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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

New laws come into force on the 2^nd March 2015 regarding drug driving. Previously the law has been somewhat loose, mainly because detection has been so hit and miss. Up until now the law has concentrated on illegal drugs such as cannabis and cocaine but the new legislation mentions specifically not only 8 illegal drugs but also 8 prescription drugs.

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.

Currently the police have to show that your driving is impaired through taking drugs but in future they will simply have to show that you have taken drugs if they are of the illegal variety. This will be done at the roadside with up to 3 separate saliva tests. If the tests show that the driver has taken drugs he will be taken to a police station where a blood test will be taken.

Motorists found guilty will receive a ban of at least 12 months as well as a jail term of up to 6 months and a fine of up to £5,000. Their driving licence will show that they have been convicted for drug driving and this will remain on their licence for 11 years. Whilst 8 prescription drugs have been included in this legislation drivers are warned that they should not drive if taking any prescription drugs that could affect their driving.

Drivers on medication should seek the advice of their GP or a pharmacist who can advise. In the case of prescription drugs you won’t be convicted if the levels within the body are within the prescribed dosage level unless you are instructed not to drive when taking the drugs. The eight drugs included in the legislation are: clonazepam, diazepam, flunitrazepam, lorazepam, oxazepam, temazepam, methadone and morphine.

It is recommended that if you are taking prescribed drugs that you carry a copy of your prescription. Whilst the mere taking of illegal drugs then driving is illegal so is taking a drug that you are told you shouldn’t take and drive. Be very careful, you could lose your licence.

If you run a company with employees that drive on company business make sure that you have made them aware of the changes in legislation on the 2^nd March. It is part of your duty of care. An accident caused by drugs whilst the employee is on company business could land both of you in court. By Graham Hill

Related articles

• Could you be a ‘drug-driver’? (express.co.uk)

Following on from my views regarding the testing of driverless cars on public roads I’ve just read a piece on the likely changes to legislation that will be necessary. But before I get to that I have a couple of questions of my own. First of all what will be the eventual cost of one of these driverless cars?

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.

We know that electric cars have been a dismal failure. Very few people have taken them, not least because when you replace a traditional engine with an electric motor and install a big battery it adds, on average, £10,000 to the cost of the car. So with all the technology needed to replace a driver will they cost circa £100,000 or am I missing something? And why?

Why do I want to be in the driver’s seat of a driverless car? I actually quite enjoy driving and although I am about to replace my current car with the same car but the latest model, I’m getting excited. Can’t see me getting excited over a car I won’t be driving, a bit like getting excited over getting in a taxi. Will they reduce congestion? No, if anything more cars will appear on the roads.

Will they make the roads safer? I don’t think so. Communism is a great concept with everyone being treated equally but it can’t work as long as human beings have desires, aspirations and the basic need to be better than the next bloke. And so with driverless cars, they will only make roads safer if every driver has one.

Many pundits have suggested that driverless cars will provide ‘full business mobility’. People will be able to hold meetings in cars and work as they travel from A to B. What a load of tosh! Have they not heard of public transport, airplanes and chauffeurs? Improve public transport, especially trains and make it possible to travel to London from just outside Brighton without having to stand all the way in a carriage that uses an open window as a means of air conditioning.

Moving on to legislation? Does entering into the car’s control system the data needed to calculate the destination and speed make you a ‘driver’ and do you therefore need a licence? As I understand it some cars will be ‘highly automated’ whilst others will be ‘fully automated’, will both require a driving licence or just the highly automated vehicles?

If you need a licence to drive a highly automated vehicle one must assume that you could be convicted if caught using a mobile phone, eating at the wheel and not wearing a seatbelt. God forbid that you are caught drunk as a skunk in a driverless car, will you be convicted of drunk driving? For me the whole idea of driverless cars is a nonsense. But then I would have probably thought that you couldn’t improve on a horse and cart. I’ll get my coat! By Graham Hill

Related articles

• Driverless cars in California rack up four accidents since September (slashgear.com)

I’m feeling the little hairs on the back of my neck starting to bristle! And any regular readers of my newsletter/blog will know that if that happens something or someone has seriously pee’d me off! And I mean seriously pee’d me off (that’s polite speak for pissed me off ).

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.

That kindly bumbling old gent, Vince Cable, has done it again. Just as I though he couldn’t manage to do anything more during the course of this government that I would consider to be totally daft he did it again. He recently approved the testing of driverless cars on public roads in Bristol, Coventry, Milton Keynes and Greenwich.

He is following the USA who have allowed the testing of driverless cars in California, Nevada and Florida where they have roads bigger than the whole of the UK. So the odd stupid looking two seater driverless car poodling along a 10 lane 200 mile stretch of road, without the hint of a curve in it, won’t cause too much disruption.

But we live in a country where a dead badger on the opposite side of the road can lead to a 10 mile tailback as drivers take a closer look at the poor creature’s corpse as they drive by at walking speed. Just imagine the tailback as they drive past a car with no driver. ‘Wow kids look at that car – there isn’t a driver.’

Bang as they hit the car in front up the rear end! And the only driverless car I’ve seen being tested in the UK was in Greenwich toodling around at 2mph. Pedestrians were overtaking it for gawd sake! Now I’m not opposed to new technology and I would be happy for driverless cars to eventually be tested on UK public roads but whilst we need money in so many other areas should we be pumping money into such a project so early into the design stage?

And why do they need to test on our little public roads causing all sorts of problems? Here’s my idea, let the developers create driverless cars then when they are ready to test on public roads ship them over to Nevada and let the Americans stare at them and write their cars off in the process. I’m sure there will be some readers who disagree with me but I don’t care! I’m that kinda person! By Graham Hill

There should be an App for that! How many times have you seen something or done something that is a complete pain in the jacksy thinking – there should be an app for that on my phone. It would make life so much easier. I thought this at the end of last year when the new Dartford Crossing charge system was introduced.

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 agreed that introducing some other form of payment that no longer required the use of payment booths would speed up the flow of traffic, having spent what seemed like days in Dartford crossing tailbacks, but I have to say panic sets in when suddenly you are required to make the trip and know that you need to prepay the fee, pay within a day or be fined.

The same applies to congestion charges, you are happily following your sat nav directions, that incidentally doesn’t give you an option to avoid congestion charge zones, and suddenly you realise that you are ‘in the zone’ and you haven’t paid! Good Lord, time for a heart attack. To make life easier fleets are calling for a new scheme that is controlled by the DVLA as they hold all of the required information on cars and their keepers necessary to centralise a payments system.

They suggest that if drivers enter into the London congestion charge zone, and it’s only a matter of time before other towns and cities introduce this cash cow into their own central areas, or they have a toll to pay, that it is controlled centrally, thereby reducing time and admin on both sides.

Around 100,000 to 120,000 Dartford crossings are made every day with between 15,000 and 18,000 charges remaining unpaid. This costs the Highways Agency about £40,000 per day which equates to £3 million since the scheme started last November. Now whilst it’s not my nature to sob into my cup-a-soup over the losses sustained by the Highways Agency it made me think that there should be an app for that.

Set up all your details including credit card details in your phone and when you need to pay a toll or enter a congestion zone tap the app, tap the charge, eg. London Congestion Zone or Birmingham M6 Toll and Bob’s your cross dressing aunty – job done! I appreciate that you can set up an account for the congestion zone or the crossing but you are not in control.

Could you remember if you crossed the Thames at Dartford on the 15^th January? But with an App it could also send confirmation to your email address. I know I’m bloody brilliant! You would think in this day and age when we get Internet access via our car radio and even our watch, that it wouldn’t be a massive step to create an app that we actually need! By Graham Hill

Related articles

• Drivers to pay £100 for being in wrong lane (thetimes.co.uk)

I am sitting here with a smirk on my face as I am surrounded by women who believe that they are less aggressive drivers than me and men in general! As if?

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.

Well I can announce today, thanks to a survey carried out by telematics technology provider, In-Car Cleverness, that women are faster drivers than men – it’s official, we have the statistics and as we know statistics never lie!

In order to come up with this astounding piece of information they surveyed the driving habits of those driving rental cars. They monitored the hire of over 10,000 rental vehicles and found that female customers were more likely to exceed speed limits than men. In fact the survey showed that women exceeded the speed limit 17.5% more times than men.

Having said that they returned fewer damaged cars than men. In fact they found that 84% of cars returned with scratches, dents and punctures were driven by men. Hmmm. 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.

Have you ever, lost or stood on your car key (I use the expression ‘key’ lightly). My brother in law once had his BMW key eaten by their dog, just before the car was due to be returned at the end of the lease.

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.

He wasn’t too worried until he saw the cost of the replacement. I was staggered to read a report from company, Recover Me, whose founding director, Robin Reames, revealed the cost of replacement keys on the UK’s top 10 selling models. He explained that finding out the cost of a replacement key is nigh on impossible until you need to replace it.

Hence the reason for revealing the costs, which average £206 per car. Of course the reason why the costs are going up and will continue to rise is the amount of information stored within the circuitry of the key. It’s like a mini black box. I remember taking my BMW 7 series in for a service a couple of years ago and the service agent asked for my key, not to drive the car but to see what needed to be done!

In order to make sure you take good care of your car keys here is a list of the top 10 selling cars with the cost of the replacement key alongside:

1. Ford Fiesta                          £220
2. Ford Focus                          £220
3. Vauxhall Corsa                  £135
4. Vauxhall Astra`                £130
5. VW Golf                               £190
6. Nissan Qashqai                £280
7. Fiat 500                              £230
8. BMW 3 Series                    £216
9. VW Polo                             £210
10. BMW 1 Series                    £233

Shocking or what, worth their weight in gold – literally!! By Graham Hill

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