to do to receive the accreditation.

The makes the round ton, which in itself now covers more than 100,000 light commercial vehicles possibly having a worthy tool in their quest for cheap fleet van insurance, due to the high levels of upkeep and ongoing operational values required to gain this award.

A little like the electrical appliance conformity test, once a van or its fleet have been awarded their pass in the Van excellence Code, it will required auditing on an annual basis to reatin that stats.

Mark Cartwright, who heads up the van and LCV sector for the Freight Transport Association, overseers of the initiative, was extremely enthusiastic about reaching this milestone. He is now looking to attract smaller fleets than those on the books already who average 1,000 fleet vans within their operation. When using a tool like this to back up claims for cheap van insurance, it certainly helps the insurer gain instant perspective about how you look after and monitor your van fleet.

As well as providing extraordinary skill sets for drivers who attain the Code, as recognition and so that fleets who have taken this on board can show their prowess to the world, Cartwright is hoping to raise awareness of the organisation’s existence and hopefully use its standing to attract more van drivers into the scheme. Indeed, there is an insignia for possessing the code certificate, a marque that is becoming more recognisable as further van fleets take on the challenge and prove that they have what it takes to provide service and operation that delivers the best from their brand.

In order to shake of the white van man image, amongst other reasons, the Governance Group drafted in the equivalent to O-licensing for larger commercial vehicles, as a standard that the whole sector could look to.

Cartwright firmly believes that making such schemes as this more available, it will push up the standards of road safety everywhere. The knock on effect may be to bring van insurance down across the sector, simply as a little reward in taking a part in the scheme. It will certainly avail any company going through the testing a route to cheap van insurance where perhaps they may have struggled with nothing other than a clean license to prove their worth to the sector and automotive industry as a whole.

Thanks to further exposure at the C V Show, the code can now be seen on the side of vans who win the award, a number in itself that has reached the 100,000 mark. Early signs suggest it seems that this system will only go from strength to strength from hereon in.