Don’t ignore your local car insurance broker when getting quotes

Wednesday, 17. December 2008

It has been predicted that insurance premiums are set to rise by around 10% next year with further rises expected over the following 2 years. You really need to look carefully at your requirements and ways to protect your no-claims bonus. With all the hype surrounding the comparison sites don’t write off your local broker, I saved £70 per annum by switching to a local broker who provided Read more »

New Leasing Benefit Identified For Consumers & SME’s

Friday, 12. December 2008

There is growing evidence that SME’s and consumers are moving over to leasing as a way to fund their vehicles. The old reasons still exist, having a fixed, known monthly cost, no risk in uncertain resale values and benefitting from hidden substantial bonuses provided by manufacturers to leasing companies but SME’s and consumers  have identified a new benefit. Read more »

Avoid Being Declined For Finance

Wednesday, 10. December 2008

It has been reported this week that many people do not see the distinction between credit crunch and recession. For those that lived through the last recession, as I did, you will know how hard things got before we turned the corner and things started to dramatically improve. And this was all down to a recession, which was pretty much left to run its course by the Government. Whilst it seemed pretty harsh at the time it was a way of streamlining business in the UK and weeding out the good from the bad. Sadly, Read more »

Why Are More Drivers Moving Back To Petrol From Diesel?

Saturday, 6. December 2008

Is diesel still best? Research by GE Capital Solutions has shown a return to petrol power as petrol cars become more efficient and some diesel drivers find out, too late, that you have to take action to stop the particulate filter from clogging which, if not done, can lead to the filter requiring replacing at a not inconsiderable cost. In the meantime a clogged filter can lead to Read more »

Now Is The Time To Take More Care Over Car Finance Options

Friday, 5. December 2008

One of the biggest problems with running a car either privately or through a business is being able to predict the true ‘whole life’ cost in order to select the most appropriate way to fund the car. Few of us actually enjoy playing with figures so we tend to concentrate on the car itself (much more exciting) and relying upon advice from friends rather than doing the calculations to work out the most Read more »

Changes To VAT Will Increase Prices To Consumers

Tuesday, 2. December 2008

Did the measures regarding VAT, announced by the Chancellor of the 24th November, have any affect on drivers or the industry? Not much is the answer. The VAT drop on fuel has been balanced out by increased duty but will the duty come off again when VAT returns to it’s current level? It will also have the affect of putting up prices Read more »

New At Work Parking Levy To Be Trialed

Friday, 28. November 2008

Do you live and work in Nottingham? If you do you will no doubt be delighted that they will soon be introducing an at work parking levy on any companies that have more than 10 parking spaces. The proposed scheme puts them at odds with London, Manchester and Cambridge who favour congestion charges as a much fairer way of charging. According to Read more »

Are You Prepared For Cold Weather?

Wednesday, 26. November 2008

We look set to experience some pretty grim weather over the next few weeks as we move deeper into winter so the Highways Agency has issued warnings to motorists after considering research carried out by them which reveals that 50% of motorists would still continue with a journey after a severe weather warning has been issued and around a third would Read more »

Major Leasing Company Withdraws From Small Companies

Monday, 24. November 2008

The leasing sector is starting to contract as was predicted in my newsletter a few weeks ago. GE Capital Solutions, number 8 in the top 50 leasing companies in the UK says it will no longer deal with fleets of less than 50 vehicles. The company says that it wants to concentrate its efforts in Read more »

Low Rates Mean Tough Credit Scoring

Friday, 21. November 2008

Times are getting tougher, I don’t need to tell you that but if you are considering changing your car you need to consider who is going to supply your finance if you are going to use someone off the internet. One of the latest problems faced by applicants is the tightening of underwriting by lenders. Missing a couple of credit card payments, something that would have been ignored by lenders a year ago, is enough for some lenders running short of money to turn their back on you. And if you think about it Read more »