Big names to gather at Silverstone to push UK EV drive

In the drive to continue the initial success of the UK’s commercial van and truck sector’s CO2 emissions drive, the invitation to this year’s EV and Low CO2 Fleet exhibition has been extended to van owners across the country. This year’s event follows the recent successful fleet management seminar at Silverstone, where the latest developments and innovations towards a smaller carbon footprint in the industry will be showcased.

There is expected to be a little more enthusiasm from the market now that the government have finally announced the list of vans eligible for the plug-in van grant and subsequent cheaper van insurance that’s expected to accompany the ultra-low emission models that qualify.

One pleasing aspect about the deal is that there will be no complicated paperwork to fill out; a statement accompanying the criteria and range for the electric vans incorporated in the green van drive explains that whichever dealer sells the van will handle the registration paperwork and take the discount of at point of purchase. And the saving is not to be sniffed at – with a discount of 20% (up to the value of £8,000), that’s a grand incentive to take the plunge and go electric.

Renault will have a vested interest in this year’s event as they now have production lines rolling ahead of the competition and will want to turn the event to their advantage. We understand that, at the show on April 18th, potential customers will be invited to test drive their award-winning Kangoo ZE. Their investment in mass producing vehicles for this market is driven by their belief that 10% of vehicles on UK roads will be powered by one battery or another within five years. Perhaps this show will shed some light on how likely this outcome will be and exactly what savings insurance firms will be offering to deliver the cheap van insurance that the market is expecting to coincide with the heavily discounted list price.

It is hoped that the event will attract some of the larger companies’ fleet managers. As with many new innovations, the market will move when one of the big names incorporates the change within their business strategy. If serious dents are to be made into the three million unit UK van market by the new Evs, it will be events like this where there is a concentration of field experts to allay any fears that will encourage that shift.

It may seem a long way off at the minute, but if the market can agree on a level for initial outlay and ongoing cost-downs through maintenance and cheaper van insurance, Renault may yet realise their dream.

Thieves move to North East; police in exhausting search

The gang who have been making mischief this year in Manchester and Oxford stealing entire exhaust systems have moved on again, this time taking to the North East, van insurance experts are warning. As such, they are recommending all tradesmen and professional van drivers lock up their vans securely wherever possible.

Tip: for those drivers who do not declare that they have safe premises to their brokers could be missing a trick. Particularly in renowned postcode areas, having secure premises can significantly increase a drivers chances of securing cheap van insurance.

There is further insight into why the exhaust systems are being stolen, however. In a recent article following the thefts in other areas of the country it was assumed that the metal was the commodity that the thieves were after. However, a statement from the Cleveland police reveals a different motive.

Since the beginning of the year, Greater London has been a low-emission zone, whereby anyone driving within the ‘LEZ’ is subject to £100 per day fines if there CO2 emissions level is higher than Euro III legislation permits. The theory being explored by Cleveland police following the latest breakins and exhaust thefts now is that certain models of vans have catalytic converters which would bring otherwise non-compliant vehicles below the minimum accepted emission level.

To date, commercial vehicle insurers have looked kindly upon van drivers who are attempting to go green. Reducing emissions in this manner is just one of the ways to achieve a smaller carbon footprint.  These criminal actions will have the adverse affect on those van owners affected in the North who will more than likely see their once-cheap van insurance premiums increase as a result of claiming for replacement exhaust systems and the additional cost for them being fitted.

One local businessman who has had two Merc Sprinter vans robbed of their exhausts is convinced that the destination for the DPF particle filters is the capital. Whilst he was having his vehicles repaired the mechanics confirmed to him that there had been several instances of this type of theft recently. He even went on to say he’d heard unconfirmed reports that one organisation had seventeen of its fleet’s exhausts taken.

Cleveland police are investigating three similar offences, involving break-ins to get at the exhausts, reported over the course of the last few days. To date, they have had little success, but have not yet exhausted all lines of enquiry.

Fleet management award in innovation for Zurich start-up

For businesses that have set up to deliver excellence in product or service, transport is not necessarily an area in which they excel. Rather it is a necessary evil to get their goods in front of the customer. As much as they may not like it, to ignore the costs would be a grave oversight.

Obtaining cheap van insurance, the right vehicle for the job and even adequate drivers can see business owners outside their comfort zone; however, that has been the status quo for some time. That is, since the prominence of the fleet management service that is making great inroads for organisations that are prepared to pay for a specialist service that takes care of that aspect of their business for them.

Zurich Fleet Intelligence is one such firm, and have recently won an award, the Celent Innovation in Service accolade, no less, for their strides made in the sector in the two years since their inauguration. They have taken telematics – a rapidly expanding market in its own rite – and integrated into a product that has the potential to take an average fleet and make it excel, delivering cost savings through improved performance, less wear and tear, better fuel efficiency and improved driver skills. The business owner can then take a summarised report to their broker and demand the cheapest van insurance that their fleet commands as they have the evidence in black and white to justify it.

However, Nick List, proposition manager for the company, insists that cost savings are a bonus and Zurich’s priority is delivering driver safety in a fashion tailored towards their customer base. Speaking after the award, he emphasised that their product development comes through interaction with clients and finding ways to meet their demands through continual improvement.  A sound mission statement if ever there was one.

The system itself is quite natty, and it is obvious, with all the improvements that can be made through on board monitoring, why companies are more likely to avail themselves of cheap van insurance quotes after implementation.

In a similar way that the AA Drivetech helps young drivers and those with high points find cheap van insurance through improved driving in their ‘pay how you drive‘ policy, this easy to implement integrated solution measures, tracks and assesses both the van and the driver’s response behind the wheel.

Through GPS, this information is posted back to a server and displayed on screen and can be saved as a usable file. The gathered information can be used to cut down on fuel consumption via using differing routes and avoiding peak traffic flow and, where driver improvements are needed, arrange any specialist training to bring the whole fleet together to an exemplary standard.

Initial reports have suggested extremely swift ROI, which is one of the reasons the firm has come to prominence in such a short space of time.

To see what you could save for your improved van driving, compare van insurance online using our simple online form to save a packet in minutes.

Using the force to obtain cheaper van insurance

If you mention Yorkshire and police in the same sentence, you cannot help but think of Heartbeat and a downy-cheeked Nick Berry in 1960’s helmet and elbow-lengthed gloves hot-footing it up to the moors, fresh out of Walford and away from Aunty Pauline’s clutches. You certainly do not think of multi-tasking police forces joining together to save millions of pounds on fleet management and van insurance.

But that’s the story coming out of Yorkshire and Humberside as North, South and West Yorkshire forces have joined up with their east coast neighbours to put their four heads of transport together to combine in one super-pool of fleet resources. Originally destined to be a cost saving exercise in an attempt to knock £10M off their public expenditure, the venture is proving to be so much more.

Of course there are the better deals from the carrot that a larger fleet can dangle to brokers, now offering the cheapest van insurance possible to secure that extra volume of business. But a larger pool of talent has availed the forces of greater possibilities for future savings as much of the maintenance and vehicle modification can be carried out in-house.

The money the forces are saving from utilising inhouse mechanics and even using their own qualified staff to teach junior police officers advanced training skills will be put to use in other areas across the collaborative forces. For the sectors that cannot be controlled by the police themselves, such as van insurance, the forces are sharing the burden of those costs and redistributing the savings the same way as they are funds from other areas.

Another aspect to arise from this scenario is that all four forces now have standard vehicles, meaning that skills specific to that model can be honed to the nth degree and spare parts can be ordered in bulk to alleviate the risk of ever struggling to find the components to keep the fleet roadworthy, another aspect that van insurance brokers take into account when assessing the discounts applicable to an applicant’s request for van cover.

The West Yorkshire Police Commissioning Department in Bradford has been chosen as the nerve centre due to its accessibility by all four constabularies; the train of though here is that, by concentrating their efforts from one central location, it will lead to quicker mean response times across all four counties.

If your organisation is a multi-branch operation and you would like to save a packet in minutes, compare your fleet van insurance quotes using our online form

Van insurance for young drivers – get it cheaper

In the last article we looked at why there was little chance of young drivers easily finding cheap van insurance; in this article, we look to see what they can do about it.

The AA, with their Drivetech initiative, plus other organisations who offer GPS drive monitor systems, have concerns for the number of young drivers on UK roads passing their test days before jumping behind the wheel of a van and the impact that scenario’s having on fleet van insurance quotes, as well as the potential ‘at risk’ status it puts them and other road users in.

Labelled the ‘pay how you drive‘ system, taking out this type of van insurance policy will stagger discounts as better driving milestones are accrued by the young driver (or driver who has a high insurance policy because of a high points tally). However, it can have the adverse affect of increasing the premium if the standard of driving deteriorates.

Good van insurance deals come in small packages

Start small. The physical size and engine capacity of your commercial vehicle will have a direct affect on your insurance quote. It is sometimes tempting, especially if you have the finance in place, to buy a brand new van that’s as big as your money can buy. When you’re starting out, don’t fall into that trap.

The theory is, the smaller the van, and its engine, the easier the vehicle will be to handle therefore the less likely a broker is to have to shell out for accident damage and repair. On this basis, they will offer you cheaper van insurance.

Likewise, the older the van the less value it will cost to replace. If your commercial vehicle has still got the production line paint wet when you take ownership, alarm bells will start to ring in your broker’s office. To get the cheapest van insurance possible, buy an older model with a smaller capacity and engine in as low an insurance group as possible to allow you to carry out your job, at least until you’ve started to build a no claims bonus history.

One aspect that many drivers overlook is a van’s security, the only real customisation you should be thinking of making. Articles that will score you points are steering (column) locks to deter the opportunist thief, immobilisers to stop the persistent one and a vehicle tracker to trace your vehicle in the event that it is stolen. All will qualify you for discounts that will pay for themselves, over time, even more so if you have a safe lock-up you can park your van in overnight.

And finally, if you do have some start up capital, increase your voluntary excess. The more you commit to paying in light of an incident, the lower your premium will be, the theory being you’re less likely to claim every time you have a small knock than if you’re only prepared to pay the minimum excess before expecting the broker to cover the rest.

Van insurance for young drivers – why so dear?

Taking the plunge and setting out on the road of creating your own business can be a big, no, huge step for any young person with aspirations of making a go of it on their own. Especially against the current economic backdrop and headlines such as ‘95% of all new start-ups go under in the first year’. It’s a brave decision.

What most individuals fail to take into account is that every single aspect of making a go of your own business has many facets and it’s down to the owner of the business (that’s you) to sort them out. Some are obvious, some not so. Finding cheap van insurance is just one example that bears this point out exactly, and to give you a hand on your way, we’ll look to address just that over today’s two articles.

As often, before the budding entrepreneur realises it, they’ve not set enough capital aside, in arrears after six months of opening their doors so credit’s no longer an option and they’re destined to become just another failure statistic.

One such stumbling block for young tradesmen and drivers is van insurance and how to get the best deal if you’ve not had a chance to build up a safe driving history, thus availing yourself of the failsafe no claims bonus that many van drivers rely on year on year to deliver cheap van insurance.

The first van insurance quote for young drivers is a shock

The first time a young driver compares van insurance online they’d be forgiven for having the wind knocked out of their sails. The problem is not so much in their individual history, but those young drivers who have gone before them. Here’s a quick overview of why van insurance is so expensive for those aged 25 and under:

1. In their first twelve months of driving, twenty percent of young drivers are involved in an RTA (road traffic accident)
2. Twenty-five percent of all drivers who suffer fatal accidents on UK roads are under twenty five, a somewhat disproportionate figure as they only account for twelve and a half percent of drivers
3. Thirty five year old drivers are ten times less likely to be involved in an RTA than a male driver under the age of twenty one
4. Four in ten passengers who lost their life or were maimed in a car crash were in vehicles driven by young drivers, based on 2007 figures

These are very sad figures but, nonetheless, that is what young van drivers are up against and why they struggle to find a cheap van insurance quote when they set out on the road to being their own boss.

In the following article, we’ll look at those steps which can help reduce the impact that age has on a van insurance quote and/or other methods that cushion the blow.

DfT set to announce the plug-in grant LCV eligibility list

Tradesmen and local businesses are eagerly awaiting the announcement expected in the near future detailing which of the electric vans will make it on the Department for Transport’s shortlist to be eligible for the subsidy they’ve extended from the domestic vehicle to now incorporate commercial vehicles, too.

In some instances, individuals and organisations may qualify for discounts of up to £8,000 to run in conjunction with the cheaper van insurance this type of van is expected to attract. And the cost savings go even further. Details in one recent report suggest that these vehicles will be exempt for company car tax, to boot.

As we reported earlier this week, last year’s rush to buy the green vehicle hardly got up to a canter with less than 1,000 punters opting to chance changing their habits and do their bit for the environment. However, it’s hoped that the discount, tax exemption, cheap van insurance and the fuel savings will be enough to tempt to the savvy business owner into finally making that change.  If those savings fail to sway the market, well, what else can be done?

Justine Greening is doing her best as Transport Secretary to get the industry sector on side promoting the range in anticipation of the DfT announcement. According to her calculations, fuel savings could amount to £100 for every 1,000 miles put on the clock compared to other fuel types for light commercial vehicles.

There is still reasonable doubt in the market place about topping up whilst out on the road, due to two issues concerning the battery. Details from manufacturers suggest that electric vans will push 100 miles on one charge, depending upon the load and how the van’s driven – if these are at the top end of the tolerances, the maximum on one charge could be limited to 60 miles, but that should still be plenty for the average round, especially enough for the city.

The other issue is that anyone buying the new electric van will never own the battery, if the planned lease/sale pattern is to filtrate the market as is foreseen. Yes, it’s great that the manufacturer retains ownership of it, both for worrying about the maintenance and the possibility of cheaper van insurance due to the fact that the broker may not need to insure that component against breakdown, but what if it conks out whilst you’re mid-run? It’s not as if you can call the AA to replace it. How quickly will the manufacturer get a replacement battery out to you?

Electric vans – and plug-in transport all round – is probably the future of motoring but with so many question marks still hanging over the range, it’s no wonder that businesses have had reservations about taking the plunge, thus far.

New van sales down for first time in two years

Following a steady two-year rise from its low point at the beginning of the global recession, the registration for new van sales fell for the first in January, 2012. It was only the support of the sale of trucks that kept the commercial vehicle sector up, on the whole.

This indicates a clear shift in the underlying trend of the market, as used van sales held up in volume and price for the same period, as reported only last week, here on cheapvaninsurance.co.uk .

There are several contributory factors, but the main two are both to do with cost, based on the gloomy forecast for the year ahead. So far, all predictions for this year are that the economy is going to remain flat, with very little opportunity for growth and anyone who exits 2012 with their business in the same condition as they entered it will have done well. Predictions, using automotive sales as the barometer, from both economic studies and government bodies echo similar projections, with the faintest of hopes on the horizon that 2013 will kick-start the growth of the automotive sector and economy as whole.  Even little savings like attaining the cheapest van insurance wll come in handy this year.

As a result, tradesmen and organisations are very much holding back on expenditure wherever they can. This is evident in the fact that larger commercial vehicles (up to 3.5 ton) dropped considerably more than smaller vans whereas towards the end of last year, it had been the trend to opt for those with a greater payload. Tradesmen are possibly taking note that there will be fuel duty levied onto the prices later in the year, as well as the current base price of oil fluctuating almost every day, and this has influenced that decision. However, through retaining their existing commercial vehicle or buying used instead of buying brand new, they can achieve further cost savings in another two ways.

First, and most obviously, is the difference in outlay for a new van compared with buying at auction through the likes of Manheim or BCA. If their van’s good for another year, then extra expenditure on a thorough van service will save them considerably more than buying new.

The second way they’ll save is on van insurance. For starters, if they’ve had a year’s claim-free driving, they have a further discount to look forward to on their no claims bonus. Also, as a rule, used vans tend to command cheaper van insurance quotes than models in the same class that have just rolled off the production line. Quite simply down to the fact that if the van is written off, the list price of a van that has seen several years’ depreciation is remarkably less than one that’s hardly had its engine broke in.

And speaking of breaking in, new vans are often more of a target for thieves than a work-worn model, again something else for the van insurance broker to filter into the equation.

Where’s the circuit breaker in the crossover to EV’s?

Today, both of our articles will look predominantly at the advantages of switching your current diesel, petrol or hybrid van over to an all-electric, battery-operated commercial vehicle. We’ll take in the benefits of (part) owning such a vehicle itself and any cheap van insurance offerings that could make the deal even sweeter.

To date, manufacturers have got excited about the prospect of the green revolution they promised for UK roads; those in Westminster have been infected with this same state of euphoria. The end of 2011 saw the end of the first year that had seen any sort of yardstick slapped next to the market to measure how sales had taken off compared to initial projections.

Let’s put it this way: if electric van sales projection was the equivalent of a shuttle launch into orbit, the EV/ZE revolution in 2011 wouldn’t have cleared the Nevada desert, so disappointing were they. Renault, being the first manufacturer of electric vans to get a production line rolling, must be feeling their sphincters tighten only slightly at the prospect of their investment reaping similar rewards from EV sales as liberal democrat voters have done from being ‘in power’.

So, why have they not taken off? With sweeteners, smooth driving experience and no more freezing one’s chads off at a petrol station at 5.30am, as did Renault, one would have thought electric vans were the future of commercial transport.

We think, mayhaps, that the horse has been put a little bit before the cart, in the same way that the steam engine was invented with ne’er a mile o’ track in sight. The concept of electric vans is great, but where do you go to fill them up if you’re caught short on the road? In London (what a shock) they are rolling out more roadside plug-in top-up facilities, but any north of Watford? I’m sure Westminster think we still have a man come and put the gas lamps out in the morning and we still black-lead our fire grates, I really do.

The particulars required for a van insurance quote are pretty similar for the EV as for other types of fuel, but for reasons we’ll explain in the next article, we expect the offers to come down considerably, but only if the market takes off as manufacturers anticipate, and that BoJo wants us to believe it will.

You’ll still need to gather your typical snippets of information before you go online to look for a cheap van insurance quote, such as the van’s value, annual mileage (this is a key deciding factor, for me, why you’d go EV), your own date of birth and whether you’re taking out the van insurance privately or registering as a company vehicle. There are the standard security related questions, too: what devices, such as GPS trackers and immobilisers do you have fitted; do you have a safe overnight lock-up; what’s its postcode; they’re on the online form. Then finishing off asking if you want to ‘up’ your voluntary excess and whether you’ll be using the van for business, pleasure or a bit of both, all key determinates, vis-a-vis do you want cheap van insurance, or not?

Electric van insurance – be positive

In our last article, we looked to see what was stopping the UK quiet van revolution, namely swapping to battery-ran engines, in light of the economic sense it makes and the sweeteners on offer to get you on the road with a plug-in van. Here, we list the EV positives for the neutral and a few negatives to help anyone who feels amp-utated from the scenario a little more at ohm. I know, Watt the…?

The benefits of (part) owning an electric van (EV/ZE)

If your regular delivery run only ever entails thirty of forty miles a day maximum, an electric van has to be a very real consideration for you. Mileage is, for sure, one of the determinate factors about delivering cheap van insurance in the first instance, but when you factor in that a single charge on most EVs rolling off the production line or being test-driven as prototypes are good for fifty or sixty, leave her charging overnight and you’ll never have to worry about where you can stop to top up with your fuel card again.

And whilst we’re discussing mileage, there is nothing on the market more fuel efficient. With averages working out at about £0.04/mile, depending upon your payload and how you drive, on a fifty-mile day you’ll have spent two quid – my electric heater costs half of that a day to run in my office.

There is a downside to that, though. With roadside plug-ins short on availability outside the capital, if you are called upon to make a run of any distance you’re stuck with hiring a vehicle for the task or calling in a courier. If you opt for the latter and take the hit on the chin, it will leave you free to concentrate on other aspects of your business, however.

One of the reasons that you’ll eventually get cheap van insurance quotes, if you can’t already, is because electric vans don’t have a top end that’s going to be breaking any speed laws on the motorway – brokers love that aspect. If you do have a collision, serious damage may well be dampened due to the reduced top end.

Poll-you-shun, all awound. Sometimes up, and sometimes down. But always around. Are you coming to my town? Classic poem by Rik, but you’ll be taking no poll-you-shun with you if you opt for the EV, not even noise pollution. In test drives, one of the factors most pilots have commented on is how silent it is. Additionally, zero emissions make this the most environmentally friendly form of commercial transport to date and van insurance brokers do like an efficient, green engine that is less likely to breakdown than it’s diesel-driven peers. You’ll even be below Euro III levels for travelling around the capital’s low emission zone, so could save a small fortune if your round takes you into Greater London.

And the deciding factor, with regards to cost, is the government subsidy. You have about three years left to claim up to £5k off the list price by way of a grant for opting to go green. If they can get the top-up stations in place, that will be money well saved.

Tempted? See what cheap van insurance deal you can get on an EV using our online form.

Step 1

Complete your quick and easy quote

Step 2

Reveal your van insurance policies

Step 3

Pick your favourite and get instant cover