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You know how sometimes you see an idea and think ‘that is completely dopey.’ Then after a while you think, ‘actually that wasn’t such a bad idea’ but then after further mental analysis decide it was pretty dopey after all? Just me then eh? But this is what I thought when I read an article based on the proposal by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) as the driving test reached its 80^th birthday earlier this year.

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They suggested that we should incorporate eco driving into the driving test. Using a scheme similar to that used by Austria of all places. They carry out an initial assessment, as we do, but after a probationary period they carry out a further examination made up of 5 parts. Moving towards dopey. During the probationary period they operate zero tolerance towards driving offences and blood alcohol levels.

Not so dopey, then the new drivers undergo 2 x fifty minute improvement lessons within 2 to 4 months of the first practical test. A day’s further training with a drive psychologist and 2 more 50 minute advanced improvement driving courses complete the test. It all sounds very admirable (and expensive) but with gallons of testosterone flushing around the arteries of our young drivers will all this make the slightest of difference?

Having said that I would like to see all new applicants, as a prequel to their theory test, have to watch the films shown on the speed awareness courses. So summing up I think the idea is pretty dopey and I’m not alone. Graham Hurdle, MD of E-training World pointed out that the driving test has massively evolved since its introduction in 1935 but if we tighten things up too much it will drop the pass rate which would have a substantial effect on the economy as driving keeps business moving (no pun intended).

The driving test can only ever be a snapshot of a driver’s ability at the time he or she takes their test but would the proposals prevent more accidents amongst new drivers? Probably not! If you have a view drop me a note. By Graham Hill

Most of us are enjoying the lowest fuel prices for years. But there are a few people living way out in the sticks that are not only having to pay much higher prices for their petrol and diesel but they have to spend money driving for miles to get to the fuel stations.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

The Government introduced their Rural Fuel Rebate Scheme in 2012 which meant that petrol stations in selected areas could claim up to 5 pence per litre from the Government as a reduction of the fuel duty payable, which in turn enabled them to sell their fuel at a more competitive rate than previous.

In order to be able to do this the Government had to have the scheme approved by the European Commission who would only approve the scheme if applied to islands off the mainland, these included the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, islands on the Clyde and the Isles of Scilly.

The Government now want to extend the scheme to the rural areas of mainland England and Scotland. Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, has said that he is hopeful that the extended scheme will be introduced before the general election in May. The European Commission has already approved the extension of the scheme onto the mainland but the proposal must also be approved by member states through the Council of the European Union.

The extended scheme, if approved, will be selected by postcode taking into account current pump prices, cost of transporting the fuel, areas have to be more than 100 miles from the nearest refinery and population density, this must be no higher than any currently in the scheme. As a result the following will fall within the extended scheme, parts of the Scottish Highlands, Argyll and Bute, Northumberland, Cumbria, Devon and Hawes in North Yorkshire. Fuel retailers within scheme areas must apply to HM Revenue and Customs in order to claim back the duty.

If you find a retailer charging high prices in your rural area you should make sure that they are receiving the rebate and that they are passing it all on. Pop in and have a chat. By Graham Hill

We all know that crooked private car park and land owners got their come upance when the Protection of Freedom Act 2012 was introduced that banned the clamping of cars on private land.

If you work in the finance industry you have probably been involved in debates and discussion over the last 12 months regarding some of the biggest changes to the consumer credit industry since the introduction of Hire Purchase in the 60’s. If you are a lender, broker, dealer or consumer (this includes small businesses that are small partnerships or sole traders) life will never be the same again.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

The Government passed over administration of the Consumer Credit Act from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in April 2014. Since then confusion has reigned. I’m not going to talk about the affect on the lenders and the brokers but you need to understand the potential detrimental affect on you as a customer.

In the past when a dealer, broker, shop or anyone else had to provide advice on finance they had to hold a Consumer Credit Licence. It was a totally meaningless piece of paper, we all knew that, as long as you didn’t have a criminal record or were an undischarged bankrupt you could apply for and be granted a licence. It was simple but actually meaningless.

So when the FCA took over and changed the system from a single licence with a number of categories such as credit broking, debt collection, debt advice etc. we now have a three tier system, named Full Permission, Limited Permission and Appointed Representative. It was all beginning to look good, at last there was a body to police the consumer credit industry that might get rid of a large number of crooks and ensure that new entrants and even those already providing advice were properly qualified.

However, the opposite seems to be happening. In order to apply for permission brokers and dealers will need to spend a lot of money, not only in application costs but ongoing administration and reporting costs. This will result in some smaller used car dealers withdrawing their finance offering because the new regulations are far too complicated for them to understand.

It will also cause some brokers to withdraw for similar reasons so you as a customer will have less choice. It also means that the cost of being regulated will increase sharply so those costs will be reflected in the finance charges. On the other hand brokers who offer commercial finance to limited companies, i.e. non consumers are also being encouraged to apply for Full Permission.

I find this approach by trade bodies and lenders obnoxious. These companies with little or no experience of consumer finance will be able to provide customers any consumer product they wish from personal loans to HP and buy to let mortgages. It’s a disgrace, these brokers should never be given Full Permission but if recent history is anything to go by every applicant will be granted Full Permission with very few rejections.

Sounds like Consumer Credit Licences all over again. If you are currently considering various car finance options make sure that you are talking to someone who is properly qualified. By Graham Hill

Drivers have been complaining for years that the MPG figures provided by car manufacturers are inaccurate and don’t reflect every day driving. Correct, the figures are calculated by applying very strict conditions within a controlled environment to best reflect the conditions, known as Urban, Extra Urban and Combined.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

The fact is that every car is subjected to exactly the same tests so if nothing else the resultant figures provide a fairly accurate way of comparing the results of different models. It can’t be done any other way. If you were to drive the same Ford Fiesta round the same route in the middle of Bath on three separate days I guarantee you will achieve three different results.

Add to that changing weather conditions along with different driving styles and the results become meaningless and can vary massively. So let’s stop whinging on about the manufacturers’ fuel consumption figures and simply use them as a guide as to which cars use more fuel than others. In America the situation is different.

There have been a string of high profile cases involving Kia, Hyundai and Ford after they all admitted leading customers astray over fuel consumption figures. The cases resulted in hefty fines and compensation being paid to car buyers.

But before you start opening Word in order to start your claims process the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) say it is unlikely that any similar claim in the UK would succeed as the EU testing regime does not claim to represent real world driving conditions. Sorry ladies and gentlemen but simply drop the suggested MPG by 15 to 20, that should give you a more accurate figure. By Graham Hill

Conservative MP Sir Greg Knight has put forward a proposal to Transport Minister, John Hayes to turn off traffic lights on certain junctions at non busy times.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

I understand where he is coming from as I’m sure you do having spent what seems like ages stuck at a set of traffic lights with no other traffic about at all waiting for the lights to turn green. Apparently this isn’t as daft an idea as it might initially sound as it is fairly common in Europe. It saves electricity, it also saves fuel as drivers aren’t kept waiting at lights on tickover waiting for the lights to change.

I saw on our local news a few days ago that they were trialling such an idea in Reading town centre in order to keep busses flowing. The traffic lights were causing busses to bunch up so by the time the busses got out of the town passengers would see 2 or 3 busses all turn up together. By turning the traffic lights off at certain times it was found that busses were spread more evenly.

Whilst it might seem like a good idea Hayes has said that there are no immediate plans to switch off the traffic lights. So another good idea bites the dust! By Graham Hill

When people move house they tend to look for certain things in the area into which they are planning to move. Ease of access, closeness to schools with high teaching standards, where the shops are, likelihood of flooding etc. etc. But it is felt that a new credential is starting to surface, as a result of which those crazy girls and boys at Confused.com have carried out a survey in order to help.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

What is this new credential? Obviously it is the greenness of your nearest town or city. What they did was look at every car  registered to an area and calculated the average CO2 emissions figure.

Now I have to say girls and boys this isn’t the most scientific way of arriving at the greenest and dirtiest towns and cities across the land but it is a start and must have nicely filled a few otherwise boring days with something productive and incredibly useful (better than sitting in front of your PC’s playing Candy Crush – just).

In terms of cities, and according to Confused.com, London is the worst of all for CO2 emissions, followed by St Albans (is that a city?) then Brighton & Hove. This is what Gemma Stanbury, head of motor at Confused.com, had to say, ‘With so many Brits relying on their cars for work and other commitments, it’s unrealistic to think that people will be able to do without their cars.

But it’s encouraging to see that many drivers are making an effort to become greener.’ Are they? I have to say Gemma that I don’t have many clients that make their final decision based on the car’s CO2 unless they are looking at the benefit in kind implications which is more of a financial decision rather than a ‘save their local environment’ decision.

In case you are at all interested here are the vitally important stats in the event you are considering a move in the near future:

If I was to sell you my used Vauxhall Astra and it had a badge on the back that suggested that it was a top of the range Elite when in fact it was an entry level Exclusiv, there wouldn’t be much you could do about it unless I had advertised it as a fully spec’d Elite. The same would apply if the car I was selling was a 2010 car but was 2009 model year spec. Exclusiv.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

The fact is that you can inspect the car and see that the car doesn’t have leather seats, electric rear windows or fog lights that were fitted on an Elite as standard when the car was new or the addition of fog lights and sat nav when the car changed from 2009 to 2010. You see exactly what you are getting so the basic rule of Caveat Emptor – buyer beware prevails.

Of course this isn’t the case with a new car that you don’t get to see before you buy it or lease it. With some cars changing model spec at least once if not twice every year you may not receive what you thought you had ordered. Especially as manufacturers will throw a few thousand pounds across the bonnet (that’s dealer speak for bonus) of the outgoing model in order to sell them quickly to make way for the new model coming out.

Whilst this represents great value for money (we currently have deals on top of the range outgoing Focus models) you may not be told that the cars on offer are not the new model cars. Some may be pre-registered whilst others may just be stockpiled so whilst I would be suspicious if the cars are pre-registered, suggesting old model cars, that may not be the case if they are unregistered.

If unregistered you might assume that the car you will receive will be the car advertised on the manufacturer’s web site with at best a different spec. at worst a completely new shape. Manufacturers will also advertise a new model maybe 2 months in advance of launch, again fooling you into thinking that the car you just ordered is the new model. So always check with the supplier that the car you have ordered is the car you want? Don’t simply be tempted by a cheap rate. By Graham Hill

Years ago I was group general manager for a reasonable sized PLC. I was responsible for a large number of departments including IT, general admin, cost and management accounting,  personnel (known as HR these days), health and safety and much more including our fleet department responsible for over 700 vehicles.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

At the time Peugeot had introduced some major new development in the area of diesel cars, in the past diesels were mainly fitted into vans and trucks. They were still a bit noisy, lacked a bit of low end power, especially the non turbo versions – 0-60 in a week and a half and filling up with diesel meant you stank of the stuff until it wore off 5 days later!

But being a Cost and Management Accountant I crunched the figures and decided that company cars should all be diesel, except the main board of directors and me! The staff kicked off, as did their managers and directors, but I was having none of it. The figures didn’t lie so the drivers had diesel imposed upon them, after all when is a company ever run as a democracy – good grief!

Constantly I would hear the argument that I should be driving a diesel and I would use every reason under the sun until it came down to the fact that I simply didn’t want to. Now I was reminded of this situation when I read that the Government have finally agreed to include 150 electric vehicles in their fleet of cars used to ferry ministers around. The £5 million scheme is expected to extend to councils, the police force and the NHS.

Considering the government has been pushing EV’s for 5 years why has it taken so long to lead the way? I could understand if this was in the 70’s and the government was a company but they are a democracy for goodness sake! With this new initiative led by the Government to push more of us into EV’s, will I be changing my car next year for an electric car? The hell I will, only just started driving diesels! Have a word! By Graham Hill

Whilst the Scots finally decided to stick with the rest of the UK we are now left wandering at what cost? Like many things that the Tories have done since coming into power with the Lib Dems the whole thing was poorly thought through and panic took over at the thought of losing our good chums north of the border.

Thinking of a change but unsure as to the best way to finance your car? Then you need a copy of my car finance book, Car Finance – A Simple Guide by Graham Hill. Click on the link below to buy the best car finance book on the market, available as a Kindle Book and Paper Back.

Like most I’m pleased that we haven’t lost Scotland, at least we stand a chance at the next Olympics but what have we had to agree to behind closed doors? There was an expression that was bandied about as the whole of the UK Government joined forces to try to convince the Scots that we were ‘Better together’, if Scotland decided to stay in they would be given ‘tax raising powers and further fiscal devolution.’

I heard that said by all parties and even agreed to by Gordon Brown, not sure what authority he had to agree to that on behalf of the UK government but anyway, he did. The problem is that the expression is so glib it passed most of us by but like free tuition fees in Scotland but not in the rest of the UK what is this likely to mean?

Whilst many believed that they could chuck an extra few pence on fuel and booze (except whiskey of course), and maybe increase tax on some of the petrol companies who are busy emptying the big (or possibly small) pools of oil under the North Sea to enable them to give every Scottish kid an iPhone we were fairly disinterested. But should we have been?

There is already talk of income tax rates that could vary by up to 15% compared to the rest of the UK. OK you may think, that is just one area of tax and not that important to the rest of us. After all road tax, NI and capital allowances were supposedly not on the table but a tax expert and good friend of mine, Alistair Kendrick, pointed out that if the Scottish Parliament starts messing about with tax rates and bandings it could affect the Scots and the amount of benefit in kind (BIK) tax they pay on their company cars.

And this is just one likely change, God knows what else is likely to come out as we fully appreciate the cost of consequential damage following increased devolution. What was Cameron saying – ‘We’re all in it together’ Hmmm interesting times ahead. It won’t be long before we all troop up to Scotland to buy our cars, have them serviced, MOT’d and fill them up with fuel. Watch this space! By Graham Hill