Tag: van insurance

Van seized in police check on the A24

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Van insurance news roundup: 7 days ending 17 Feb 2013:

Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen: this week saw the A24 slow to a crawl thanks to a random police check that saw cars pulled over and one van seized!

The fun and games began this past Thursday in Ashtead, where police flagged down a total of 40 drivers for so-called ‘suspicious’ vehicles. I don’t know what police say when they say suspicious, but it seemed to have worked as nearly half of those pulled over left with traffic offences, while two vehicles were in such bad repair that their drivers were told to not put them back on the road until their faults were taken care of.

The star of the show was the white Ford transit van that was told to pulled over after authorities spied that the passenger wasn’t wearing their seat belt, besides the fact that they were an adult and should know better. Things got even more hilarious once it was discovered that the vehicle’s van insurance didn’t cover the driver.

The driver, a Lithuanian national whose name wasn’t released to the press – perhaps because most Brits can’t quite master the spelling and pronouncing a foreign name – now has a record for driving without proper insurance cover. He most likely got off rather easily, considering the owner of the van now has to cope with his vehicle being seized until the whole situation is sorted, so let that be a warning to anyone who thinks you can get one over on the police: they’re watching, and you’re going to end up walking if you’re not going to get yourself at least a cheap van insurance policy for your vehicle.

In related news – and the whole reason the cops are out in force and able to catch those that are a bit thick and think that ‘compulsory’ car insurance doesn’t apply to them – is that Continuous Enforcement rules have been in effect for quite some time. Not only that, but there are new technological advances that have been brought forward specifically to help local police forces catch those who are flouting the new law.

In fact, new automated licence plate readers can scan thousands of cars in very little time, even while they’re in motion, and then query a new centralised insurance database to cross-check for vehicles that are registered but aren’t legally permitted to be on the nation’s roads. It’s just one more reason to follow the law, as you can’t hide any longer even if you tried to!

Commercial vehicle production down, says one insurer

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Van insurance news roundup: 7 days ending 11 nov  2012:

One commercial van insurance provider recently announced research findings indicating commercial vehicle production levels have dropped significantly this year.

Van insurance website VanQuoteDirect’s research study found that there was 7.5 per cent reduction in the number of commercial vehicles produced in the first nine months of 2011, which was blamed on a dwindling demand for vehicles such as vans. However, overall demand for commercial vehicles still remains relatively high, according to insurance company spokesman Joe de Vries.

Mr de Vries commented on the research findings, remarking that 2011 figures may have been higher due to the fact that January of 2012 was when the Low Emission Zone went into effect, causing many people to purchase new vehicles in preparation for the new emissions regulations. However, now that this deadline is long gone, new commercial vehicle purchases may have dropped off slightly as a result.

Mr de Vries added that VanQuoteDirect remained optimistic about the commercial vehicle market both in the UK and abroad, especially since demand for new vehicles on the Continent is expected to drive demand for British-built commercial vans. This will support the growth of vehicle manufacturers based in the UK and will have a knock-on effect for the insurance industry as well.

However, there is still much concern about the burgeoning eurozone crisis, both on its effects on the Continent and here at home, as a collapse would wreak havoc on our own sluggishly recovering economy. Hopefully demand for new commercial vehicles will drive economic growth and new manufacturing jobs, perhaps stemming what some are afraid will otherwise be the unending tide of economic ruin.

Increasing vehicle production as we move into 2013 is something to hope for very stridently, said Mr de Vries, who added that increases in production would aid the UK in its attempts to finish climbing out of the deep, deep economic hole it tumbled down into back in 2008 during the credit crisis.

White Van Man, like common sense, an endangered species

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Van insurance news roundup: 7 days ending 4 nov  2012:

Just when you thought it was safe to get behind the wheel: this week, the news cycle has been filled with some rather silly points made about van drivers.

One initial report, published just a few days ago, has sounded the alarm that we’ve a new endangered species here in the UK: The White Van Man. A new survey found that out of those under the age of 30 that are entering a trade, only four per cent of them are in need of a van.

The commercial van insurance provider that conducted the poll discovered that this simply wasn’t true across all age ranges. In fact, anyone over the age of 40 that was planning on changing careers has an 80 per cent chance to be going into a position that requires a van, the insurer found.

What’s behind the demise of young Brits getting behind the wheel of big white vans?  Well, nearly one out of every three said that if it wasn’t increases to the price of a litre of petrol, it was rampant insurance and road tax hikes as well driving them into the arms of jobs that didn’t require them sitting in traffic for hours and breathing exhaust fumes; meanwhile 25 per cent of younger drivers said they had no desire to be lumped in with the rest of the White Van Men due to their horrid reputations.

Believe it or not, there may be a bit of truth to the whole ‘horrid driver’ stereotype when it comes to those who drive a van for a living. The research conducted by the car insurance provider found that around 15 per cent of van drivers surveyed had driving offences.

While that’s not a terribly high figure, the next one will definitely blow your mind: around one out of every five van drivers reported actually having sex in their vehicle! Hopefully this wasn’t on the clock – and even more hopefully this wasn’t while the van was in motion, though it would explain some of the poor driving people always complain about, wouldn’t it?

 

Check your cover if transporting electronics this season

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Van insurance news roundup: 7 days ending 7 oct 2012:

With the festive season rapidly approaching – and the advent of the new iPhone 5 – anyone transporting electronics needs to check their cover, and soon!

Have you thought about the size of your courier van and exactly how many electronics you can actually fit back there? Well, if you do the maths, you could end up having room for around £50 million worth of high-value electronics such as the already massively popular iPhone 5 alone; if you’re done running about in a panic, you  may want to consider checking the level of cover on your commercial van insurance now.

It only took around 24 hours for 2 million individuals to pr-order the new Apple iPhone 5 once it became available to do so. This will inevitably lead to huge demand for the product this Christmas shopping season, which means massive amounts of the electronic device are going to be shipped all across the country to retailers, and that anyone with a courier van could make a killing by shipping all these smartphones – however they could also risk financial ruin if something were happen to their high-value cargo whilst in transit and their van insurance doesn’t cover them against theft or destruction of goods.

There’s around 200 cubic feet on the inside of the average van, which means you could stick nearly 100,000 iPhones in the back, provided you take them out of the packaging. The retail value of these items would be upwards of £50 million, and while there’s no way one single courier would be transporting those many iPhones at once, the point still stands: as electronic devices shrink in size but grow in price, couriers will naturally have higher value cargo whenever they’re transporting the devices, so the need for proper insurance cover has never been more important.

If you think iPhones won’t be stolen, just remember the news out of Japan on the new Apple product’s launch day:

Meanwhile, news reports on the launch day revealed that around 200 iPhone 5 unites were nicked from a shop in Osaka, Japan. The retail value of these stolen phones – just 200 of them – was around £160,000, which is more than enough to cripple your courier business if you can’t cover such a massive outlay of cash without the aid of an ironclad insurance policy.

Van drivers in the doghouse, 2 independent polls show

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Van insurance news roundup: 7 days ending 30 SEPT 2012:

Van drivers are in the doghouse after it was revealed that not one but two independent research studies have discovered evidence of bad behaviour.

New figures from the AA’s insurance division have discovered that van drivers are twice as likely to collect a conviction for a motoring offence when compared to car drivers. Not only that, but AA Insurance also discovered that the white van man has his mobile practically glued to his ear, as car drivers are six times less likely to be caught on the phone than a van driver – information that van insurance are sure to use as an excuse to raise your premium prices, no doubt.

The data, analysed by the AA, comes directly from their customers, indicating that nearly 7.5 per cent of car drivers have had their licence endorsed sometime throughout the past five years. However, that figure jumped to 15.5 per cent when it came to their customers who held a commercial van insurance policy through the motoring organisation’s insurance division.

Meanwhile, less than one-half of one per cent of car drivers had ended up with a CU80, or an offence for mobile phone use behind the wheel. Again, this figure was dwarfed by the more than 2 per cent of van drivers who were also given the same offence.

Meanwhile, another motor insurer’s independent survey found that van drivers also happen to be some of the most irritating people to run into on the road, thanks to a new poll. While Admiral says the most frustrating motorists to encounter were the elderly, with 41 per cent of respondents indicating that the way older motorists drive is enough to make them want to tear their hair out, van drivers weren’t that far behind at just over one out of every three respondents.

In fact, van drivers beat many other annoying motorists out by a wide margin, including ‘boy racers,’ caravanners, and motorbike riders. In fact, the only more hated annoyances on the road – besides the elderly – were cyclists at 36 per cent and taxi drivers at 37 per cent, according to the poll.

Let that be a lesson to all white van men out there: you’ve got a horrid reputation behind the wheel, so quit being such an annoyance. Moreover, you can’t even deny it, because there’s statistical proof of being bad drivers in comparison to others, so fair warning – enough is enough!

Don’t forget your insurance cover – ever

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Van insurance news roundup: 7 days ending 23 sept 2012:

It’s been a bad week for one young entrepreneur, when it was recently revealed that her catering van was nicked by thieves.

22 year old Penny Blayney, a caterer that left school to start her Munchkings business, was absolutely distraught to find out that her van, valued at £10,000, had been stolen. Worse yet was not only did Ms Blayney have £500 worth of stock within the van, but also had her rent money within the trailer when it was stolen as well!

An incredulous Ms Blayney, a native of Grafton Rise in Herne Bay, lamented that the worst part was that her commercial van insurance policy had lapsed, as she had intended to sell the vehicle and use the proceeds of the sale to help grow her business even further. The determination of the thieves must have been absolutely incredible, according to the 22 year old entrepreneur, as the van had been fitted with several different security measures and would have required a flatbed lorry to make off with the vehicle.

There’s little in the way of evidence regarding the crime so far, except that one of her neighbours reported hearing loud noises one evening, which leads authorities to believe that had been when the theft occurred. The determined Ms Blayney has not been deterred by this setback, continuing to serve her regular customers even as she struggles to find a solution for both her missing van and her sudden lack of rent money for this month!
Honestly, the massive, 14 foot long trailer is a bit hard to miss, considering it’s emblazoned with the ‘Munchkings’ logo on the side. It’ also fitted with a ten-litre tea urn, a microwave, a freezer, not one but two refrigerators, three chip fryers, two hobs, and a 4 foot griddle. Anyone that has seen the vehicle is urged to contact the police at their earliest opportunity, and could spell the difference between the life and death of poor Ms Blayney’s business.
This is, of course, an incredibly tragic way to demonstrate the absolute need for van insurance. Even if you’re not going to take out comprehensive cover on your commercial vehicle, taking out and maintaining third party fire and theft cover is an absolute necessity – and could have led to Ms Blayney having a modicum of protection against the loss of such a massive business investment.

Hope you have more than third party cover on your van

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Van insurance news roundup: 7 days ending 16 sept 2012:

If you don’t think you need more than third party cover on your van or commercial vehicle, you might want to reconsider that after this week’s news stories.

Is your van of choice a Ford Transit? If so, you’re at heightened risk for losing everything if you just have third party van insurance, because it was revealed this week that one out of every four vans nicked in the UK is a Transit, according to official figures.

Ford Transits weren’t just stolen 25 per cent of the time when it comes to light commercial vehicles; they were also the vehicles stolen most often. No other commercial vehicle is stolen more, though the second-most nicked van, the Mercedes Sprinter, was pinched 21 per cent of the time, indicating that commercial vehicle thieves might have a taste for the Mercedes brand as well.

Honestly you can’t be surprised that the Transit is made off with the most often, considering it’s been the reigning champion as far as sales in Europe for something like four decades despite is bloody awful looks. No one’s stealing the Transit because they’re keen on its looks, though – the demand for parts on a van as ubiquitous as a Transit is always high and can fetch a pretty penny for criminals.

However, it’s very surprising to consider that so many people try to save cash on their commercial van insurance by simply taking out third party cover instead of a comprehensive policy. If you are one of the ‘lucky’ ones who’s tasked with managing a fleet of Transits, at the very least you should ensure that you’ve taken out third party fire and theft cover in order to ensure you’ve got protection against such a high incidence rate of theft.

Ideally you should have comprehensive cover on any commercial vehicle that you use for work, but we understand: times are tough, and you might not have the budget for a shedload of comprehensive policies for a large fleet. However, this can be the worst kind of false economy if something untoward happens that’s not covered under your cut-rate policy and your firm ends up paying out of pocket – it could be absolutely catastrophic and ruinous.

Do yourself – and your firm’s bottom line – a favour and take out the most comprehensive cover you can afford. And for pity’s sake don’t insure a Ford Transit with anything less than third party fire and theft!

Don’t lend your van to a student unless you have good cover

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Van insurance news roundup: 7 days ending 9th Sept 2012:

September can be a rather hectic month for van owners if they have friends of family attending university, but don’t be tempted to just hand over the keys to that student!

This week saw one of the biggest names in van insurance cover warning off van owners from just lending out their vehicles to new or returning university students. Sure, you can go ahead and lend the van to your favourite student, but if he or she isn’t on your your policy, you could be in a world of hurt if there’s an accident – to the point where you could have your insurance invalidated!

Instead, Swinton said, you should go along with the student – make sure you’re the one doing the driving – and help them move. It’s not exactly a treat to help someone move, especially if it’s a long journey to university and back with a load of personal effects, but if the alternative is risking the validity of your commercial van insurance cover, it’s definitely worth the trip.

If you really don’t want to do the driving – or help with the heavy lifting – you can always add the student to your own policy. Even if the student has comprehensive car insurance of their own, there’s no guarantee that they will be insured to drive your van as a third party without checking the details of both your cover and the student’s.

You can go ahead and add drivers to an insurance policy, which will enable the student to drive the vehicle without risking invalidation. However, insurers are still charging quite a bit for cover, but more news this week revealed that one motor broker has decided to join an insurance comparison site, adding a number of its van insurance products to the aggregrator.

Four new van insurance specialists will join the insurance site, thanks to the deal struck between it and the broker, and increasing competition in a sector that is in dire need of more. Not sure if you’ve actually looked at the average cost of cover recently, but it’s quite dear indeed, so when it comes to driving down prices, the more rivals operating in the insurance market the better.

 

Police out in force, just waiting for van drivers to slip up

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Van insurance news roundup: 7 days ending 2nd September 2012:

So you might think that you’re safe and happy with all the mucking about you’re doing with your van, but you couldn’t be more wrong: the police are on the lookout for van drivers.

In fact, there are nearly 50 van drivers that re decidedly less jolly than they were last week, what with the recent undercover sting operation set up on the A27 and A3 near Havant. Police officers pulled over a total of 88 vehicles, and 47 of them won the dubious honour of leaving with 47 tickets – great for the police, but bad for any lead-footed van drivers.

Not only will these blokes need to pay out on any fixed penalties for things like speeding, MOT violations, and not driving with valid van insurance, but they’ll have to answer to their insurance companies as well; providers take a dim view of their customers flouting the law, after all. Hope those 47 van drivers are looking forward to rate hikes at renewal time!

Of course, you could end up being slapped with more than just a fine if you get caught out with no car insurance nowadays, thanks to the new continuous enforcement regulations that require you to have a vehicle insured no matter if you’re driving it or not. You could end up getting your van seized outright by the authorities now – a fate that befell one woman this week as well after the police began poking into her suspiciously-parked van.

The woman, who was parked in the car park of Coxheath Village Hall of all places, drew the attention of a local Police Community Support Officer. The PCSO investigated – as is their wont to do – and found out there wasn’t a lick of valid insurance on the vehicle.

So what happened? Well the van’s owner left with the parting gifts of six points on her licence, a £200 fixed penalty, and lost her van, so let that be a lesson to you if you think the police aren’t taking insurance matters seriously. We suppose the other lesson you might want to take away from all this is to not park your car in the village hall car park if you’re trying to avoid notice, but some people just aren’t that bright, apparently – or just enjoy taking public transport.

 

DIY removals boom – but is your van covered for any eventuality?

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Right now is the most busy time, traditionally, to pack up and move, and many people resort to DIY removals in order to save cash – but is your van ready for the work?

If you’ve got a van and you keep it in good nick, you’ve probably experienced more than a few pleading friends and relatives ringing you up in an effort to enlist your help in moving their valuables to their new abode – or their rubbish to the tip. If you’re a compassionate sort, you’ll probably say yes and show up one early morning to help with a DIY removal – but you’d better make sure your van insurance is up to date and you’ve got enough cover for any eventuality.

One of the best ways to make sure you’re ready for any trips with a van packed to the gills with someone else’s stuff is to peruse your favorite van insurance comparison site and see if you can’t get a better deal for what you’re paying your current insurer. This is especially important if you’re coming up on your yearly  renewal, as insurers are almost universally reticent to provide returning customers with the best van insurance rates – and a comparison site can help you save cash or find a better value for money.

It may come as a bit of a shock but ‘comprehensive’ insurance from one provider may not match what you can get from another insurer. Extras like breakdown cover aren’t included sometimes – or if they are, you need to pay extra for the service – so you may be pleasantly surprised to find out you can get cover for about the same price as you’re paying now – or even cheaper – with better extras thrown in for good measure.

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