Van owners in IG postcode area hit with double whammy

VAN INSURANCE NEWS ROUNDUP: 7 DAYS ENDING 29 AUG 2014:

The IG postcode area has become a virtual wasteland when it comes to the fortunes of van owners, thanks to a seemingly uncontrollable spate of vehicle thefts.

Car thieves are out in force in places like Epping Forest and Redbridge, where there’s been in excess of 40 reported thefts over the last three months.While no one is safe from the loss of their vehicle in one of these postcodes, it seems like van owners are being targeted particularly by these criminals; the most oft-stolen vehicles include Mercedes Sprinters and Ford Galaxy vans. As if this wasn’t enough, vehicle burglaries have gone up as well, with more than 50 reports over the last three months as well.

This is of course rotten news or anyone living or working in the area, but especially bad for anyone looking to make a living as a white van man. Even worse is that this rash of vehicle thefts and break-ins have been going on long enough that car insurance companies have begun to respond – and how else but by raising rates on anyone living in the postcode? That’s right; car and van insurance providers have hiked rates in the region by 4.5 per cent, which raises the average cost of comprehensive cover to well over £900 a year according to the latest AA survey.

Is it just me or doesn’t it seem just inherently unfair that insurers punish their customers for things out of their control? It’s not like someone with commercial van insurance can just up and move out of the postcode if he or she discovers there’s a crime spree going on; what do insurers expect vehicle owners to do? Not everyone has a garage, you know.

Well there’s not much anyone can do about it besides sitting out all night and keeping watch over your car or van. Maybe if people begin doing that their insurers will cut them a break on their premium pricing? Probably not – they’ll invariably find something else to raise your rates over, such as getting behind the wheel without getting enough sleep or something similar. Some days it just doesn’t seem worthwhile getting out of bed.

 

Major insurer says don’t get used to cheap rates

VAN INSURANCE NEWS ROUNDUP: 7 DAYS ENDING 22 AUG 2014:

One major car insurance provider recently rained on everyone’s parade recently, remarking that the good times are nearly over when it comes to cheaper rates.

Industry juggernaut Admiral, infamous for cornering the market for car and van insurance, said recently that despite the fact that insurance rates have reached amazing lows lately the party could be over before we know it. Whilst a more conspiratorially-minded individual might interpret this as a threat that Admiral is going to choose to increase their rates, I don’t think this is the case – I simply think that the insurance giant is remarking that the industry in general is likely to have no choice but to raise rates in order to remain profitable.

Yes, there may be stories of other car and commercial van insurance providers such as Direct Line turning a profit even as rates decline, but in instances like this their steady income growth is more due to cutting their costs by a wide margin than anything else. And let’s be honest here – rates are almost ludicrously low on average. In fact a new press release from the British Insurance Brokers’ Association claims that there’s been an overall 5.6 per cent drop in insurance pricing – or if you take inflation into account, an even 7 per cent drop. This is of course a fantastic bit of news, considering we haven’t seen rates like this for vehicle insurance since 2010 or so, but unfortunately the news is overshadowed by Admiral’s dire portents.

So what’s a responsible vehicle owner to do? Well there’s not much to do, honestly, except ensure that you lock in your premium pricing for the year as soon as possible. If you ask me, if you don’t shop around when your renewal comes up this year you’re going to be sorely disappointed a year from now when your rates go up by an eye-watering margin and you find out you missed out on some significant savings. This could be your last chance for many insurance cycles to come, so don’t do something – or fail to do something – you’re gong to regret later on. It’s expensive enough to keep a vehicle on the road as it is without having to pay through the nose for insurance as well!

Insurers reveal profits yet premiums drop steeply

VAN INSURANCE NEWS ROUNDUP: 7 DAYS ENDING 15 AUGUST 2014:

So here’s one thing I just don’t understand: car and van insurance companies are reporting tidy profits even as premium prices plummet, sometimes severely.

Maybe I’m just naive but I always used to thinking about reality in a certain way. For example, if a car insurance company reports profits are going up, I’d expect to think that their premium pricing has crept higher as well, yet somehow that’s actually not the case right now. I know it seems backwards – and let’s be honest, it is – yet the news this week was filled with interesting tidbits of information revealing just these jumbled facts.

First of all, Direct Line Insurance just announced that its six month profit hit a tidy sum. How tidy you may ask? Well how does £225.1 million sound to you? I know it sounds fantastic to me. Now for what it’s worth Direct Line doesn’t just do motor and commercial van insurance but home insurance and other types of business – there’s all sorts of revenue streams the company has, and somehow all of them have been in the black.

Yet at the same time – and this is where it makes my head hurt to think about it – Direct Line also just reported that its first half premium profits have declined by nine per cent. What has happened here is that the price of an insurance policy in the UK has plummeted over the last year. In fact in some regions such as Scotland – where Direct Line actually hails from, considering that it had been spun off from Royal Bank of Scotland two years ago – prices have dropped by something like an amazing 20 per cent.

So premium prices are going down, insurers are taking in less money, yet somehow their profits are soaring? What in blue blazes is going on? Well the writing is on the wall – I’ll bet you anything that there are hundreds of insurance staff members getting sacked left and right as part of ‘corporate cost restructuring efforts’ or some other such rubbish. Fewer Brits on payroll means less money flowing out of the coffers of insurers to begin with – so they can afford to collect smaller amounts of revenue from British drivers. What a bloody mess!

Finding cheap van insurance soon to be least of our problems

VAN INSURANCE NEWS ROUNDUP: 7 DAYS ENDING 4 APRIL 2014:

Everyone knows how hard it is to find cheap van insurance nowadays, but if the rumours are true it looks like that’s going to be the least of our problems soon!

In fact, I know this is going to sound absolutely mad but I swear I’m not trying to take the piss out of you: there are new fears amongst car insurance and van insurance providers that the development of driverless vehicles is going to completely destroy the insurance industry. That’s right, that new self-driving Google or GM-powered car is going to bankrupt insurance providers, based on, well, pure speculation really.

Insurers are declaring the sky is falling because regions in the UK like Milton Keynes are setting aside specialised roadways for testing driverless vehicles in the coming years. Apparently this is just the first domino to fall that will spell the end of motorists driving their own cars, as far as insurers are concerned – and this means human error will be taken out of the picture when it comes to calculating insurance premiums. No more will it matter if you’re a certain age or live in a particular postcode, as you won’t be doing the driving any more – and this apparently fills insurers with terrible fear that they’ll go out of business for lack of funds.

This is of course incredibly stupid. The idea that driverless cars are going to completely replace vehicles that require human interaction – and that it will happen overnight – is daft. You’re telling me the white van man is going to be replaced by a robotic lorry driver? Pull the other one!

Meanwhile, if you’re in the business of landscaping and you’ve already got a large van with a trailer that you motor about to different homes in order to trim the verge and cut the lawn, you might be shaking your head at this bit of unrelated news: a new EU ruling could end up making you responsible for keeping motor insurance on any ride-on mowers you might have.

This isn’t just limited to commercial landscapers and gardeners, either – apparently anyone who owns a ride-on mower to keep their garden looking nicely trimmed could have to take out a policy as well, even if the bloody thing never even does anything but barely kisses the pavement as you back it into your garage or garden shed. All because of a court case going on in Luxembourg right now involving some daft bastard who was driving his ride-on mower on a motorway and who ended up in an accident. Lucky us, eh?

Can you trust van insurers and their ‘low rates?’

VAN INSURANCE NEWS ROUNDUP: 7 DAYS ENDING 1 AUG 2014:

So car and van insurance companies are saying their rates have been dropping like mad lately, but how much can you trust these insurers in the long run, really?

Well honestly you really can’t. I know, I’m not shocking anyone with this bit of intelligence but it’s true – van and car insurance providers might be slashing their rates left and right but they’re still getting their money’s worth out of you by using underhanded means. It’s a bit of a bait and switch if you think about it, especially now that research findings have been published how a large number of insurance providers are instituting hidden fees and charges to line their pockets with the cash they’re not pulling in from their customers directly any more.

Whether you want to ring up your insurer to inform them of a change to your personal details such as getting married or you’ve decided to cancel your policy early you’re likely to be subject to fines and fees now. In fact, there are more than a few insurance providers who will charge you for the high privilege of initially taking out cover with them – or even renewing your annual cover as well. Can you bloody believe it?

Of course insurers haven’t stopped there. Beware if you decide to ring up your insurer just to ask a question about your car or commercial van insurance cover, as you could end up making your premium prices go up completely inadvertently. Let’s say hail damage dents your bonnet a bit and you ask your insurer if your excess will be more than it would cost you to repair the bonnet out of pocket; even if you end up paying for the damage yourself there’s a chance insurers will decide to hike your rates just for the enquiry.

So yes, these are not exactly the kinds of activities that will endear your customers to you. Of course insurers really don’t care about that all that much, as evidenced by their behaviour. Well, forewarned is forearmed I suppose – don’t ring up your insurer unless you’re bloody well on fire and in a ditch somewhere in the middle of the Welsh countryside. And even then, you’re going to be lucky if you don’t end up with hiked insurance rates.

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