The BVRLA forecast for vehicle registrations for 2012 has identified two certain areas of growth to look out for, this year: based on improved manufacturing facilities, and concerted effort to up their game on after-sales care, Korea will compete with traditional manufacturers and a sea change in the way shoppers are buying their goods will see light commercial vehicle (up to 3.5 ton) registrations exceed previous years.

Fleet vehicle registrations will hold up market as domestic sales flounder

2011 saw fleet vehicle sales grow beyond all expectations, providing a challenging time for van insurance brokers as organisations had bigger negotiating tools to command cheaper insurance deals, whilst the domestic market for private sales fell against year-on-year sales at an alarming rate, finishing almost 5% down on 2010. Not a good sign of consumer confidence as the pinch became very real for millions of households across the UK.

The BVRLA expects similar patterns to follow in 2012, although business streamlining may lead to a slightly less total than the 1.9 million achieved last year for commercial vehicles; there are, however, two areas of growth to watch out for within the LCV sector that may get us close.

As more big high street names fall into administration, it sends out a clear signal to SMEs that economic uncertainty and swathing cuts are still very much the agenda of the day. As such, it is expected that 2012 will see smaller businesses seek to protect any profit they’ve achieved and, should the need for increased fleet arise through unexpected growth, they will turn to the lease-hire market due to that long term lack of confidence. For small businesses who look to this totally understandable lack of considered investment, it’s essential that they search for cheap van insurance for their existing LCVs to combat the higher premiums they may have no choice in paying if they are duty-bound to insure their vans through the lease-hire’s brokers.

Where outright investment in light commercial vehicles will be imperative is in the sector for courier firms and home delivery services, purely down to mileage factors – how far you drive can be a factor when considering both lease-hire, with extra charges to cover the wear and tear and van insurance, which, really needs to be adaptable to suit the cargo you envisage transporting and kept under control by the delivery firm.

2012 may also be the year that Korea enters the fleet market as a serious player, with their engines built for low emission in new quality-conscious factories and immense improvement in their after-sales targeting field sales vehicles. With the focus on Europe and its manufacturing capacity, everything is pointing in the right direction for the Korean manufacturers to make an impact this year.

To compare providers for your courier and home delivery fleet cheap van insurance quote, get started using our simple process on the online form.

We have tried to make our form that helps you find cheap van insurance from our hand-picked selection of brokers as easy to follow as possible.  No doubt, once you click through to use the facility, it will have a similar look and feel as many other van insurance comparison forms that you may have come across on the Internet, already.

However, in case you are only just beginning your search for cheap van insurance, here is a rundown of what the form asks for before you click through to it, to save you getting comfortable, then having to disappear back outside to get the details from your glovebox.

First and foremost, you will be asked to input the vehicle registration number of the van you are looking to get cheap cover for.  This is a required field and you will not be able to progress further through the enquiry without inputting this detail.

The next section is the all about the vehicle itself, some of which contains required fields that you have to input or select from a drop-down menu.  Stick with us – none of it is taxing.

The first field is the number of seats in the vehicle.  Easy enough.  Next, you are asked where the vehicle is kept overnight.  It may be a temptation to put locked in a garage, when, in truth, you park it on the road or drive.  You may get a cheaper van insurance quote if you choose one of the more secure options but, in the event of a claim, if the conditions against which you are claiming do not match the criteria of your policy, you may be in danger of jeopardising your cover.

The next two sections again are straight forward, namely when did you buy your van (month and year are required inputs) and also what fuel do you use, diesel, petrol, hybrid or electric?  If you’ve been putting the wrong one of those into your tank, you’d know about it, by now.

Following on from that, you are asked for the approximate value of the vehicle.  Often, the lower the value, the cheaper the van cover quote; however, if you do have to replace the van in its entirety as the result of a claim, you may only get the value that you estimate, here.  If you have only just bought the van, you will obviously have the exact value to hand; if you are looking for a cheaper van insurance renewal quote for a van you’ve had for some time and are unsure, you can find out online at, for example, webuyanyvan.com.

After the ‘what hand drive?’ question, which is set to right-hand by default, but you can change it to left if it is an import, there are several simple yes or no buttons, that are all set at ‘no’ unless you change them.  These are all relevant to the discounts that may be applicable by one or more of the van insurance providers with whom we associate.

They ask whether or not you have an alarm fitted, an immobiliser (manufacturers or other), vehicle tracker, is the van a grey or parallel import, has it been modified over and above the original manufacturer’s specification, is it fitted with racking (internal) and, finally, does it include signage?

If you can gather all of this information together before comparing van insurance prices on our online form, it will help you to obtain even quicker, impressive savings.  Thank you.

If you’re a van driver and you’re living in Birmingham, do not be surprised if your van insurance premium rise outstrips other regions in the country when you come to renew this term.

Figures released by the Insurance Fraud Bureau for April-June 2011 show the second city as being the most chosen spot by gangs operating ‘crash for cash‘ scams for the sixth quarter in succesion.

It seems measures put in place by the IFB, who are working with 17 police forces across the UK to break down these gangs, are just not working in several identified hotspots in the UK. This high-volume of organised crime is costing individuals and businesses, according to analytic data, almost £60M; these increased costs will be waiting behind quotes every time organisations search online for van insurance, and this doesn’t take into account the running costs that the collaboration between the insurance regulators and the Met has racked up so far

Those costs will come directly from the public purse, which is why David Cameron has started 2012 on what seems a very personal crusade cracking down on personal injury solicitors and the fraudulent claims rackets which are adding unnecessary pressure to households and businesses, already struggling to keep their fragile bottom lines in the black, without having to endure rise upon rise on their fleet or individual truck and van insurance because of the increased number of payouts.

Other blackspots in the UK for ‘crash for cash’ operations are in the North/North West, with Sheffield retaining its second spot and Manchester likewise unmoved in third.

To date, there have been almost 500 arrests in connection with these crimes, which gives you some idea of how large a scale we’re talking, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. The IFB incorporates sophisticated software ploughing through 128 million recorded insurance records to identify areas where forces need to exert more man-power, the league being that guide.

Glenn Marr, of the IFB, summed up the organisation’s role and its integration at investigative level with the UK police forces by confirming that the software can not only identify the areas where activity is most rife, but also identifies patterns to help link the members of the gangs who are profiting to the detriment of businesses looking for cheap van insurance when they come to renew their fleet cover.

So far, of the 486 arrests, there have been 119 convictions, totalling only 91 years actual custodial sentences. With a crime so lucrative and punishment so lenient, the current laws look unlikely neither to stop this criminality nor the soaring cost of van insurance.

If you’re having trouble getting a cheaper van insurance quote because you live in one of the hotspots, try our top, middle or bottom cheap van insurance comparison facility to see if you can shave anything off your renewal premium.

Ignorance just will not wash with your van insurance if your second hand van is involved in an accident and it’s discovered to be a write off before the incident occurred.

According to data, every third vehicle on the road is being driven without the driver aware of its previous history – scary! If you like the look of a second hand van – for young drivers starting out on their own, buying an older van is probably the only way you are going to get a cheap van insurance quote the way the odds are stacked against you at the minute – how do you ensure that you’re not buying a ringer, a write-off or a mule that’s been used to import no end of illegal traffic in the past?

As much as we like to think the best of everyone, being human, when it comes to parting with your cash for something as important as a commercial vehicle that has not only got to provide your livelihood but keep you safe whilst you’re on the road, you want to know that the person you’re buying the van from is being straight up with you. Regardless of whether he looks as honest as Pope John Paul II or not, the first thing you need to do when you get the van home is run the registration number through an online vehicle checker.

Some insurance companies now even insist on this practise if your taking out a van insurance policy with them for a second hand commercial. For the sake of £20 knowing that you’re not driving around in two halves of different vans is a no brainer for anyone serious about their business and respect for other road users.

Another aspect that many van drivers don’t consider when going into the market for a second hand commercial is whether or not the person selling it is just desperate for cash and still actually has an outstanding finance agreement on it that he has not disclosed to you. The last thing you need is the bailiffs turning up at your premises when you’re with clients to claim the van back, especially after you’ve parted with your cash in good faith.

However, if they do turn up to claim the van, you are not obliged to give it to them, under the ‘good title’ clause of the 1974 Consumer Credit Act.  This section protects an innocent third party who has bought the van in on the proviso that he is buying a van that is legitimately for sale and puts the onus of the seller to settle the outstanding financa, as it is his name on the contract with the finance company.  If you are showing a potential customer around your premises, you still do not want the palpability of explaining the situation.

The other obvious things that can be determined is if the van has been clocked, if it’s the colour that’s registered with the DVLA, if it’s been imported or exported, it’s emission level if you’re thinking of using it to nip in an out of the London Low Emission Zone and its VIN (chassis) number to ensure that the registered model matches the one to which you now hold the keys.

If you’re considering buying second hand instead of new and want to check out how that’s going to impact on your van insurance quote, check out our simple van insurance comparison facility to help you save money in minutes!

In the UK, we take it for granted that we have some of the best van insurance firms in the world at our fingertips, but we hardly ever use them to the best of our – and their online – ability.

Taking the time to build a website that can literally answer everything you need to know about UK van insurance is one thing; however, does an all-singing, all-dancing van insurance website, no matter how cheap you promise to find the customer’s renewal quote, matter a tap if the only mouse the customer has encountered this year was the one trying to nick the bacon sarnie from its home inside the drainage pipe or the only site they’ve visited is covered in rubble, packs of bricks and pallets of readymix?

How much new van insurance business are Internet firms missing out on because their sites try to include everything and customers just get too confused by the amount of information being asked for? People of all generations, but more so those in the latter years of life (where the hidden wealth of the country is) are genuinely scared of the Internet.

If ‘Bill’, whose accumulated a modest amount as a tool maker over the years but still has fifteen years of work left in him, needs his new van insurance and thinks – I know, this time I’ll try t’Internet, how far is he going to go when faced with such required* fields as ‘e-mail address’* and ‘mobie phone’* information?

Great, we understand that firms, especially online ones that do not have the opportunity to build up a face-to-face relationship with their clients, have marketing needs and everyone knows that you grow your business through your existing customer base rather than attract new ones; well, good job on the latter, boys, with this level of intrusive information before ‘Bill’ even gets through to the van insurance quote screen (that’s, of course, assuming that he has both mobile* and e-mail accounts*, otherwise he’s stuffed for using the online van insurance facility), you’ve done your job, there – new custom vanished before they were a real prospect.

The other concern, of course, with asking for this level of information is: who’s it going to be sold to? Okay, your organisation may not be into that (good), but fly-by-nights who are handy with an i-frame and can knock up a comparison website whilst they sleep, build in the right SEO tactics and have their site on top of Google double quick only need be there for a couple of weeks before they have a mailing list worth gold to the right bidder. Ok, the older generation maybe don’t know the under the hood stuff but they do know they are called seven times a day by people trying to sell everything from awnings to solar panels and those people get their details from ‘somewhere’.

Your site may have the best information about van insurance online, have the best scripts and even offer the very cheapest van insurance that this customer could have got hold of, but is all of that information really necessary to be ‘captured’ at this point, killing off a potential sale in the hope of an upsell or renewal? Some sites even have the audacity to say ‘if you find cheaper, ring us and we’ll beat your quote’ – after promising to compare 70 top van insurance providers. Well what’s the point of having the van insurance comparison site in the first place?

All ‘Bill’ wanted was a cheap van insurance renewal quote, or is that too much to ask?  To get a quote in 3 minutes, visit our cheap van insurance comparison facility, without the hassle.

Van drivers – do you want to put £5k back to your bottom line and contribute to saving the planet at the same time? That’s on top of cheap fuel costs and probable savings on your current van insurance policy – talk about a no brainer!

Although the subsidy for buying electric cars has been in place in the UK, Norman Baker confirmed yesterday that the sizeable grant will also be extended to electric vans, too, and that you’ll have until 2015 to take advantage, so don’t worry if you’ve just invested in a new van and its subsequent van insurance; you’ve got plenty of time.

In a statement in Gateshead yesterday, the Transport Minister reflected on the ‘real shift’ being seen in the UK automotive industry, dropping carbon emmissions to achieve targets seet by the EU in timely fashion.

His visit to the Gateshead Skills Academy for Sustainable Manufacturing and Innovation was a real insight for the member of parliament and confirmation that electric power and other sustainable fuel sources are a very real prospect in this government’s term of occupation of number ten, not just a pipe dream.

Take up has been slow for electric power

It was no coincidence that the Minister for Transport held the conference where he did. The performance track upon which Norman Baker was invited to ride around in a Smith-Edison van runs adjacent to the Nissan plant and in a region that now has 300 electric ‘pumps’ ready for when the initiative does catch on as more people sign up to electric driving in the future.

Figures must improve, though, to make the investment in the elecric outlets viable and maintainable. To date, fewer than 1,000 applied for the grant last year; Mr Baker acknowledged this, yet asked the manufacturers to plough on until a boomtime arrives.

So far, almost all of the European car manufacturers have released plans for electric vans, Renault already have the production line ready and working. The French manufacturer has predicted that 10% of all vehicles on UK roads will be electric powered within five years – that’s a bold statement and, if it transpires, fleet and van insurers will have to do some pretty nifty calculations to make their budgets reflect the marketplace, otherwise those not driving electric may see the revenue lost for the cheaper van insurance these models attract (Renault maintain ownership of the battery, making it their responsibility – you just lease it from them, even though the shell is yours) passed back to drivers still running on fossil fuel.

One thing’s for certain, and that’s the fact that the electric market’s future is uncertain. With such a great package from the government yet so few takers, what is it that we’re not seeing here?

If you’re interested in converting to a renewable fuel model and dropping a shoe-size in your carbon footprint, compare van insurance prices here, on cheapvaninsurance.co.uk