Van insurance news roundup: 7 days ending 3 July 2013:
If there’s one thing I’ve learned this week it’s that it’s never been more important to make sure you’ve got adequate van insurance cover in this day and age.
I know you may not necessarily believe me when I say it, but it’s true: it’s a bloody wasteland out there when it comers to legal liability, and if your firm has a large fleet of commercial vans or other vehicles you’re exposing yourself to risk every day one of your employees gets behind the wheel to deliver a parcel or respond to a client’s needs. In fact, new research from AXA found that all too many firms are lacking basic levels of commercial vehicle insurance cover and are exposing themselves to undue risk.
Around 45 per cent of firms surveyed by AXA admitted that they had no idea that there’s such a thing as corporate manslaughter, despite the fact it’s been five years since the new offence was introduced. Considering the charge carries no limits on the fine that can be levied on a guilty party, it is incredibly important to make sure your van insurance policy has specific cover for such an incident or you could end up shuttering your doors in the event of a bad accident!
And speaking of bad accidents, you’re likely to end up having to deal with one sooner or later – and that makes it even more important to have proper levels of commercial van insurance cover. Whiplash claims in particular are becoming increasingly popular, and if one of your drivers ends up involved in a rear-end shunt with another vehicle it’s almost a guarantee that the driver of the other car is going to claim for whiplash injury.
The Faculty of Actuaries recently said that whiplash figures have risen to absolutely epidemic levels resulting in some £1 billion in court costs and legal fees – and these costs get passed along to the average consumer. The worst part about this is that roads in the UK are actually safer than they’ve always been, yet still claims figures are mounting; this is sort of to be expected during the aftermath of a recession, as money is incredibly scarce for the majority of people, leading enterprising Brits to try to capitalise on a car accident by claiming injury where there is none.
This makes it even more important to have excellent van insurance cover if you want to avoid paying out on these spurious claims!