Personal injury claims, many arising from ‘crash for cash’ claims, have been cited as one of the many reason for driving up the costs of van insurance.

Although the Office of Fair Trading are looking into the rising costs of van insurance, industry experts predict that costs will rise higher, irrespective of the OFT investigation.

This outcry from the motor manufacturers and auto-insurance sector make it more imperative than ever to make sure you search online for cheap van insurance well in advance of your renewal date.

Even if you’re existing van insurance cover is not yet ready to expire, you still need to build renewal quote figures into your 2012 budget – the last thing you need when you come to cover your fleet is to find that you’ve not put enough capital aside to cover these costs.

The insurance sector have given us some insight as to why we are continually seeing our van insurance premiums inflate, year upon year, and even more dramatically in recent times.

The belief is that, in order to remain competitive and secure a large sector of the commercial vehicle insurance market, insurance companies have gone for volume to drive their profit, which has given us van insurance premiums that have not reflected the true value of the product.

The intention was, and there were a lot of big players in the market putting a ceiling on their van cover quotes, that once the individual companies were satisfied that their target market was satured, the market would rise as one.

However, with comparison sites offering even better value, and commanding a percentage of the policies in referral fees, the van insurance brokers failed to recoup the profit and found themselves having to reduce their mark-up even more if they wanted to be involved in this increasingly-popular way of attracting new business.

During 2010, when creditors were pulling in the reins and offering very little in the way of extra lending, many insurance companies serving the commercial sector were either taken over by larger concerns or disappeared from the market all together.

2011 saw the bubble burst on the back of a horrendous 2010, for the whole UK economy and commercial vehicle sector alike, and prices had to rise way above the rate of inflation, which hadn’t been filtered in for some time as van cover providers looked to remain as cheap as possible in the face of very stiff competition.

The OFT investigation is ongoing, but there have been certain pleas entered by the auto insurance committee that have been well received and justified.

If you’re planning to renew your van insurance, find the cheapest possible deal here, on cheapvaninsurance.co.uk.

If you’re in business and your day-to-day activities involve getting your components from a to b, you need a comprehensive van insurance policy to protect your product, your livelihood and the staff under your employ.

As such, protecting your van is imperative to your ongoing business, so you must choose a product from your commercial vehicle insurance provider sufficient for your exact needs.

The mistake many businesses make is that, when its renewal time, they do not take the opportunity to search for cheap van insurance online, as it is often easier just to take out a repeat policy with your existing broker.

And the details of that policy may no longer suit your needs if your business has changed direction and you have been so busy managing that aspect that you have overlooked the credentials of you commercial vehicle cover.

Does your policy contain accident cover, for instance, if you are now managing a fleet of vans? Liability inevitably will end up on your shoulders for any driver involved in a road traffic accident who represents your company, whether it’s to cover medical expenses or, in the worst instance, funeral expenses and compensation to the bereaved family.

If your driver is at fault, the liability will usually end upon your doorstep as the employer. There may not even be an end to it there. Not only may you be responsible for your driver, but anyone who is involved in the accident that he has caused – it is imperative that you are covered for all of those expenses otherwise your business may be ruined in an instant.

The other side of the coin, of course, is if your van driver is hit by someone who is not insured. At last count almost 4% of the 34 million drivers on UK roads were uninsured, so the odds are not as extreme as you may think.

This aspect of van insurance is not usually covered in your base policy and is classed as an ancillary product; if this is critical to your business, ensure that you request it when you apply online for your next cheap van insurance policy.

And finally, the contents of your van, whether it be your product or the tools you need to carry out your service, will also be something you need to take out as an extra to your base van insurance policy. Without those, your business could be in serious jeopardy.

Van insurance is an important consideration, especially if you don’t get it right. Take the time to analyse the aspect relative to your business and apply on that basis, and nothing less.

Mercedes Benz are retaliating for being beaten in the luxury car market for the first time by BMW in the States – by taking their engine production there in a collaboration with Nissan and Renault which has Daimler manufacturing engines in North America for the first time.

Renault and Nissan have existing bonds that stretch back to the last millennium, when they first started to work together in 1999. Daimler have latched onto this relationship only recently; in April 2010 the three each took a 3% stake in a project which saw them working together on small cars, vans and engines.

Previously, Daimler have shipped their engines into the States in a pre-assembled conditioned; this is the first time they have sought cheaper costs by actually building them in the US.

What the German outfit will get out of this merge of minds and production capacity is the 4-cylinder diesel engine which is bound for a city van, currently under development and will form part of Mercedes‘ next generation of compact vehicles, as the US looks to reluctantly reduce their carbon footprint in line with the rest of the globe’s targets.

In return, Daimler will supply 4 and 6 cylinder engines to Nissan and Infiniti for their diesel automatics. The Infiniti, not so well known over here and in Europe, has made inroads into the US market, predominantly due to its bigger capacity, petrol driven engines.

And this doesn’t look the end of the collaboration, according to announcements made at last year’s auto show in Frankfurt.

Infiniti have recognised the need to reduce their output and are developing their own compact premium car leveraging on Mercedes technology and framework, due to hit the markets in 2014.

The German/French/Japanese team also plan to work together in the stuttering electric vehicle market, concentrating on the batteries and motors to be there when the market eventually takes off, as Renault believes it will in the next five years.

This is extremely good news for van drivers seeking cheap van insurance. With collaborations such as this, components will be standardised across manufacturers. This will make, in theory, spare parts more available when vans break down, not to mention the cost of making these parts in bulk which will push the individual price down further.

With van insurance brokers taking these factors into consideration, it should lead to cheaper van insurance, all around.

When you’re starting out in business, those who are serious about making a go of it want to get everything right from the start.

This is inclusive of getting to and from site, where this is essential for providing your service to that absolute best of your ability. Without protecting the wheels that do that for you, you are in essence jeopardising your livelihood.

The tendency is to overlook this aspect and many start-ups buy a van, sometimes inappropriate for purpose, and take out the cheapest van insurance just to get them on the road.

What they don’t realise at first is that by spending a little extra on the van, one delivering better fuel efficiency, compliant with Euro III emission levels and spending on security such as steering locks and immobilisers can actually help drive down the cost of van insurance, especially for young drivers who are heading out on their own for the first time.

van insurance brokers take your business seriously – so should you

You may be under the impression that a broker is only after your money; of course, they have to make a profit to stay in business but they do reward individuals who put effort into protecting their livelihood, as they are less of a risk than those who approach van insurance and their business with a devil-may-care attitude.

compare van insurance quotes online

Van brokers judge aspects of your application for insurance in different lights; their business strategies mean that some things that you do mean a different risk, depending on who is underwriting them.

Do not just take your first quote; shop around – comparison sites like this one have made it an easy function. You never know, that investment you’ve made protecting your van and your business may even pay for itself!

An incentive in Dorset that has been running for twelve months is about to get a boost with the addition of extra detection systems to help catch drivers who are breaking the law.

The “No excuse” initiative offers all drivers who they pull over and are adjudged to be flouting the law the opportunity to pay the fixed fee of £60 to attend a driving course rather than risk spending a day in court and having three points on their license plus a further fine and higher van insurance premiums in the future.

Given the choice, most drivers opt to pay the fine there and then if they know that they have no chance of protesting their innocence in a further hearing. And it’s not as if it’s a straight forward contribution to the Dorset policeman’s ball, the driver does have the opportunity to refresh their driving skills at a predetermined course for their money.

commercial vehicle drivers welcome the move

Having to go back to your boss, if your job is a truck or van driver, and tell him you’ve racked up more points on your license is not easy. Especially if he’s made it clear that the business is looking to cut costs throughout, as many are in this current economic time of uncertainty, including fleet van insurance renewal which will be affected by poor driver performance.

This opportunity negates all of these possibilities; the boss would rather give you a morning off to take the test and an understanding boss may even pay the £60 for you rather than risk increasing van insurance in the future.

What is a hot-spot not? Not a good spot.

Areas in Dorset prone to accidents have been targeted in the first year of the “No excuse” campaign. Officers have been on the lookout for the usual criminality expressed by drivers who may not be abusing the laws on purpose but nevertheless are risking the safety of others through their actions, such as using mobiles, speeding, driving under the influence of drink and drugs or not wearing seatbelts – all of which will lead to higher van insurance premiums if prosecuted, even losing your license as a mandatory punishment for serious drink driving.

For the second year of the campaign ten of the police vans involved in the monitoring of drivers have been fitted with lasers that will enable crime detection from even greater distances, keeping the Dorset roads safer and improving road safety into the bargain.

If you’ve been caught and not had this opportunity, why not check out cheap van insurance for those who have a not so perfect record here on cheapvaninsurance.co.uk – no excuse.

Despite the doom and gloom surrounding the economy last year, van and truck sales remained steady throughout, growing month on month and, with renewed economic faith later on in the year, returning confidence-boosting figures for UK manufacturing and, with larger-sized van registrations growing year on year in December, better news for van insurance brokers especially.

The figures may be distored slightly by the amount of new vans bought for old to coincide with the regulation changes for driving about London on January the third. As Londoners returned to work from the festivities, their lungs should have been cleaner, nasal senses less clouded as vans that don’t comply with the new Euro III emission regulations find themselves with fines of £100, which can be charged daily if you persist in breaking the law.

Even if that thought was on many van drivers minds, the penchant for upgrading to vehicles equipped with engines that satisfy new regulations with larger capacities only helped sales growth in larger commercial vehicle based on Dec ’10 – Dec ’11 figures and saw a slight demise in registrations of pickup 4x4s and vans up to 2.0 ton in capacity for the same period.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, who now have a permanent seat in Westminster, such has become their auhority and understanding of this sector of the market and its place in the economy, have welcomed the figures. However, their CEO, Paul Everitt has warned that their is no room for back-patting and these figures will prove nothing if the automotive industry does not use them as a springboard for 2012.

Ideally situated now, Paul will use the SMMT’s new recognition to lobby the government this year to make good on promises it has made to implement its strategy for growth to further develop business strength, thus encouraging consumer confidence.

The commercial vehicle industry sector must consolidate its growth

One of the areas that Paul will do well to keep his eye on is the further investigations by the Office of Fair Trading into the rising costs of van insurance. Nothing will rock the industry more than importing thousands of new of the larger vans, which seem to be more popular based on the current figures, than have millions of pounds tied up in showrooms and on forecourts because sole traders simply cannot buy new and afford the not-so cheap van insurance premiums being qutyed for that size vehicle.

The same can be said for larger commercial vehicles. The registration of 2-axle rigid trucks continues to grow markedly, reported as growing beween 30-90% across its various weight classifications for that type of lorry.

The growth is a timely boost and above target, but one has to keep in mind that this year’s targets were set when the economic crisis was at its worst so were set conservatively.

The growth in this area does support the domestic sector in an industry that, overall, represents over 10% of all UK exports. If the government can increase domestic confidence and maintain growth in the areas in these hot sectors in van registrations, coupled with driving down van insurance premiums, 2012 may well turn out to be a bumper year for our sector of UK industry.