A Week of Heroes and Villans

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.

We’re Leaving Home…

Another week dawns, and with it, we finally have some reasons to be cheerful. First of all, FOOTBALL IS BACK! We’ve got La Liga with crowd noises finally feeling like footy used to feel, and the Prem kicks off this week with your trusty editor’s team of their birthright, relegation-facing Aston Villa vs. Sheffield United this Wednesday. 

For van drivers around the UK, life is also starting to form a semblance of normality, with shops and non-essential retail reopening from today, meaning deliveries need to be made and people need to buy things – and, if the reports of people queuing round the block to get into Primark and Next are true, then that’s a lot more deliveries that are going to be happening. Will the bubble of retail enthusiasm last? It remains to be seen, but it surely bodes well for the lifeblood of the UK economy, the white van man. 

With it though, comes more stupid drivers out on the road, some of whom haven’t been out in their car for the best part of 3 months. Just as we cautioned last week, there’s a lot of it about, and reports this week show that there has been a massive increase in insurance claims for accidental damage, as Doris reverses into that bollard, or Clive scrapes that car he’s trying to parallel park next to. 

In the South-Central region, vehicle insurance claims for accidental damage are up a whopping 48%, compared to the previous week, with numbers similarly bad in London and the North East. So, while your white van men and women get on with doing what you’ve been doing, keeping the country moving in bread and value pack knickers, it is a case of worrying about what the other idiots on the road are doing and going all out to avoid them. 

Also, worth avoiding are any retail parks where there is a fast food outlet, as reports reach us of queues around the block for certain Mcmeals which are back on the menu. Queues of up to 3 hours have been reported at some branches for a drive-thru after months of home-cooked food only. And we see a great deal of you have been in those queues yourselves. Was it worth it? Just be aware that in some areas you’ll find whole lanes queuing for a taste of those golden arches, so if you’re in a hurry, maybe give those hotspots a swerve.

We hope your lives are returning to normal. We’re sure by next week our soccer enthusiasm will be back to despair, meaning life really has resumed its status quo. In the meantime, safe driving. 

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