Tag: van insurance comparison website

£5000 Worth of Tools Stolen…”NOT COVERED”

Posted on by News Desk

Despite the fact that I warn van drivers on a regular basis about making sure they are insured for tool theft, it seems that many are not listening.

Take the story of a builder in Stoke, who recently had a staggering £5000 worth of power tools nicked from his van. Unfortunately, when he phoned his van insurance company to ask for a cheque they told him that was…”NOT COVERED.”

He was shocked at the revelation, and even a bit annoyed, but it didn’t change the fact they were not paying out and there was nothing he could do.

“I am 100 percent I locked the van,” said Scott Holford who had his tools stolen, “I remember the lights flashing and I could hear the mechanism lock.”

As I’ve reported about before, these van criminals don’t care if your van is locked or not, they have the means to get in to almost any van with ease. How? It’s those magic keys we have been hearing about, that can be purchased on the internet for £20 and give thieves a license to steal from every van owner in the UK.

The £5000 worth of tools had taken Scott 10 years to collect, but now, he has to start again from scratch. His staff and customers are also going to be affected.

“The customer I’m working for now doesn’t have a kitchen at the moment and the apprentice won’t be able to have a pay cheque this week.”

It just goes to show how van crime has consequences beyond the owners themselves, and that is why I recommend every tradesperson in the UK to make sure they have the correct insurance.

In other words, check you are completely covered for tool theft. Don’t leave it to chance, because as we keep hearing time and time again…there is a thief at a street near you waiting to strike and rob you of everything in your van.

Another way to protect yourself is to never leave any tools in your van overnight. Many tradespeople find they don’t have the time to do this after a long day which is fair enough, but if you can do it then by all means do.

One complaint from builders and other tradespeople is that van insurance is expensive enough right now, and that adding additional tool cover is just too much for their wallet.

I agree some of the prices being quoted are silly at the moment but you can make things significantly less expensive by using a van insurance comparison website.

Many van drivers are saving a few hundred quid, and then they can use that extra cash to get cover for their tools.

Van Driver VS Traffic Warden – CONFRONTATION!

Posted on by News Desk

Don’t worry, we are not returning to the summer of rage where van drivers were unleashing violence, but an incident did happen recently.

It was more calm though. Some would say even diplomatic on the van drivers behalf, who witnessed something happening that caused him to stop his van and question someone that was supposed to be in authority.

The authority of a traffic warden that is…someone who is handed a badge by the government with the message of “protect our roads from illegal parking. Punish anyone that doesn’t obey.”

So every morning these traffic wardens set off from their house and apartments and then patrol the streets and roads of the UK looking for violations

Sometimes they arrive in packs, and then split up to prowl the streets individually. They can give out more tickets that way.

Other times, traffic wardens are given their own vehicles…just like in this particular incident, where the traffic warden was riding a scooter.

So what happened is that the van driver noticed the traffic warden was parking on a double yellow line, something which is illegal of course, and then when he pulled up alongside to point our this fact he was met with a response that left him in shock…

“It’s okay, it’s only for 5 minutes,” said the traffic warden, referring to the fact that parking on double yellow lines is cool as long as you are not there for a long time.

Well, in actual fact this isn’t okay at all, and when a member of the public or a van driver tries to use this excuse they are almost always met with a “sorry, got to give you a ticket.”

In this particular incident the van driver was not satisfied with the traffic wardens response and no doubt all out rage might very well have been on his mind for a second, but then he decided to simply question him instead.

“Oh so you’re allowed to park on a double yellow for five minutes,” said the van driver, referring to the fact that the UK public are not allowed to but traffic wardens are.

“There is nowhere else to park though,” replied the traffic warden, almost as if it excused him from breaking the very law he was hired to protect.

Talk about double standards over these double yellow lines, it’s almost as if these traffic wardens really do think they are above the law.

I’m sure the van driver wanted to get out of the van and make the warden see a bit of sense, but on this day he decided to accept the fact that it was better to stay in the van and get on with his job.

A brief confrontation yes, but not the kind of confrontations that we have been hearing about over the last few months. A return to the summer of rage this isn’t, although who knows how long van drivers are going to remain so diplomatic.

The one thing I do know is that all van drivers in the UK should visit this website to compare van insurance. You get cheap quotes so you can save money, and then at least you have some extra change in your pocket.

The 4 Hour Delivery Van That Drives Itself

Posted on by News Desk

In the time it takes an average delivery driver to do half a shift, a complete self driving van could be built by one person according to the manufacturer.

This is certainly bad news for delivery drivers around the country, who may have took comfort from my prediction that self driving vans will be here, but not for years.

It seems like I might be wrong because this particular self driving electric delivery van that was unveiled at a top secret conference in London, well, it is scheduled to be on UK roads next year.

The claim is that the van can be assembled in only 4 hours by one person at a factory, which means we could see an army of these self driving vehicles ruling the roads and delivering packages.

People in the government want to see self driving vans out and about by 2020 of course, but if everything goes to plan then it could be sooner. Van drivers watch out is my memo to anyone reading this.

Maybe a change of career is in order for delivery drivers, or should you just stick with what you know? It really is your choice, but if you ask me, the local job centre might be a good starting point.

Not everyone is going to embrace self driving vans though, and even if they do, they won’t be out of a job.

Take your average builder, roofer, electrician, plumber or carpenter as an example. Sure, they might enjoy buying a driverless van and then putting their feet up on the way to a job, but once they arrive the van can’t do the work now, can it? They will still need to put in the hours.

It’s delivery drivers I fear for, especially once they work out a way for the van to actually deliver the packages…maybe with some kind of robot? Who knows exactly what is going to happen, but what I do know is that during all of this van insurance will still be very much required.

No matter if you own a company that has a fleet of delivery vans or you are a builder working for yourself…you must have van insurance by law, so make sure you start comparing quotes to get the best deals.

Many van drivers start right here, at the Nations favourite van insurance comparison website, where all you need is 3 minutes and the click of a button.

So forget about self driving vans and all of that right now, and instead, just focus on getting very cheap van insurance to save yourself a packet.

£3000 of Tools Stolen From Van in 4 Minutes

Posted on by News Desk

A self employed white van man was going about his normal day to day routine, which meant nipping to the shop. He was gone for only 4 minutes, and then…

The van owner couldn’t quite believe his eyes as he casually walked back from the shop…the place where he had parked his van, well, something didn’t seem quite right, and on further inspection he realised his rear doors were wide open.

How could this be, was it those magic keys that we have been hearing about recently? While that was what many people would no doubt have thought, it was actually a lot more skilled on the thieves part.

They were quick to strike, and before anyone could stop them all of the tools were transferred from the van and into a blue Vauxhall Vectra getaway car, and without any feeling of guilt at all…they sped off.

Looking back at the CCTV footage of the incident, Police confirmed that this particular van thief drilled holes into the rear doors in order to gain entry, and as mentioned before, it only took 4 minutes.

Unfortunately for the white van man it was £3000 worth of tools that went that day. It took him years to acquire those tools, and now with them stolen it could very well mean he can no longer trade.

If only his van insurance had covered tool theft, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion, but of course, it’s easy to play Monday morning quarter back, so to speak.

The fact of the matter is that his tools were stolen and he wasn’t insured, but hopefully this can serve as a lesson to all van drivers around the UK. Make sure your tools are insured.

A lot of white van men think it is expensive to insure all of your tools, especially when we are talking about thousands of pounds worth here. In normal circumstances it is, but not when you visit the nations favourite van insurance comparison website.

Here at Cheap Van Insurance you can instantly get quotes from over 40 van insurance companies, and then see which is the cheapest for insuring your tools. You will typically get up to £5000 worth of cover, which is more than enough for most tradespeople.

Back to the story, and at the time of writing the Police still haven’t come up with any leads or suspects despite having some good CCTV footage to look at. The van thieves were wearing masks you see, so it might be difficult to come up with anything.

That hasn’t stopped the general public from trying though, as the story has been shared over 7000 times on Facebook. Will people power win the day and the thieves get caught? Even if this does happen, something tells me the tools won’t be with them.

Van Fire Highlights The Importance of Contents Insurance

Posted on by News Desk

Getting van insurance is something that every van driver in the UK needs to do…but how many also add contents insurance? Not enough.

Put simply, “contents insurance” is when you insure what is inside your van such as tools or equipment, so if they get stolen or destroyed then you are covered and not left out of pocket.

This was recently highlighted in West Belfast, where a business owner had his van stolen by thieves, no doubt for a joy ride, before leaving it in another part of the city and setting fire to it.

While the owner of the van was insured for the van, he didn’t have contents insurance, and unfortunately there was £4000 of equipment in there at the time it was stolen.

Who knows if the van thieves took the equipment or set fire to it all, but the fact of the matter remains that this innocent business owner is now £4000 out of pocket, and because his insurance company is not going to be paying out for his lost equipment then he could even find himself out of business.

“I’ve lost everything,” he said, “the van is probably valued at about £1500 but I had no contents insurance on it so there’s nothing to really cover the tools.”

Let’s hope this particular business owner in Belfast can get back on his feet quickly and it won’t mean the end of his trading days, but if there is one message that every business owner can take away from this story it is…get contents insurance for your van.

All you have to do is visit a van insurance website, such as this one, and then check the box for “contents insurance” on the simple form. Your details are then sent off to over 40 insurers, who then give you instant quotes.

Many van drivers shy away from getting contents insurance for the simple reason that it does make the quote more expensive, but when you use a comparison website you might be surprised to find how cheap the quote can be.

Not only that, but think about the consequences of not having contents insurance, and being put in a position, through no fault of your own, where you have thousands of pounds worth of essential tools and equipment just disappear into the night.

Do you really think these van thieves care about you and your business? Of course not. All they care about is themselves and what they can get. At least if you have contents insurance, then it’s you that has the last laugh.

All it takes is a few minutes to fill out the form on this website here at Cheap Van Insurance and you can start getting quotes right away.

Summer of No Van Insurance, Drivers Warned

Posted on by News Desk

You’ve heard about the summer of rage in regards to van drivers, well, now get ready to hear about the summer of no van insurance.

That’s right. Despite being able to visit a van insurance comparison website to get cheap quotes, it seems there are still van drivers out there who don’t want to do this, and instead, would prefer to drive on the roads without any kind of insurance.

Take a van driver who had been working on his LDV Maxus van and then thought it would be a good idea to go for a test drive at 6am. Nothing wrong there you might be thinking, until it turns out he was driving without any tax or insurance.

He no doubt thought that Police wouldn’t be on the roads at such an early hour, but he was wrong. They patrol the roads 24 hours a day, and with the hi tech scanning equipment they now have installed in every Police car, it really is simple for them to track down the van insurance dodgers.

The punishment for this particular van driver? £400 for no insurance, £100 for no tax, and £50 costs. I’m surprised he didn’t get points on his license as well, although if it’s his first offence then the judge might have been lenient

My advice to anyone thinking about taking to the roads without van insurance, even if it’s only a short test drive at 6am? Visit a van insurance comparison website and get it sorted. You can get a quote 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and after filling in a short form you get access to quotes from over 40 companies.

That is what one van driver in Bradford should have done, as Police recently stopped him and took away his blue Ford Transit van for not having any insurance.

The driver will now have to appear in court where a judge will decide his punishment. When you consider he is also a disqualified driver and he was talking on a mobile phone when Police stopped him…something tells me the judge is not going to be lenient on this one. Let’s wait to see what happens.

It really does make you wonder just what is going on here? So far this summer we have had incidents of rage and no van insurance…and some of the reports I’ve been reading suggest the van driving world is getting even wilder.

Take the supermarket delivery driver who was filmed doing a U-turn on the A30. Maybe the driver had just read the recent blog post on this site about how driverless delivery vans are going to be taking van driver jobs, and was in a hurry to get down the local job centre.

In that blog post I mentioned that drivers won’t be losing their jobs for a few years yet, but this particular driver might just find himself out of work if he keeps up with his unique style of driving.

The van driving got even more wild, and terrifying, in a place called Cinderford, where a van driver reversed onto the pavement and directly into a lamppost, making an innocent pedestrian jump out of the way.

I hope this particular van driver had van insurance, because something tells me he is going to need it after the entire incident was caught on CCTV.

The message this Summer is clear if you ask me. Make sure you have van insurance, keep your driving sensible…and don’t get into a rage. Instead, chill out and visit a comparison website.

You Could be Wasting £350 a Year on Van Insurance

Posted on by News Desk

Research by a well known insurance comparison website has just gave us some interesting facts, but it doesn’t make good reading for van drivers.

What they have found, is that on average, van drivers who do not switch van insurance companies at renewal time are losing out, at about £350 a year.

Not only that, but even smart van drivers who do shop around…even they usually end up losing money. Do you know why? Because they don’t do it at the optimal time.

During their research, this insurance comparison website found that van drivers who make it their goal to switch insurance companies 4 weeks before their renewal date saved the most money, while those who waited right until the last minute typically paid more on average.

The good news is that the law is on your side, as your van insurance company now has to tell you what your insurance cost was last year when it comes time to renew. They also have to announce that comparing van insurance is a great way to save money.

I’ve been saying this for years of course. It appears that everyone in the government agrees with me and all of those van insurance companies do as well.

Sure, they might not enjoy having to tell van drivers to visit a comparison website like the one you are on right now, but at least they are doing the right thing.

Now that van drivers understand they are wasting £350 a year on insurance, will they actually do anything about it? Unfortunately not it seems, because in the last part of the research it clearly says that despite consumers being more educated about the benefits of comparing insurance and switching companies, most people simply put it off, or forget about it, or leave everything to the last minute.

Hopefully, you are not one of these people, and you are on this van insurance comparison website right now because you want to get the best deal.

That is our number 1 goal, and if you take a few minutes of your time to fill in the simple form, then you will instantly start getting quotes from many different companies.

You can then choose the best deal and switch companies if you need to, and although we can’t guarantee you will save £350, you don’t know exactly how much you could save until you give it a try.

Remember, don’t wait right until your renewal time to start comparing van insurance quotes. The optimal time is 4 weeks before.

Man Admits Driving Without Van Insurance

Posted on by News Desk

A man in Lancashire was spared a prison sentence when he admitted to driving his van without any kind of insurance.

Not usually something they send you to prison for anyway you might be thinking, but when you consider he was also a disqualified driver then it becomes a more serious offence.

The man, who is 34, plead guilty in a court of law for not having a driving license and not having van insurance, although the judge decided not to send him to prison.

Instead, he got a suspended 8 week sentence, which means if he commits an offence again, especially driving a van without insurance, then he will be sent to prison for around 2 months. Not only that, but he also has to follow a 6 week curfew which does not allow him to leave the house between 8pm and 6am.

He was also given a 12 month driving ban, had 6 points put onto his license, given a 6 month supervision requirement and had to pay costs that came to £200.

The sentence was handed out because the man had only recently been banned from driving, and had significant previous offences.

It just goes to show you that driving without van insurance is something that can get you into a lot of trouble. Even if you don’t have any previous offences or a history of being in trouble with the law, if you get caught driving without insurance then the Police will not be very impressed.

You could find yourself in a lot of trouble, and may even have to go to court. As we’ve just seen, a prison sentence is unlikely, but you could easily get a suspended sentence, as well as fines.

My advice is simple…always make sure you get van insurance, and never drive without it. I’m hearing a lot of complaints recently about how “insurance is so expensive” and “I don’t want to pay it anymore,” but in reality you don’t have any choice.

It is UK law that your van must be insured, so if you don’t have a policy right now you must do it right away.

Sure, van insurance is getting more expensive, but if you shop around then you might be surprised to find out exactly how cheap it can be.

The best way to do this is by using a van insurance comparison website so you can have your details sent off to all the major insurance companies, and then within a few minutes you get all the quotes right there in front of you.

Some people have reported saving hundreds of pounds on their van insurance by doing this, so in my opinion, anyone who wants cheaper insurance should give it a try.

Step 1

Complete your quick and easy quote

Step 2

Reveal your van insurance policies

Step 3

Pick your favourite and get instant cover