VAN INSURANCE NEWS ROUNDUP: 7 DAYS ENDING 27 FEB 2015:

If you think you’re safe on the streets surrounded by your fellow white van men, think again – the cops are using vans and HGVs to spy on motorists.

Think it sounds like something out of a poorly written spy novel? Think again – police are outfitting ‘spy trucks’ in the form of heavy goods vehicles and vans in order to keep an eye out for mobile phone offences like texting or making calls. Being caught red-handed can lead to heavy fines – and in some cases, a nasty surprise when you go to renew your commercial van insurance at the end of the year.

That’s right, you heard it here first: car insurance and van insurance providers have always been keen to charge you as much as they possibly could and will use any excuse to do it, but in some instances an insurer may decide you’re just too much of a risk. This could be the fate of any motorists nicked by one of these undercover lorries; with individuals who text and drive being bloody menaces on the road because they’re so distracted, more and more insurers are flatly refusing to insure any of these lunatics at all, let alone charge them miserably high premium prices.

On the one hand I’m all for punishing idiotic drivers who think they’re special and that the laws don’t apply to them when it comes to careless driving. I can’t even imagine how many lives might be saved by stopping these bastards in their tracks. At the same time it does seem a little overreaching to use vans and lorries as high vantage points to spot anyone thumbing through their mobile phones whilst sitting in traffic.

Honestly though, if it makes the roads safer I can’t really argue with it. All I can do is offer the warning to anyone out there who thinks they can get away with it. Turns out you won’t be able to, so don’t even try. For pity’s sake, if you need to send a text that badly pull over on the side of the roadway and let the rest of us get to work without risking death.

VAN INSURANCE NEWS ROUNDUP: 7 DAYS ENDING 20 FEB 2015:

The Association of British Insurers says that the Government simply isn’t doing enough to bring down the costs of car insurance and van insurance for Brits.

Britons have had it up to here with high insurance premiums, the ABI said recently, and it has pointed the finger squarely at the Government for neglecting to move forward on reforms that would have aided the industry in bringing down the cost of insurance for everyone. When it comes to issues like unresolved reforms on the small claims track limit and the driving licensing regime, ABI director of general insurance policy James Dalton said that more has to be done to strip away unnecessary costs that are limiting the market. Doing so will help bring down insurance premiums, especially for younger drivers, Dalton added.

Premiums for both personal car insurance and commercial van insurance would plummet if the Government would increase the small claims track limit, the ABI says. Meanwhile a lack of the Government moving forward on changing testing and training for young drivers is making the roads more dangerous than they have to be, jeopardising the lives of younger motorists, and keeping their costs astronomically high, Dalton also said. A graduated driving licence regime would likely go a long way to resolve such issues, the ABI director said.

While the reforms to how younger drivers are taught to act behind the wheel is likely a help – especially if this ends up dropping the costs of their insurance as a result – I’m not quite as convinced about the small claims track limit. I’m sure it will help insurers keep their costs down, as more car insurance claims will go through the small claims system instead of being dealt with by high-powered and expensive solicitors, I also have a sneaking suspicion that this could deny access to justice for those who need it most – those injured in car accidents. Just how high the cap would be raised is one of those things that could make or break such an initiative, if you ask me.

I suppose we’ll see if the Government responds to the ABI’s criticism. I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you, though.

VAN INSURANCE NEWS ROUNDUP: 7 DAYS ENDING 16 JAN 2015:

Well if this just doesn’t prove my point that you’re damned no matter what you do: new research says that when petrol prices drop, insurance premiums rocket.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, you heard it here first: you officially can’t win. If you’re finally relieved to see you’re not suffering any more pain at the pump due to petrol prices dropping like a stone, you can look forward to your car insurance or van insurance rising to compensate for the sudden extra cash you had. Imagine how bad fleet owners feel after having to pay even more for their commercial van insurance cover, after finally breathing a sigh of relief that their fleet of commercial vehicles won’t be burning a hole in their pocket at the petrol pump!

So how does it work? Well it’s ridiculously simple, actually. As petrol prices come down, insurers figure that this means motorists will have more cash to devote to filling their tanks. This works out to drivers feeling like they can motor about more than they do when they’re suffering from high petrol prices, so insurers decide that the roads will inherently be more dangerous because everyone’s out and enjoying a nice day or two just driving about without having to worry about taking out a mortgage to fill their tank at the end of the week.

It makes sense statistically but it’s truly frustrating for drivers, don’t you think? Also, it’s not like rates go up that much during times of cheap petrol – research says that over the last three months as petrol prices dropped insurance costs went up by a paltry 2 per cent – but it’s the principle of the thing that rattles my cage. Can’t we just enjoy the fact that we’re not being squeezed at the pump without our insurance companies trying to squeeze every last penny out of us?

Do you know what a 2 per cent rise equates to on average. £12 a year. That’s not much individually but taken altogether with millions of motorists that adds up quickly. Does the insurance industry really need that much extra cash? What are they doing with it all anyway besides trying their best not to pay out on fake whiplash claims?

VAN INSURANCE NEWS ROUNDUP: 7 DAYS ENDING 9 JAN 2015:

Unbelievable: new research from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says that the number of new vehicle registrations hit a 10-year high last year.

So this is some brilliant news for carmakers and car insurance providers here in the UK, with some 2.476 million cars sold in the country over the course of the last 12 months. This is the highest figure since 2004, and it’s also a 9.3 per cent increase over 2013 figures as well.

Yes, well done car buyers, good for you! Guess what, though? With those 2.475 million new cars getting sold in the UK this year there were 2.476 million new insurance policies taken out as well. That’s a pretty big bump, and it could lead to either good news or bad news for the car and van insurance marketplace.

So here’s the first scenario: insurers were so chuffed by having the influx of new policies – more than 9 per cent more than last year, after all – that the extra revenue collected from premium payments has filled their coffers. The result: cheaper insurance for everyone in the UK, huzzah!

Doesn’t sound likely to you? Yes, me neither. It’s far more likely that these insurers will see this as the beginning of a trend where there will be increased demand for their services going forward. And you know as well as I do when demand goes up while supply stays the same: prices go shooting into the stratosphere. In other words, all these bastards buying Ford Fiestas and Vauxhall Corsas are effectively driving up the prices for everyone else, including personal and commercial van insurance customers, simply because there’s just so many more of them from last year.

In other words, hold on to your wallets, blokes – I’m reasonably sure that when you renew your policy this year you’re going to see that prices have gone up across the board. I mean there was already some evidence of this happening as of a few months ago, but now this absolutely seals the deal – or at least I think it does, anyway. But then what do I know?

VAN INSURANCE NEWS ROUNDUP: 7 DAYS ENDING 2 JAN 2015:

Think dodging car insurance or van insurance is a low-profile crime? Think again – police forces around the UK are dealing with it in a public, humiliating way.

Sooner or later you’re going to run into some genius who thinks they can get away with not having their car or van insured. It’s a victimless crime, they might say, or that it’s such a private matter that no one will know. Well, if you’re thinking of following in their footsteps with your own car or commercial van insurance cover, think again – the police will find you, seize your vehicle, and shame you by putting it on display for all the world to see.

Or at least that’s what’s happening in Cheshire. The police in the town of Widnes have kicked off a campaign to raise awareness about what happens if you don’t pay your insurance premiums, and it involves putting seized vehicles on display for the world to see right outside Widnes Police Station.

For what it’s worth, I hope a programme like this spreads not just across Cheshire but the entirety of the UK. A nice, high profile reminder of how you can get your vehicle taken away from you if you think you’re above the law? It’s brilliant, and I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’ll relish licking the salty tears off the cheeks of all those numptys who think they were getting one over on all of us only to have their precious cars and vans forcibly taken from them.

Honestly now, you can’t say that you don’t know what happens to you if you wander off without bothering to pay for proper insurance on your vehicle. It’s bloody mandatory, for pity’s sake – and not only that, police have specialised equipment now to determine if you’re motoring about without proper cover now. There are databases that are linked with the insurance industry that the police have access to without even having to step out of their own vehicles. In other words, you will be found out and if you keep up with it you will end up getting your own vehicle seized. On top of that, you’ll have some hefty fines to pay – and now everyone will know what a skiving bastard you are.

VAN INSURANCE NEWS ROUNDUP: 7 DAYS ENDING 12DEC 2014:

Brits tired of watching their car insurance and van insurance premiums increase thanks to fraud are calling for in-car CCTV systems to keep an eye on things.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to see insurance rates keep creeping upwards. Whether it’s just to keep your Vauxhall Astra on the road of you’ve got a fleet of Ford Transit vans that need commercial van insurance, the cost of annual cover is one of the biggest sticking point for personal and business insurance customers everywhere.

When it comes to car insurance fraud, scammers have been driving up insurance costs for a while thanks to their making bogus claims left and right, but new research says that if it means stopping fraudsters right in their tracks and keeping premium costs down, 71 per cent of British motorists would be chuffed to bits to have a CCTV camera fixed to their dash.

Now, truth be told that’s an enormous number of Brits willing to turn themselves into little spies for the insurance industry. I know it sounds a bit cynical but isn’t that exactly what’s going on here? You’re willing to trade cheap insurance rates in exchange for acting like the eyes and ears of your insurer, making sure that they don’t end up getting victimised by scammers and fraudsters in the process. I suppose it sounds like a good quid-pro-quo, but there must be some people that are a bit concerned about the constant surveillance we’re all under in today’s day and age – or is it just me?

Yes, yes, I know the old chestnuts – you don’t have any expectation of privacy if you’re out in public, and that you don’t have anything to worry about if you have nothing to hide. Still, it just sticks in my craw about how much surveillance there actually is going on everywhere, even if it does come at a bonus of cheaper insurance rates. It still seems more than a little invasive to me. It just smacks of George Orwell’s dystopian novel a bit too much, with the idea that Big Brother is watching over you to record every little action you undertake that it might not approve of.

Then again, maybe it’s just that I don’t want people to see me scratching my arse in public. That could be it as well, after all.

VAN INSURANCE NEWS ROUNDUP: 7 DAYS ENDING 14 NOV 2014:

With the new revelation that police can seize telematics records car insurance and van insurance companies, drivers are abandoning the black box in droves.

It’s just one more example of this whole Big Brother mentality that’s been gripping the UK for decades now, if you ask me: news broke this week how at least three separate insurance providers in the UK have made black box records available to the police after a court order. In other words, insurers can and will toss you to the wolves if the police need some information on your driving patterns for whatever reason – and anyone that uses telematics insurance is more or less just asking for the authorities to be able to track your every bloody move.

Now, I know what you’re going to say: if you’re not up to no good, what do you have to hide? Well bollocks to that – my private life is private, and I don’t need anyone knowing what I’m doing and where I’m going if I don’t want them to. Believe it or not but being in charge of who knows where you’ve been and what you’ve done isn’t a privilege, it’s a bloody right; I don’t want anyone knowing what I’m doing unless I’m comfortable with it.

Meanwhile, most insurers have finally admitted that telematics customers are likely to end up getting ugly surprises in the post when it comes to renewal time, thanks to the very detailed records these little black boxes keep track of. Every time you go over the speed limit – even by just a few mph – gets recorded, and if you do that consistently enough your insurer will raise your rates because you’re an “unsafe” driver. Insurers say some ten million motorists routinely break the 30mph speed limit in fact, and while I’m not advocating that you travel 50mph in a 30mph zone, even if you’re cruising by at a still relatively safe 35mph you’re still technically breaking the law – and guess who has a big fat premium payment they would like you to pay for your sins?

Honestly though, who thought telematics was a good idea? I can understand that it has a role in commercial fleets; it’s easy to keep your commercial van insurance down if you tell your drivers that they’ll get binned if they’re caught driving like pillocks I suppose, but what’s the benefit to everyone else, eh?

VAN INSURANCE NEWS ROUNDUP: 7 DAYS ENDING 26 SEPT 2014:

Criminals are increasing their activity against van owners, especially when it comes to fraudulent van insurance claims – but that’s not all they’re up to.

The Freight Transport Association has put out the warning for the white van man to be on the lookout for commercial van insurance scammers. Criminals are apparently targeting van drivers in crash for cash fraud, and there’s evidence to back this up – official figures say that this type of car insurance fraud has gone up by 50 per cent over the last 12 months.

These criminals target van drivers in particular because they’re thought of as ‘easy prey,’ the FTA says. The trade industry body said the best way to combat against these bastards is to get your fleet fitted with dashboard cameras so these criminals can be caught in the act, and it sounds like a good idea for me – it’s hard to claim injury against an insurer when there’s video evidence of you slamming on your brakes to purposefully cause a rear-end shunt with the van behind you!

Meanwhile, not every criminal out there is a devious mastermind. In fact, some are absolutely thick. If you haven’t heard this next story yet, you’re going to be flummoxed: apparently a teenager nicked someone’s Transit van and went for a joyride on the M11.

Not entirely newsworthy on the face of it, is it? Well hold on to your knickers: this little bastard went the wrong way down the motorway, and not just for a few hundred feet, either – he went 40 bloody miles before he was finally caught by the authorities.

Yes, you read that right: 40 miles. This fine specimen of humanity, a 19 year old who’s been working as a labourer since the age of 13 when he left school, didn’t even have a proper driving license. It’s more than obvious that he wasn’t insured either, of course, but the good news is this pillock is now behind bars for the next 15 months.

Just goes to show you, boys and girls: stay in school. And don’t do drugs, either. Well that last bit is speculation on my part, but you know this fine upstanding citizen wasn’t in his right mind at the time – would it surprise anyone to discover he was a bit out of his mind on pharmaceuticals as well?