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When a driver takes out a fully comprehensive insurance policy he is probably aware that when the policy states that he is insured to drive any vehicle provided he has the owner’s permission he is usually only covered for the basic requirements under the Road Traffic Act 1988, ie. cover against third party only. However, few are aware that this cover does not extend to named drivers, they are only insured to drive the car on which they have named driver cover. Check your policy carefully before driving any vehicle. By Graham Hill

Some people believe that when a ticket is issued with incorrect information, such as your name spelt incorrectly or the car registration transposed that you can avoid prosecution. I seem to recall when I was first driving that this was the case but these days it is more difficult to get away with a prosecution as a result of what a court would consider to be a clerical error. If you genuinely believe that you or your Read more »

Warnings have been issued to employees that are considering a cash for car option. The warning from the boss of Pendragon Contracts, Neal Francis was making the point that lenders are more likely to consider a company application for finance either for company vehicles or as part of their salary sacrifice scheme. He pointed out that the market had changed significantly and individual applications are not as Read more »

If you are hiring a car or van over the Christmas period it might be wise to ask if you can see the service book before taking the vehicle. There have been some warnings issued that some small daily rental companies have cut costs by not having their cars serviced on time, especially those that are keeping cars longer. The larger rental companies tend you only keep their cars for 3 – 6 months but the smaller operators are Read more »

One in a hundred company vehicle drivers is within a point of a ban according to recent research. One in five company car drivers is one offence away from a ban with 20% having between 3 and 11 points on their licence, hence the need for regular licence checks to be carried out on drivers’ licences. The research, carried out by CFC Solutions, shows that a driver who is one offence away from a ban is a significant Read more »

Shell has shaken up car manufacturers by insisting that all cars supplied into their 14,000 vehicle fleet must have any fitted Sat Nav’s disabled whilst the car is in motion in the same way that DVD players, fitted into the dashboard of some cars, are disabled when the car is in motion.  Audible instructions would still be activated. Shell is well known for placing health and safety high on its corporate agenda and Read more »

Companies and consumers are experiencing the long term results of choosing lessors who set out to capture the gullible by offering low contract hire and PCP rates 2 and 3 years ago. As used car prices continue to drop after a period of sustained increase throughout 2009 lessors who cut their margins finely look to recover losses by overcharging clients for refurbishment work at the end of the contracts with Read more »

The old question of which car to choose has risen its head again as diesel has now been roughly on par with the cost of petrol for months now compared to a year ago when the difference was 13pence per litre. Whether petrol has increased to meet the cost of diesel or vice versa we’re not sure but with better fuel consumption one would assume that diesel would be more popular, however, petrol engines have been vastly Read more »

I recently warned about the dangers of not having your car serviced on time from the point of view of safety. We have now had further warnings from manufacturers and leasing companies about the importance of having your car serviced on time. The manufacturers are referring to the potential loss of warranty cover if the car is not serviced ‘as per manufacturers’ recommendations’. The chances of an engine Read more »

As all of my readers know I treat manufacturers, dealers and lenders with the greatest of respect and don’t go out of my way to make them look daft. I don’t need to as they normally manage that quite adequately themselves without my help. But then I read an item about BMW who are now entering the short term rental market because their fleet sales are down. Now for a prestige manufacturer to enter the short

 term rental  market it smacks of desperation as they have to give away around 30% or more discount and bonus in the cars. Whilst they are off doing that Mercedes are wiping the floor with them with C Class sales via dealerships in association with brokers who are offered special terms. It wouldn’t take much research to identify this potential opportunity. In the meantime BMW are offering cars to an accident management company who offer like with like cars to those whose cars are in being repaired following an accident. BMW sales director Sean Green has pointed out that ‘It is a conquest opportunity for us’, ‘This is an area we hadn’t looked at in the past and are now putting our toe in the water.’ Now I have my daft moments but one would assume that if your car is being repaired the person using the BMW, whilst it is being repaired, will not be placing an order as soon as it arrives out of a body repair shop. In addition the cars supplied on a like for like basis will mean that many drivers already drive a BMW. In the meantime, my brother in law who wanted to replace his BMW with another was looking at a £100 per month increase, so took an alternative car and others that want to drive a BMW are now driving Mercedes as a result of them passing on bonuses through leasing to drivers who are looking for a car NOW! That’s conquest business, not waiting for someone who drove a BMW whilst his car was being repaired to decide on a BMW for his next car in a couple of years. Is it me? By Graham Hill