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We all know that one of the most common car insurance fiddles is the widely publicised Cash for Crash whiplash claim. Simply a car races past you, swerves in front and brakes hard. You brake and still run into the back of the car. As you ran into the car in front you are considered at fault whilst all 5 people in the car at the time claim for whiplash and each receive several thousands of pounds in costs and compensation.

With the introduction of the Civil Liabilities Act (at Bill stage at the moment) compensation for whiplash claims will drop from the current maximum of £1,850 to £425. The new Act will make it illegal to submit a whiplash claim without medical evidence. Together it is felt that this will discourage this scurrilous activity and in turn save the Insurance Industry £1 billion each year.

This is the equivalent to £35 per motorist. The Ministry of Justice says that despite the UK having some of the safest roads in Europe the number of whiplash claims has increased by 50% in the past 10 years. They blame a predatory industry that encourages motorists to submit exaggerated or fraudulent claims driving up insurance premiums for all.

Justice secretary, David Gauke, said, ‘This legislation will ensure that whiplash claims are no longer an easy payday. The Bill will seek to set fixed amounts of compensation for whiplash claims and halt the practice of setting claims without medical evidence.’

Whilst some insurers, including Liverpool Victoria and Aviva have pledged to pass on any savings to motorists I have my doubts. And how will we know? Will they send a note to all clients advising of a drop in their premiums? I doubt it. My concern is that the £425 ceiling is too low when applied to a genuine case. Genuine cases of whiplash should be treated fairly with those affected being suitably recompensed. I know people who have suffered whiplash with the problem remaining forever. It can be very painful and debilitating. £425 hardly seems fair to me simply because a few crooks make false claims. By Graham Hill

Insurance comparison website comparethemarket.com has found that car insurance rates are cheaper in the summer than in the winter. New figures showed that insurance rates were most expensive in December. They explained that over the past 4 years the cost of a typical car insurance premium was 13% higher in December than the monthly average for the rest of the year.

Summer and Spring months were found to have the cheapest policies. The comparison site said that in December, call centres are often less heavily staffed and closed for certain periods, leading to less competition in the market and higher prices overall for drivers.

As a result the comparison sites have suggested that drivers should look to take out policies in the summer. Very Strange! By Graham Hill

Nearly a million bus lane fines are issued a year according to the RAC. Between 2015 and 2017 3.4 million penalty charge notices have been issued by local councils, estimated to be £68 million a year or £200 million over the 3 years – so why has this been happening?

The RAC puts it down to ‘inadequate’ or ‘confusing’ signage causing drivers to accidentally move into a bus lane without realising it. It begs the question, is the signage poor in order to catch unsuspecting motorists? The problem is that whilst the local councils wring their hands the confusion causes traffic delays and jams leading also to increased emissions.

One of the problems, in addition to signage, is inconsistency. Some towns and cities have bus lanes that are reserved as bus lanes 24/7 whilst others allow other drivers to use their bus lanes outside set times. So when motorists travel from town to town, to be on the safe side, they stay out of the bus lane.

You will often see cars pulling over at the end of a bus lane to turn left at a junction or roundabout only to be prevented from doing so by those who have zoomed down the bus lane (as they know the rules) giving the impression they are doing something illegal – when they aren’t. This can lead to traffic delays at junctions and possible road rage. A motorcyclist also pointed out that in some towns he can drive along the bus lanes at any time whereas others he can’t.

If you are concerned about receiving a fine it was interesting to note that Manchester was top of the fine list. 2^nd was Glasgow, followed by Cardiff, Bradford and Nottingham. Strangely, whilst London was left off the list, it actually slotted in below Glasgow – quite a surprise. I won’t bore you with more stats but I would point out that in London the borough with the biggest increase was my good friends – Croydon with a 787% increase. I think if you sneezed in a car in Croydon you’de be done for driving without due care and attention!

So the warning, check the signage carefully and don’t assume that a car whizzing down the bus lane knows the rules and is taking advantage, then follow him, he’s probably just nicked the car and doesn’t give a damn! By Graham Hill

The new emissions tests were supposed to stop any emissions test fiddling and allow employers to make a more educated assessment when deciding on their car policy – even when the car policy only extended to one car. As a result, we all knew that there was a very high probability that the emissions figures, for both CO2 and NOx would both increase which would affect employees benefit in kind tax, vehicle excise duty and NI.

And that is pretty much the sum total of all the information provided by the Government. As over 60% of my cars are supplied on business agreements I thought I would explain where we are at the moment. The current testing procedure is called NEDC and it’s the result of those tests that we use to calculate benefit in kind tax.

Since September 2017 all new cars launched or facelifted have to be tested under the new regime, the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). The other thing we know is that all new cars must be tested under WLTP from 1^st September 2018 (unless the car is on runout) but given an NEDC correlated figure.

This figure was assumed to mean that if your car had emissions of 95g/km of CO2 under NEDC and 120 g/km under WLTP a calculation would be made and we would end up somewhere close to the NEDC reading. Unfortunately, that’s it – all the information we have. So we have yet to learn how the changes will affect benefit in kind tax, vehicle excise duty and National Insurance.

From what I have been reading everything else, other then the two known deadlines, is total guesswork. We haven’t even been told that if the car you are driving is tested and the calculation applied to arrive at a CO2 emissions midpoint, whether you will pay increased benefit in kind tax and NI. The assumption is that if you already have the car you will continue to pay at the old NEDC emissions level. But we don’t know. Apparently, the Treasury is still ‘assessing the impact’.

Another assumption is that given company vehicle lifecycles it is assumed that until 2020, any cars taken by businesses and provided as company cars will attract BIK tax and NI based on the WLTP test results then run through the calculator, known as CO2MPAS, to arrive at the mid-point figure. Assuming also that after 2020 the full WLTP reading will be used. Again, whilst it is the general feeling of the industry, 2020 has not been confirmed as the change date.

Whilst it was originally believed that once the CO2MPAS calculation was applied that the CO2 readings would only increase marginally, it has been found that they have increased by between 10 and 20 percent, hitting company car drivers pretty hard as the readings bump them up the tax bands. This could lead to a number of employees switching from company cars to car allowances which is not good. Experience shows that employees don’t take such good care of their cars and they err towards used cars as opposed to new cars.

I have to say that I was a remainer, not a remoaner. I knew that the BREXIT decision could go either way and I was prepared to accept the decision – whatever the outcome. But if this is an example of how we take back control, we are in for a very rough ride! By Graham Hill

Far too often I’ve heard complaints from consumers who have made a warranty claim only to be told that the manufacturer won’t honour it – insisting that the problem was down to wear and tear or the driver’s driving style. In many cases the decision is wrong but what do you do if the manufacturer has point blank refused to carry out a repair?

Well first off you read the relevant sections in my PCP guide – soon to be available as a free download. The same rules apply whether you took the car on PCP, HP or PCH finance. You don’t own the car so your beef is with the owner of the car – the finance provider.

If you’re not satisfied with the response from the dealer and the manufacturer, make a formal complaint to the finance provider. If you still can’t get the problem sorted you report both the lender and the dealer to Trading Standards. They will contact the dealer and the lender. Still no joy? Move on to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) but only if you have financed the car. If you bought for cash there is nothing they can do. The official alternative is what used to be called Motor Codes, now the Motor Ombudsman.

This isn’t part of FOS. FOS is a government-run independent body very much on the side of consumers. However, the Motor Ombudsman is funded by the garages that sign up to their scheme and you can only complain about a garage that is one of their members. Are you starting to get the same feelings as I’m getting? How certain can you be that you’ll be treated fairly over a part that is very expensive and needs replacing? In my opinion, avoid the Motor Ombudsman.

Next down the list are the trade bodies, a route very rarely suggested but can be very effective. Your issue is actually with the lender so check on the websites to see if the finance provider is a member of the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) and the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), you should make a formal complaint against the funder if he fails to get involved or come up with an acceptable solution.

You can also ask the association for details of their Dispute Resolution Service and make an application to them to help if you are in a stalemate. Every trade body must have a Dispute Resolution Service that they can provide details of. The dealer and manufacturer must carry some responsibility, so make the same complaint to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and if you want to take up the case with them (not the lender) you can, but beware of stepping on the toes of a lender. They will also have a Dispute Resolution Service which you can call upon.

Finally, you can file a legal claim through the small claims court but hopefully, you would have resolved the problem before you get to this stage at no cost other than your time. By Graham Hill

If you are a regular reader of my blog posts you will know how frustrated I can get when the advice that is handed out by so-called experts to drivers with a problem falls short of the full and accurate advice. Just because a fault appears on a car that is out of warranty doesn’t mean that you have no claim against the dealer from whom you bought the car. Or if the car is on finance against the finance provider.

I have explained that any complaints should be raised with Trading Standards and also with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Write a letter of complaint to the manufacturer if you feel that the dealer you are using, his franchisee, isn’t treating you fairly.

But there is another line of fire that I rarely discuss. A route that I am about to embark upon with Mercedes who have rather foolishly decided to take me on! Interesting times. You may know that you can go to conciliation if you have a complaint. There are various types of Conciliation. County courts offer a Mediation Service which is free and can resolve issues before they get to court. But to use it you must already have taken steps to sue the other party and that could end up costing you money.

The purpose of the Mediation Service is to see if there is a quick solution that could avoid court time and expense on the part of all concerned. Another form of conciliation service is one provided via a trade body that the supplier is a member of. And this is the real heavy guns in my opinion. First of all establish which trade bodies are involved. You can check out their website for details.

Most lenders are members of the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) with some also members of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA). So first of all you need to explain that you want to use the conciliation service of the trade association. The finance company you are dealing with must do that. You can then make a formal complaint to their trade association then discuss the complaint with the independent adjudicator.

As the lender stands a chance of being disciplined or even thrown out of their trade association they will want to avoid this, especially if you are in the right. So you may find their approach relax once you have filed your formal complaint. You can then proceed with the conciliation service.

If the car wasn’t financed you can still raise your complaints with the conciliation service run by the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders. You don’t have to accept their findings, you can take up the case with the Financial Ombudsman Service and/or pursue them through the court.

What I do is make a formal complaint against the company to its trade body for bringing the industry into disrepute. This will be followed by an enquiry into what happened and some sort of penalty if they were found to be in breach of the rules. All the time you are breaking them down to the point where they normally roll over.

Too many people are being abused by both lenders and manufacturers when dealing with legitimate complaints. This has got to stop! By Graham Hill

I’ve written about this before but as the Government is putting the squeeze on fleets, private drivers and manufacturers to push the green agenda and at least take the first step along the greener road by moving to hybrids or plug-in hybrids, car warnings were issued by fleet experts that they could be costing more to run than diesel cars.

Employees love the idea of plug-in hybrids as they dramatically drop their benefit in kind tax. And some individual drivers have moved from say their Prius hybrid to a plug-in hybrid and wondered why their fuel usage has gone up when they haven’t been charging their new car from the mains.

First, let me explain the difference. The original hybrids, cars like the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight were petrol driven but with rechargeable batteries, like the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) system on Formula 1 cars. When freewheeling or braking energy would transfer to the batteries giving you a small boost whenever you needed it from traffic lights or pulling away on a roundabout, the times when the engine burns most fuel.

You didn’t need to do anything – just drive and you would achieve better fuel consumption and emit fewer CO2’s than your old petrol or diesel engine. The plugin hybrids go one step further with some manufacturers claiming 140 + miles per gallon. But to achieve this fuel consumption you need to plug in the car in order to charge the batteries as the car is far more reliant on the battery power.

The problem is that many companies, under pressure from over-taxed employees, adopted a plug-in hybrid approach, only to see fuel consumption higher than it was with their diesel fleet. The problem is that if you don’t charge the car and drive it as you would have driven a Prius the 140 MPG that you should be achieving drops to around 25 MPG.

So if you’re thinking of going greener by taking a plugin hybrid (PHEV) make sure you are able to plug in your vehicle, either at work or at home, and if you are supplying company PHEV vehicles to staff, in order to save them BIK tax, make sure that the employees are able to and more important, willing to, plug them in at night and use them as they were intended. By Graham Hill