Van Drivers Among the Safest on UK Roads

Recent studies carried out by Tesco in the UK has rated van drivers as among the safest drivers on the UK’s roads. These ratings may be somewhat surprising to many due to the ‘White Van man‘ reputations which the majority of van drivers are saddled with.

The study revealed that fewer van insurance claims where made in comparison to other vehicle insurance policy holders. This study also indicated that the ratings would obviously be welcomed by van drivers and earn them more respect from insurance companies. Why am I not really that surprised that the increase in women van drivers has been attributed to helping the notorious ‘bad’ van driving become a thing of the past?

Credit Crunch

Perhaps the credit crunch will help us all to see a decline in reckless driving from van drivers, as companies will simply not be able to afford financially to have vans, their drivers and goods damaged by stupidity and incompetent driving.

Fully comprehensive van insurance may provide courtesy vans to help transport goods and cover the cost of damaged goods, but will it help to re-build reputation after clients have been let down? I somehow doubt it, it may be worth remembering that clients can be very fickle, let them down once and they’ll be looking for someone else within hours! It’s a ‘dog eat dog’ world out there, so making sure you have competent drivers and fully comprehensive van insurance is an absolute must if you or your company are going to be ‘top dog’!

Van Insurance Commercial

Ford have a rather ingenious TV advertising campaign running across our screens at the moment which uses football to show us all the versatility and practicality of using one of their vans rather than a car for all manner of purposes.

The use of these clever advertising tactics will undoubtedly increase their van sales as small and large companies’ attention is caught by the power of advertising. Vans are becoming increasingly popular choices with many people who travel nationally and Internationally in the pursuit of a sport such as climbing, jet skiing or motor cross. A van is the ideal choice to transport people and expensive sports gear simply due to the amount of load capacity and comfort for the driver and passengers. Non- commercial van insurance is available via a range of different routes, with a variety of different insurance policies covering the van, its contents and people.

Comprehensive van insurance is a real must these days, despite having stickers telling would be thieves that tools are not kept on-board overnight, an opportunist will still break in just to check! This practice of theft is ever increasingly due to some folk not removing tools and goods and relying on a sticker as deterrent!

I believe this to be very fool hardy indeed and like most things in life because some can’t be bothered the thieves think no one will! Even if there is nothing inside to steal the rear doors will still need damage repair or replacement. The majority of van insurance does cover this type of insurance claim, however, err on the side of caution and check that your or the company’s van insurance actually does before you become just another statistic on the van contents theft list.

Continental HGV Drivers

There has been a marked increase in accidents involving foreign Heavy Goods Vehicles (HVG) side-swiping cars on motorways in the south of England. The high volumes of HGV lorries hurtling down to the Port of Dover to catch ferries and the Euro Tunnel is continuing to increase at alarming rates. One only has to use these motorways or see ‘Operation Stack‘ on the M20 in progress to see just how many HGVs are on the road each and every day.

Side-swiping is believed to be caused predominately by left hand drive Continental lorries who do not use side mirror extensions to enhance their side view, the drivers simply do not see cars and small vans, they blindly pull into the overtaking lane without realizing until impact that other road users are there. Sadly, I have been involved in such an accident and although not critically injured my car was a ‘right off’.

Fortunately the Continental lorry driver had fully comprehensive HGV insurance from an insurer that had offices in the UK, admitted liability instantaneously, that’s because he thought he’d killed me! I also had countless frustrated witnesses who were delayed on their journeys by some three hours as the motorway came to a grinding halt!

By no means funny for all who got caught up in the delay and to those I give my apologies! Nevertheless, without proper comprehensive HGV insurance lorry drivers maybe unwittingly putting their own livelihoods at risk from personal damage claims or more alarmingly end up facing charges for reckless driving or worse simply by the owners not installing longer side mirrors.

GIT Courier Insurance Cover

Courier Fleet

Do you have GIT (Goods In Transit) insurance cover? If not then you could be making a very costly error. The good news is that many insurers are offering GIT as a complimentary addition to a courier insurance policy.

If like me you believe in the old adage that nothing is complimentary or indeed free, then check out your existing courier insurance cover and you never know you may just be pleasantly surprised by what you find. I hasten to add that GIT does not automatically come free or complimentary with all courier insurance policies, it’s up to you to check and see for yourself. You also need to be aware that in order to get GIT cover you will have to provide details of what is being carried and its value.

There are many different courier insurance options available, some include both UK and European cover and will insure young drivers or give any driver options as well as additional discounts for experienced drivers, although you will have to provide evidence of their experience! Most reputable courier insurance policies also include both employers and public liability insurance with variations in the amount of excess you will have to pay, however, I think this is not only essential for any courier service vehicle but also a small price to pay should one of your couriers be involved in any kind of accident.

Accidental breakdown may also be worth giving serious consideration to particularly if your courier vehicles are not new, many courier insurance brokers and companies will insure cars, vans and motor bikes of any age to give you peace of mind that you drivers and cargos won’t be left stranded.

Careful Driving May Help Reduce Courier Insurance

Gordon Brown

The UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has at last admitted that we’d all like to see fuel prices drop as fast as they rise when the price of oil falls. It must be said that the pump prices are slowly showing a reduction and not before time in my opinion, the cost of a barrel of oil has been falling steadily over recent months and therefore so should the price of fuel at the pumps!

Courier services have been using a number of different tactics such as looking at low emission vehicles and asking their drivers to drive responsibly to reduce the risk of accidents and damage to their vehicles to help reduce both fuel and repair costs.

Careful driving and less insurance claims will also help to reduce the cost of courier insurance to help keep them in business. Courier services which took full advantage of the postal strikes earlier in the year have managed to build on their client base by offering timely and cost effective delivery of all manner of different commercial and consumer goods, this prompt action proved to be so beneficial that clients have remained on their books rather than return to postal services, which can only be a good thing for courier services throughout the UK.

Looking for inexpensive courier insurance cover is simple with the on-line services available, but like most things in life ‘cheap’ is not always the best or right for your courier service, have a look at to see whether your courier insurance includes ‘good in transit’ and offers sufficient insurance for the type of goods you are carrying without huge excesses. Unfortunately many courier companies get caught with inadequate insurance cover simply because they didn’t take time to ask questions and read the small print!

Cost Effective Fleet Insurance

A business which has a fleet vehicles will benefit hugely from having a fleet insurance policy. Typically a fleet consists of four or more vehicles but there are some slight variations on numbers of vehicles depending on which insurers are used.

Vehicles which are insured on an individual basis can work out very expensive for a company. The are many advantages to having fleet insurance, probably the best being the huge reduction in costs and the flexibility of vehicles being able to be driven fully insured by any number of drivers, as long as they all meet the criteria of course! Generally this means that drivers are over a certain age, that all drivers hold a relevant UK driving licence and that you have a reasonable claims record. Many fleet insurances will also offer discount if the number of drivers is reduced, with some giving further discounts if your drivers are experienced.

Another great advantage is that fleet insurance is not just for cars, fleets of vans, motor bikes, HGVs, minibuses and taxis can also be covered under a fleet insurance policy. Like all vehicle insurance there are different insurance options available with policies purely for third party only through to fully comprehensive. There are also insurers who are happy to transfer any no claims discounts earned of vehicles which are not fleet related which is good news for expanding businesses.

For those who have a mixture of vehicles, cars, vans, motor bikes or lorries fleet insurance will cover all of these under the one policy, however, as with any insurance policy the best thing to do is shop around and get the best deal for you and your company’s needs.

Another SatNav Blunder?

Once again making the UK news is the chaos being caused to roads and railways in the South East and Outer London area as yet another Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) manages to hit a railway bridge!

It never fails to amaze that despite all bridges which span the roads in the UK having glaring height stickers that HGV’s either hit them or get stuck underneath! One can only assume that the HGV driver was be guided by his/her SatNav along a road with a low bridge. He or she cannot be local or used to travelling along the road or they would know that there is insufficient height, or am I just being a bit naïve here? Do HGV drivers somehow think their lorry is going to become lower just so that they can squeeze underneath on a particular given day!

Road and rail passengers will face yet another day of disruption to the start their schedules. Let’s just hope that the HGV insurance covers such incidents, the cost of structural repair to the bridge has the possibility of running into thousands of pounds, as specialist engineers will carry out surveys to ensure safe rail travel and the stability of the bridge.

All in all, if it is yet another SatNav problem then surely the HGV drivers really ought to look and take notice of the signs, after all they are put there for a reason, which is of course to prevent incidents such as these occurring, before SatNavs the signs were they only way the drivers would be able to tell if the road was suitable or not! Maybe the drivers are relying far to heavily on their SatNavs rather than intuition and common sense!

Taking the hassle out of finding taxi insurance

Whether you’re a taxi driver or not, you’ll be well aware that these vehicles provide a service which puts them in a certain degree of danger, a number of unusual traffic situations, and a lot of mechanical stress from the sheer amount that they are driven.

For instance, taxi drivers have to put up with traffic conditions whatever time of day, and if they’re running to a schedule then getting through difficult jams is a common occurrence. Unfortunately, getting through jams like that leads to people who are still stuck with them, getting irate, and the taxi driver is left to deal with road rage from other drivers and sometimes hairy situations where a car could overheat, get scratched or even crash.

While it’s somewhat unlikely, if this were to happen then there are a lot of instances to consider such as whether the other driver was insured or not. If they weren’t, then you would benefit greatly from a policy, which includes uninsured loss recovery. If a taxi isn’t covered for that then there is where the problems lie.

Finding the right taxi insurance policy might seem like a nightmare as there is a lot to consider, but asking around, comparing companies, and finding one which specialises in this type of cover will turn the mountain back into a molehill – so there’s nothing to worry about, but getting your customers to where they want to be.

Car Fleet Insurance

Do you have several employees who drive your company vehicles for business purposes such as running errands, delivering items, and more? If your answer is ‘Yes’ then the best option for you is fleet insurance.

Fleet insurance is advisable for the businesses that own five or more company cars. The policy is pretty much the same as with personal car insurance. It has a liability and policies that covers the damage, injury, as well as theft. However, instead of thinking about the different policies for each of your company cars, fleet insurance will only give you one policy that would cover all your vehicles, making it hassle-free – especially for business owners like you.

But before your purchase fleet insurance, make sure that you compare at least three to four insurance companies in order to get the best rate. It is also essential that you check the driving records of the employees using your company vehicles because the damage covered by the fleet insurance will also depend on the capability and driving record of your employee.

This type of insurance also lets the business owners with more than five vehicles have a reduced insurance rate. The can get claims easily and stress-free through the use of the fleet insurance.

Why Purchase Van Insurance?

To get a driving license is no more an issue now, you just have to clear the theory and the practical tests and you can drive – simple! However, there are people who are very aggressive while driving. Well, I think they are very aggressive drivers, and they are thoughtless people to boot.

The ‘white van man‘ is a very specific example of such aggressive drivers. I personally believe that these ‘white van men’ can never learn from their accidents, and I also believe that aggression is in their nature.

They love to see their lives at risk, however, if they are driving your van then you obviously do not want to take the risk with your asset, i myself used to be like this but a few scrapes changed my driving theory! .

So, the only way out of this situation is to buy van insurance that will increase the security and safety of your van. Even if you have not hired a ‘white van man’ to drive your van, still you know there is always a risk while your vehicle is on the road. So, why don’t you free your mind from worry and obtain affordable van insurance? Get comparing quotes, and purchase the most affordable van insurance from insurance brokers, or from online companies.