The current market conditions for business owners that have to make sure they have the proper cover in place are positively nightmarish, made even worse by how relatively low they’ve been prior to these ubiquitous rate hikes – leaving many business owners crying to the heavens for an answer – or a way to avoid all the pain.

Van insurance prices have rocketed as of late, something that can be blamed on several different factors.  Profit margins for insurance providers are being eroded steadily as a result of a massive uptick in the number of motor insurance claims involving car crashes where personal injury plays a part, sending insurers scrambling to recover their outgoings by raising their rates for all their commercial van insurance and personal car insurance customers.

Claims management firms have been having a field day in soliciting injured motorists to make claims against insurers for massive payouts – in order to take a generous slice for themselves, of course.  Guess where these claims management companies are getting their information from in regards to which house to call or which mobile phone to text with their unsolicited enquiries?  That’s right, the insurance companies themselves.

Insurers actually sell on the personal details of their customers who have been involved in accidents where the other party in the incident is covered by a competitor.  They call the process ‘charging referral fees,’ but most people would call it ‘hanging the industry out to dry,’ especially as each insurer does it to every one of their competitors, resulting in increased claims across the board.

Steps have been taken by the Government to bring a halt to the practice, but for many, the damage has already been done.  Claims figures are up by nearly 70 per cent over the past few years, even though the number of accidents that have actually occurred have dropped by around 23 per cent.