Tag: Birmingham

Van Drivers WARNED About Scam HotSpots

Posted on by News Desk

There is a menace on the roads up and down the UK and it goes by the name of “crash for cash.” It’s a scam that van drivers are being warned about.

Up until now, the whole crash for cash scam has mostly affected car drivers. Maybe you’ve heard about it in the news, but always felt safe when in your van? Not anymore.

Research shows that van drivers are now being targeted by these organised crime gangs who roam the roads looking for their next prey. It’s an industry worth millions every year you see, which means there is a lot of cash up for grabs. These criminals want to get as much as they can.

During this new research, which was conducted by the IFB, or Insurance Fraud Bureau if you want to be more official, well, they highlighted the 10 so called “hotspots” where van drivers need to be on high alert.

The number 1 place to be vigilant for these scammers? Birmingham comes out on top, where road users are victims every single day, hour by hour.

Manchester and Bradford also feature highly on the list, while Bolton, Sheffield and Blackburn are also cities that van drivers are being warned about.

Surprisingly, London is named but not as one of the top cities. The reason? I think because most of these criminal gangs have their base in London, but prefer to ply their trade away from home turf.

How exactly does this whole crash for cash work anyway? Quite simply, a car or van will crash into your vehicle on purpose. They will then take your details and start claiming there was more damage than actually happened.

So for example, the scammers start hitting up your van insurance company for major repair costs, even though nothing really happened.

They manage to pocket a lot of free cash from this type of scam, with some estimates putting the crash for cash industry at a whopping £330 million a year. That is just under 1 million a day, that is being stolen from car and van drivers. It’s daylight robbery.

Why should you care though…yes it might be an inconvenience, but at the end of the day it’s your insurance company that picks up the tab, right? Wrong.

All that happens is that van insurance companies pass on the costs to you, the driver, who pays for it with more expensive premiums every year.

So make sure you are well aware when driving around these hotspots for any potential crash for cash incident about to happen. If it does happen and you suspect a scam, call the Police directly to the scene. Don’t let them get away with it.

You might also want to try comparing van insurance as a way to fight back. Yes, these crash for cash scammers might be winning right now, but if you get cheap quotes year after year then you have the last laugh.

Clean Van = Cheap Van Insurance? NO!

Posted on by News Desk

A recent survey gives us an insight into van drivers around the UK and how they look after their vehicles. The results are interesting.

The one statistic that I noticed right away is how 45% of van drivers in Sheffield never wash the outside of their van at all, leaving them with the dubious title of “dirtiest vans in the UK.”

In contrast, van drivers in London are considered to be the cleanest, with 38% of drivers washing their vans every week. However, this isn’t a job they tend to do themselves, instead hiring a cleaning or valet company to do the work.

It doesn’t seem that a clean van means cheap van insurance though, because as I’ve talked about before, London has the most expensive insurance quotes, while places such as Sheffield in Yorkshire have some of the cheapest.

Imagine if van insurance companies started noting how clean you kept your van, and then gave you more expensive quotes if it had not been washed for a long time. I’m sure that drivers in Sheffield would soon start getting that bucket and sponge out.

Overall, 17% of those surveyed around the country admitted they never washed their van at all…perhaps they just prefer to wait for the rain? Maybe that is why Sheffield has very little washing going on, because they get the most rain!

67% of those who took part in the survey also said their van is typically filled with food and drink wrappers, and they only clean it up once it literally becomes unmanageable

22% also confessed they use a spare seat in their van as a rubbish bin, while 62% said they prefer to pay someone else to clean their van.

It isn’t just London where vans are a lot cleaner. Cities such as Belfast and Birmingham also see van drivers giving their vehicles weekly cleans, although in these cities they are more reluctant to pay someone to do the job, preferring to do the washing themselves.

While all of this does make for some amusing reading, let’s not forget that if the van is the face of your business and is often the first thing a potential customer looks at, then it makes sense to at least give the outside of your van a wash once a week.

Never washing it all, like 45% of van drivers in Sheffield, might save you a bit of time, but you can also lose valuable customers and business.

Talking of saving time, if you are looking to get a cheap van insurance quote but don’t want to spend hours contacting different companies then you are definitely in the right place. Just use our simple form to get started, and then get quotes from many different companies almost immediately.

It has never been easier to compare van insurance quotes, saving yourself both time and money. Give it a try right now.

Floyd Mayweather has UK Van Insurance

Posted on by News Desk

The boxer Floyd Mayweather is currently on a tour of the UK, but he didn’t expect to get his van firebombed by thugs in Birmingham.

Well, that is exactly what happened, where outside of a nightclub one of his TMT branded vans was firebombed which then led to a blaze where firefighters had to be called to the scene.

TMT stands for “The Money Team” if you didn’t know, and is typically a group of people that follow Floyd around.

No doubt they were all enjoying their trip to the UK, and if reports are to be trusted then some of TMT invited a few women from the nightclub back to their van outside and insisted that no boyfriends were allowed.

It appears that some of the boyfriends didn’t like the idea of their women entering the TMT van, and this is when the firebombing took place. Who knows exactly who did this…maybe jealous boyfriends had nothing to do with it? Fortunately, no-one was hurt.

The whole incident got the attention of Floyd Mayweather though, and the next day after moving from Birmingham to Newcastle, the Police decided to give him and the whole of TMT some extra protection.

This leads us to the question…did Floyd Mayweather have UK van insurance? Obviously the guy has made millions from his boxing career, so could easily pay for a new vehicle with the cash in his pocket no doubt, but, it doesn’t matter how rich or famous you are…getting insured is a legal requirement.

Our understanding here at Cheap Van Insurance is that Floyd Mayweather did have the correct insurance for all vehicles that were being used by himself and TMT…they may have even used a comparison website to get the cheapest deal, although those reports are yet to be confirmed.

Many people have probably heard of Floyd Mayweather being mentioned recently in connection with UFC star Conor Mcgregor, with a potential superfight on the table.

If they fight in a boxing ring then Floyd should win quite easily, but it would probably be the biggest PPV of all time, meaning that both guys would make a lot of money.

There are no reports about whether or not Floyd will be meeting with Conor during his tour of the UK, although if he travels to Ireland where Conor lives, then he should be aware he will need to get Irish van insurance to lawfully drive on the roads over there.

Let’s just hope Floyd and TMT get all of their van insurance sorted out, and there are no more incidents while he is here.

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