Another aspect about owning a smaller commercial vehicle, and this is something that many sole traders overlook, is the ability to customise it with your brand and logo. A city van owned by a florist, for example, would cost a lot less to be kitted out in the shop’s livery than a Ford Transit. And van insurance brokers like the fact that you have gone to the trouble to emblazon your wheels with your organisation’s legend, for two reasons.

Having a logo shows that you are serious about your business and are therefore possibly a long-term customer rather than a fly-by-night outfit. It also means that you are a lot less likely to be reckless on the road as you will know how much it would cost to get the van re-sprayed in the event of an accident. Both reasons ensure that you will get a cheaper van insurance quote by getting logo-ed.

If you can get it into your head when you compare van insurance quotes online that your task is to provide your broker with all of the aspects in your day-to-day business driving that will help him reduce your premium, your half way to obtaining the cheapest deal available to you. The other half of the equation is identifying those aspects that you may otherwise overlook.

Your van insurance broker likes his greens

For example, does your business only operate within the local vicinity? There are two greens that come into the equation when you’re dealing with insurance for vans and that’s your Green Card and the green of your carbon footprint, and both have connotations when it comes to your mileage.

If your business is local and has a limited mileage every day, that means you are exposing your van to less threat than a driver whose delivery route incorporates multiple deliveries over longer distances on a daily basis; your broker will take that into consideration.

There is a lot to be said for going green when it comes to considering switching to an all-electric powered van. A lot of aspects about EV/ZE (French) vans appeal to your insurance broker that lends itself to you obtaining that elusive cheap van insurance quote. In an article tomorrow, we will consider all of the aspects (mostly positives) of switching to a plug-in engine.

The other green aspect, now that Europe is so close, is the Green Card that permits a van driver to travel the Continent’s roads. Many van insurance policies now automatically include the certificate in the base van insurance policy. You are advised to check, if you are absolutely positive you will not take your van outside the UK, that there is not a supplementary charge on the van insurance quote that makes it more expensive than it should be. Beware, though; without it, if you do change your mind and hop across on the ferry, any incident could be extremely costly, a lot more so than in the UK, so call your van insurance company and get it added on before you travel.

Just when you thought it was safe enough to turn the boiler off, the UK weather ushers in another weekend of freezing temperatures to remind us that we’ve not got away with winter, yet. I cannot wait until I hit my late fifties and have the excuse to bugger off to Benalmadena from November to March, I really can’t.

Aside from that fact, the weather department are issuing warnings of freezing overnight temperatures and early morning icy roads. On the back of the Met office update, Swinton Commercial, too, reminded van drivers everywhere to remain vigilant and not be complacent with their driving, thus threatening their current cheap van insurance policies with the High Street insurance broker.

This year has seen a complete opposite of last year’s prolonged cold snap and many drivers are apt to think that it’s business as usual. But as the High Street broker correctly point out, heightened driving skill should still be deployed, especially for larger commercial vehicles laden with heavy loads, if they want to retain that cheap van insurance into this year.

It’s not exactly like slowing an ocean-liner, but the theory is the same, according to their latest statement: the heftier the payload, the longer the braking distance on a slippery road surface. As such, here are some crucial tips to help keep your van and its insurance as frost-free as possible this late winter weekend:
1. Ease off the juice – in treacherous conditions, less miles per hour means more control when braking
2. Iced smoothie – jerking or abrasive reactions are sure to put your heavy van into a slide on untreated road surfaces – where possible, use your gears to decelerate rather than the brakes; if you do need to hit the middle pedal, don’t slam it, yo pump it!
3. Up the ante – where driving conditions allow, stay in a high gear; this will help keep you in control of your van
4. Don’t pull up to the bumper, baby – and it goes without saying, but, the more distance between you and the driver in front the less chance you have of a collision of which you will be the at-fault driver when it comes to the van insurance claim afterwards

In conjunction with these recommendations, Swinton’s commercial vehicle manager Phil Moss added that lack of extra due care and attention, probably caused by our reliance on unseasonably good driving conditions in the extremely mild winter thus far, may well lead to accidents in the upcoming wintry conditions and is therefore more likely to harm your chances of a cheap van insurance renewal quote if ignored.

There is a new craze sweeping the UK, from Manchester to Hertfordshire, which won’t half knock your renewal van insurance about if you don’t do something about it.

At the beginning of February, Manchester police were hot on the heels of an ‘audacious’ gang of thieves who were stalking isolated spots in Manchester on the look out for vans that were parked away from the public eye or in far corners of car parks in isolation in order to steal the entire exhaust system. The scrap value for such weight in metal – said to contain platinum – is proving too lucrative for some to resist the temptation to commit crime.

Trafford park was named as one hot spot as three van owners were set to wake up to a headache and a imminent van insurance claim as the gangs relieved the vehicles of their entire exhaust system. Urmston and Flixton were also target areas, as three catalytic converters were taken from three vehicles in two roads in those regions. Details in one recent report suggest that all the thieves had to do was literally flip the bonnets and then help themselves to the precious metals that lay under the hood.

A more recent report suggests similar activities now occurring in the south as Hertfordshire police have created a special taskforce to tackle the problem rife in their county. DCI Liz Hanlon, heading up the Operation Devon outfit has issued warnings for all van drivers to secure their vehicles and report sightings of suspicious activity immediately. Many van drivers, as a matter of course, invest heavily in security measures to deter the opportunist thief not only to prevent theft but also in their drive for cheap van insurance. Insurance firms look kindly upon van drivers who take this aspect seriously as there is less chance of their staff having to handle a claim and them having to compensate anyone who falls victim to the chancers. Here on cheapvaninsurance.co.uk, we have continued to report the rising numbers of such criminal activity, as members of the UK public look to scrape together money from any angle, irrespective of its legality.

Tool theft still an issue as spate spreads across UK

It has been tool theft from the backs of vans that have been the focus of Met attention up to this point, an aspect now prevalent in Herts., as DCI Liz Hanlon also warned of in her statement. If van drivers are reliant on their tools for their livelihood and have not added tool cover or goods in transit cover to their base van insurance policy, now may be as good a time as any to do so!

Operation Devon has called upon scrap dealers in their region to contact them if they are approached with materials that raise suspicions of illegal activity; they are also working closely with other UK police forces and organisations who use large volumes of precious metal to deliver their services, such as BT & Virgin communications arms and EDF energy, amongst others.

If you are aware of any criminal activity of this nature, Manchester police are urging you to contact Crimestoppers immediately. Your call comes with a guarantee retaining your anonymity, so no need to fear repercussions; the number is: 0800 555 111. Or, you can contact them directly on 0161-856-7684.

In the last article, E-Training – world – an introduction to hazard perception, we addressed some of the ways that increasing your fleet’s driver hazard perception skills can help reduce costs from your transport budget, not least your renewal van insurance quote and subsequent premium. But there are other hidden factors to improve your overall fleet’s driving performance that can be implemented.

Although still drawing very much on a driver’s ability to observe, these are more about non-hazardous driving situations on the road ahead and the manner of driving, doing as much to protect the engine, its components and subsequently the environment by doing so.

E-training world are not all about saving money on man hours and fleet insurance; there are other cost saving measures that can be derived from a change in driving habits. Again, it means taking notes of the layout ahead, but, if you can see a set of lights on red a distance in front, rather than proceed at the same speed and come to a stop and have to restart the engine, slow right down and cruise along in a lower gear. The odds are that, by the time you get to the traffic queue, the lights will be changing and you can accelerate from a slower speed, rather than induce wear and tear and up fuel consumption by having to get rolling from a standing start.

A similar method can, of course, be adhered to at traffic islands, especially when there is a lengthy run up to a motorway exit, for example. Rather than continue towards the junction island at seventy, slow down in the same manner as described in approaching traffic lights. In both instances, obviously not to the extent that you will be endangering yourself by inviting a collision due to another driver’s actions directly behind you, deploy those tactics to reduce engine wear and excess fuel consumption. Okay, if they run into the back of you it won’t be on your van insurance policy that you’re claiming on but it will mean off-road time and possible injury!.

In the risk assessment program used by E-Training world, these skills are taught and enhanced by portraying various images of possible hazards on screen, which the driver then has to click to say they’ve seen and took measures to avoid the possible ensuing incident. There is a supplementary program to the main one that concentrates solely on hazard perception.

If you are serious about improving your carbon footprint by using less fuel, cutting down service fees by reducing wear and tear and are looking for an indirect way of getting cheap van insurance, then this type of test for your drivers could be just what you’re looking for.

One of the key drivers in obtaining cheap van insurance is a reduction in your our your fleet’s accident rate. If you make a claim, even if you have protected your no claims bonus, your next van insurance quote will be higher for the same level of cover.

One of the ways you can drastically cut down on the number of accidents you’re involved in is by improving the driver hazard perception skills; even if you’re in a collision that’s not your fault, there is the inevitable loss of output or man hours and the off-road time whilst any assessment and reparation of the vehicle from the other driver’s insurance is undertaken.

E-Training World is one such company that have studied the most elementary signs of hazard that are often the cause of avoidable accidents; they really are the infuriating ones for fleet managers who have one eye on driver safety and overall health and safety standards for the company and the other on the budget set for an organisation’s transport. Every single van insurance claim will pass through their department in an attempt to gauge expenditure and budget for the next quarter.

However, with the additional skills learnt in hazard perception they can seriously cut down on the number of accidents, thus the amount of off-road time and nip any rises in van insurance premiums in the bud before they happen.

Graham Hurdle explained in a recent interview that spotting even the most common objects can be a warning of a hazard ahead. The lookouts he stated for ensuring ‘hazard avoidance’, skills not necessary taught to fleet drivers he suggests, are signs like wheelie bins or gathering of black bags at the roadside – a sure sign that a refuse wagon is making its rounds. Horse manure in the road was another hazard cited – not a slip hazard, but possibly the sign that horse riders were in the vicinity. And concentrated groups of children in uniform are a sure-fire warning that you’re approaching a school and so should driver with additional care.

These incidents may very well not be sign posted, but if a driver knows the signs, they can prevent an unnecessary van insurance claim, a road traffic accident or, even more critically, injury to others. More information on E-training world and their ethos in the next article.