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The following is just one of a series of emails being sent to drivers by scammers in order to defraud them.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has seen a six-fold increase in scam reports. Between July and September 2020, the DVLA received 603 per cent more reports of fraudulent emails, texts and phone calls than it did in the same period last year.

There were 3,807 reports of email scams alone – up 531 per cent from the 603 reported in the three months to September 2019. Reports of fraudulent texts, though, decreased from a 653 between July and September 2019 to 510 in the same period this year.

These fraudulent messages can ask drivers to verify their driving licence details, offer vehicle tax refunds, or highlight a failed vehicle tax payment and ask for bank details.

The DVLA has now released images of some of the most commonly reported fraudulent emails, allowing drivers to familiarise themselves with them and avoid them.

How to protect yourself against the scammers

Drivers are reminded that the only place they can access official information on the DVLA and its services is the GOV.UK website. The DVLA never asks for bank details over email and never sends text messages about vehicle tax refunds.

The DVLA also tells motorists to never share driving licence images and vehicle documents online, never share bank details or personal data online, avoid websites offering to connect to DVLA’s contact centre and only use GOV.UK when looking for DVLA contact details.

Suspicious emails and texts should be reported to the National Cyber Security Centre. You can also forward a questionable text message to your mobile network provider on 7726. Furthermore, anyone who thinks they may have been a victim of fraud should immediately contact the police via Action Fraud.

Phil Morgan, head of fraud policy investigation at the DVLA, said: “These new figures demonstrate that scammers are becoming more persistent in their efforts to target motorists.

“These more recent scams may at first seem legitimate, however they are designed to trick motorists into providing their personal details. We never ask for bank or credit card details via text message or email, so if you receive something like this, it’s a scam.”  By Graham Hill thanks to AutoExpress

Britishvolt’s new UK battery gigaplant will start production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries from 2023 and will scale to 300,000 units a year.

Global construction specialist ISG has been appointed to lead the build of the £2.6 billion project located at Blyth, Northumberland.

Construction will start in the second half of this year (2021) and once the plant is up and running it will produce lithium-ion batteries for the automotive and renewable energy industries at the end of 2023.

Construction of further phases will continue until the end of 2027.

The Blyth gigaplant is located 20 miles north of Nissan’s Sunderland factory, which makes the Leaf EV.

Orral Nadjari, Britishvolt chief executive, said: “We’re delighted to have engaged ISG as the construction partner for our Blyth gigaplant.

“Its long expertise of delivering global projects will be crucial to meeting our exacting standards and tight timeframe.”

ISG built Jaguar Land Rover’s production facility in Slovakia and it is also currently working on two flagship schemes in London: University College’s £280 million neuroscience hub and the Oak Cancer Centre at the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Paul Cossell, ISG chief executive, said: “This landmark project to build the UK’s first gigaplant is one of the most visible signs that we are confidently stepping up to meet the challenge of new zero emissions by 2050 and closely aligned with the government’s key commitment to cease petrol and diesel car manufacturing by 2030.

“The construction phase alone will directly support thousands of jobs in the North East and create a wealth of training and upskilling opportunities for local communities.”

The gigaplant is being designed by Italian design company Pininfarina.

It will be built on a 95-hectare site, formerly the site of the Blyth Power Station.

The plant will exclusively use renewable energy, including the potential to use hydro-electric power generated in Norway and transmitted 447 miles under the North Sea via the world’s longest inter-connector from the North Sea Link project.  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

In almost half (47%) of thefts from vehicles in England and Wales, new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest that the vehicles were left unlocked. How stupid is that?

Analysis from insurer Aviva also shows that more than one in five drivers (23%) don’t always lock their vehicles and, in cases where a vehicle was taken, 14% were left unlocked.

Broken windows (19%) and forced doors (13%) were the next most common points of access after doors were left unlocked.

Aviva is warning drivers to take extra care when leaving their vehicles during the darker winter months.

The data shows that four out of five vehicle-related thefts in England and Wales happen during the hours of darkness.

In tandem with these figures, Aviva data reveals motor theft claims in 2019 were higher during October to December when daylight hours were shorter.

Compared to the monthly average for 2019, vehicle-related theft claims were 10% higher during these months, and 29% higher than in June 2019, when nights are shortest, it said.

Sarah Applegate, risk and governance lead at Aviva UKGI, says there are “simple steps” people can take to reduce their risk.

“Nearly half of vehicle-related thefts occur when people haven’t locked their vehicles, and an Aviva study finds almost a quarter of motorists don’t always do so,” she said.

“The same research suggests even when people have items which could protect their vehicles, they don’t always use them.”

Only around a third (34%) of drivers with garages store their vehicles in them all the time – and almost the same (33%) never put their vehicles in their garage.

Applegate continued: “Simply locking vehicles and not leaving items on show inside reduces the risk, while items like steering locks, parking posts and garages put physical barriers in the way of a possible theft.

“Taking a few extra minutes to lock up and secure a vehicle can make a big difference in the eyes of a thief.”

More than a third of businesses have had a van stolen within the last 12 months, a recent study by Logistics UK revealed.

The company’s Van Security Report, collated data from police forces across the UK and sought real-life examples and insights from van users through a Van Security survey.

Aviva has the following advice to vehicle owners to reduce the risk of vehicle-related thefts:

• Always lock the door. No matter where you park, even if you need to leave your vehicle unattended for just a minute. Make sure to close the windows and sunroof if you have one.
• Keep your vehicle keys or fobs in a secure place and ensure they’re out of sight and away from external doors and windows where they’re more likely to get stolen by thieves. It’s also a good idea to keep digital key fobs inside a security pouch to prevent them being scanned, thus enabling thieves to open and steal your vehicle.
• Don’t leave anything in your vehicle. Anything worth stealing makes your vehicle more attractive to thieves. Keep your car as ‘clean’ as possible and try not to leave anything inside, especially valuables. If you must store something in your vehicle for a short length of time, make sure it’s out of sight.
• Consider additional security. Any extra security features will further reduce the risk of theft from the vehicle or/and of the vehicle itself. Consider installing steering wheel locks, a tracking system or a car alarm if your car doesn’t have a factory-fitted model, especially if you park on the street.
• Park on a driveway or in a garage if possible. This will reduce the risk of both vehicle thefts and break-ins. You may also consider installing a retractable parking post on your driveway, to block a potential ‘escape route’. If you can’t park on a drive, try to park in a busy, well-lit area. 

By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

The Government is being urged to work with the fleet sector to ensure any changes to motoring taxation are carried out in a timely, effective and proportionate way.

Reports suggested that the Government was considering reviving road pricing plans to counter lost tax revenues from the increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).

The fleet sector has already shown it is receptive to road pricing as a replacement to other road and fuel duties. Fleet News has been calling for the Government to launch a feasibility study since its Fleet Industry Manifesto report in 2015.

The National Infrastructure Strategy, launched to coincide with the Spending Review, emphasised the need for motoring tax revenues to ‘keep pace’ with the uptake of EVs. It did not, however, mention road pricing as a potential alternative to the current regime.

Gerry Keaney, chief executive of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) says any changes need to be fair to the fleet industry.

He recognises that the Government’s future motoring tax strategy must strike a “fine balance” in maintaining vital revenues and encouraging people into newer and cleaner vehicles.

But he stressed: “The Government must avoid placing a crushing tax burden on businesses and individuals that are unable to upgrade their cars, vans or trucks and are already struggling to cope with the economic implications of Covid-19 pandemic and EU exit.” 

The Government has already spent £280 billion to help support the economy through the pandemic and will spend a further £55bn next year to support the recovery.

“We will very soon need a system that can levy tax on both conventionally fuelled and battery electric vehicles fairly,” Nicholas Lyes, RAC

In total, taxes on UK motoring, including vehicle excise duty (VED), fuel duties and VAT, raise around £40bn per year or 7% of total revenue to the Exchequer. Of this, benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax payments, covering the provision of company cars, raise close to £1.8bn.

Darren Handley, head of infrastructure grants at the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), told attendees at Virtual Fleet and Mobility Live that, while the question of future motoring taxation is one for the Treasury, it should not necessarily follow that lost fossil fuel revenues will be recouped from EV drivers.

He said: “If you look at a parallel with something like health and smoking, any reduction in tax (take) from (a reducing number of) smokers isn’t regained by taxing somebody who is healthy.”

Covid-19 impact on tax revenues

In Budget 2020, the Treasury outlined expected tax receipts from fuel duty each year up to 2024/25. It expected to collect £27.5bn this tax year, a £200m decline on £27.7bn in 2019/20. But, then it was predicted to increase to £28.1bn the following year (2021/22), before reaching £30.5bn in 2022/23, £31.2bn in 2023/24 and £31.7bn in 2024/25.

VED receipts are expected to fall by £100 million to £7bn in 2021/22, before increasing by £200m each year for the next three years, reaching £7.6bn in 2024/25.

Revenues, however, have already been impacted by Covid-19, with lockdown restrictions reducing fuel duty by £2.4bn in April and May compared with the same time last year.

Nicholas Lyes, RAC head of roads policy, said: “While not paying car tax is clearly an incentive to go fully electric at the moment, we will very soon need a system that can levy tax on both conventionally fuelled and battery electric vehicles fairly.

“If this isn’t addressed, we risk finding ourselves in a situation where petrol and diesel drivers continue to pay all the tax for using the roads which is unsustainable.”

Four-in-10 drivers believe that some form of ‘pay-per mile’ system would be fairer than the current system of fuel duty, says the RAC, while half (49%) agree that the more someone drives, the more they should pay in tax.

Insurance and Mobility Solutions (IMS), which is part of Trak Global Group, has successfully piloted road pricing projects in several US states.

Dr Ben Miners, chief innovation officer for IMS, explained: “Road user charging (RUC) and electronic toll collection (ETC) are both important solutions to fairly generate revenue from road users.”

ETC focuses on specific concessions or fixed points with a roadside/infrastructure approach, whereas RUC focuses on the broader transportation network with an infrastructure-free, wireless infrastructure, process.

Miners said: “The additional flexibility of RUC enables new virtual tolls to be introduced and transform any road segment or fixed asset into a ‘tolled’ road, which eliminates lengthy construction times and shortens time-to-market.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Cash-takers are returning to company car schemes in “noticeable” numbers thanks to the attractiveness of electric vehicles (EVs), reports Arval UK.

The Government introduced a new zero percentage benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax rate for pure EVs from April this year, and the leasing company says that plug-in company cars are now really gaining traction in the market.

Shaun Sadlier, head of consulting at Arval UK, explained: “Many cash takers liked their company car but didn’t like paying what they perceived as high benefit-in-kind and that was why they opted-out.

“Now, with low benefit-in-kind in place for EVs for at least five years, many more are now returning to company car schemes.”

Arval predicted that this would start to happen some time ago, but Sadlier said: “It’s now becoming noticeable In several of the major fleets with which we work.

“It’s a welcome development that will feed demand for zero-emission vehicles and lead to wider, faster adoption.”

New BIK rates are driving the choice in zero emission vehicles, but Arval believes that there are also a range of other factors in play.

“If you talk to fleet managers and their drivers, there’s a lot of enthusiasm around the vehicles themselves,” continued Sadlier. “We are beyond the early adopter phase and heading into mass-acceptance.

“All it takes is a couple of EVs on a fleet to disprove the reservations some people hold about these vehicles.

“They can see that misgivings such as range anxiety are actually of limited importance for the vast number of journeys that are made.”

Arval UK recently updated its own company car scheme to increase adoption of EVs and the move paid off with almost two thirds of its company car drivers making the switch so far.

Sadlier said: “All of our consultants and many of our sales team have switched to EVs.

“They act as ambassadors for the technology, developing personal experience to share with customers, friends and family – as more people drive EVs, consumer confidence will increase.

“Coupled with the growing number of different models that are available, plus the recent 2030 announcement, it’s not an exaggeration to say that we can all play our part in a zero-emission future and choosing an EV is a step in that direction.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Europcar Mobility Group has partnered with a Tchek, a tech start-up that has developed an automated inspection system.

The drive-thru device uses artificial intelligence and 3D scanning to capture images of and detect damage on vehicles.

Europcar Mobility Group will begin the digitalisation and automation of check-in check-out inspections of its traditional rental model. But, ultimately, the project will also include new mobility solutions, with a view to improving overall operational efficiency, which may require more maintenance and repair than conventional vehicles.

“The integration of a digital and autonomous solution into a customer journey is a subject that can be complex and we are very happy to have removed this thorn from the side of the leaders and managers on the company.

“We are very proud to have Europcar Mobility Group as the first major partner of the industry because we share in the vision; to always save time and profitability for users and employees by combining technological know-how with irreproachable customer service,” said Léa Chevry, co-founder of Tchek.

Tchek Scan is the first autonomous scanner in the world which increases productivity by automating and mechanising the inspection of the entire vehicle with great precision, thanks to 3D reconstruction, image capture and the rapid analysis of new repairs to be carried out by artificial intelligence.  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Michelin has announced it will incorporate Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips into all its car tyres by 2023.

The manufacturer said RFID technology is a cost-effective way of tracking tyres and a ‘significant contributor’ to predictive maintenance services.

It will also enhance driver safety by allowing Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) such as ESP to adjust responses according to specific tyre characteristics, says Michelin.

Michael Ewert, vice president of Global Sales for Original Equipment at Michelin, said: “Since RFID technology ensures this exact tyre identification, it is conceivable in the future that drivers will see a tyre status display next to their fuel gauge.

“RFID in tyres makes many new business models possible and can also further increase safety when driving. We are convinced it represents a significant step forward in the tyre industry.”

The technology could also be used to improve recycling rates, allow proof of recycling and help improve the efficiency of energy recovery programmes.

Michelin says it is working with car manufacturers to develop algorithms that could pave the way for several new advances as cars become more connected.

Dealers and workshops will also benefit as exact tyre identification and data will be easily accessible, reducing fitting errors and helping with stock control, it says.

Up to 15 million chips a year will be encased in rubber at Michelin’s Homburg plant in Germany before they are installed in new tyres on site or shipped to other Michelin factories in Europe, China, Thailand and Brazil.

Michelin recently warned fleet managers to ensure they are selecting the right replacement tyres for their cars and vans, to avoid unnecessary costs. By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

New vehicle safety systems, such as emergency braking technology, are being switched off by drivers, new research suggests. 

The range of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have become increasingly common in new cars and vans.

Autonomous emergency braking (AEB), for example, has become standard in many new fleet cars, but the research from Autoglass shows there is still a lack of knowledge and awareness.

It found that almost a quarter (24%) of drivers with ADAS enabled vehicles said they were not provided with any information about the importance of these features and how they work when they had the vehicle handed over to them.

The survey of almost 1,400 drivers also found that 41% intentionally switch off safety systems such as AEB or lane departure warning systems, while driving.

Neil Atherton, sales and marketing director at Autoglass, said that ADAS can help keep drivers and passengers safe, but only if the technology is “switched on and operating correctly”.

“ADAS is becoming more and more common in UK fleets and so more should be done to educate drivers, to encourage positive behaviour and ensure the systems are being used correctly,” he said

“Fleet managers have a responsibility to not only help drivers understand the benefits of these systems but also to review their supply chain to ensure the vehicles are being maintained to the correct standards.” This applies to drivers themselves, they should also acquaint themselves with all the safety systems.

The cameras and sensors that ADAS relies on need to be recalibrated to manufacturer standards if they have been impacted by a windscreen replacement, and in some cases body damage, to ensure the features are working correctly.

However, more than half (55%) of respondents were unaware that they need to be recalibrated when the windscreen is replaced and 52% of drivers were unaware that the cameras may need to be recalibrated if they have been impacted by body repair work.

When asked, two thirds (67%) of drivers agreed that more education is needed around the importance of ensuring this technology is properly maintained.

“It is paramount that fleet managers have a trusted partner who can carry out the recalibrations to industry standards,” said Atherton.

The increasing number of ADAS enabled vehicles in UK fleets has inevitably led to an increase in demand for recalibration.

In response to this, Autoglass has opened 12 new centres this year, taking the total number of centres in the UK to 90, to allow recalibration to be done in-house.

The new centres have been opened across the UK including Reading, Derby, Carlisle and Banbury.

The locations have been chosen to provide fleets with a more convenient service, and all centres offer windscreen repair and replacements, ADAS recalibration and replacement wiper blades, says Autoglass.

Atherton concluded: “Looking ahead to 2021, we are continuing our plans of opening more centres to ensure we are doing all we can to keep fleet drivers safe on the roads.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Car and van drivers could be charged to enter Greater London if the Government does not agree to give the capital £500 million from vehicle excise duty (VED).

The finances of Transport for London (TfL) have been decimated after Covid-19 resulted in a collapse in ticket revenues.

The Government agreed a six-month £1.8 billion funding deal with TfL last month, with the suggestion the congestion charge zone could be expanded to north and south circulars taken of the table.

However, TfL officials have been asked to investigate the feasibility of a new Greater London Boundary Charge for non-residents which would apply only to vehicles registered outside London which are driven into the capital.

“It amounts to an additional tax on the businesses working hard to keep London stocked with the goods and services it needs to operate,” Natalie Chapman, Logistics UK

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, says a charge could help manage congestion, with an estimated 1.3 million vehicle trips made from outside London into the capital every weekday.

Around one million of these trips are into outer London alone and the majority of these journeys are made by vehicles registered to addresses outside of the Greater London boundary.

Khan claims that these vehicle operators greatly benefit from using the capital’s roads without contributing to their upkeep.

Greater London Boundary Charge

Initial estimates suggest a scheme like the Greater London Boundary Charge for non-residents – if levied at £3.50 a day and applying only to non-Londoners – could reduce the total number of weekday car trips across the GLA boundary by 10-15% and raise around £500m a year.

The worst polluters could be charged more to encourage those who do need to drive to do so in the cleanest vehicles, resulting in further air quality benefits, says the Mayor.

However, in order to avoid the potential Greater London boundary charge, the Mayor has called on the Government to instead allow the capital to keep the £500m raised annually from VED charged to London-based drivers.

He claims this money raised is almost exclusively spent outside the capital, with TfL left to fund maintenance of major roads in Greater London from its fare-dominated income.

Khan explained: “Londoners pay £500m worth of vehicle excise duty every year, which is then spent on maintaining roads outside the capital.

“It is not fair on London that our drivers should subsidise the rest of the country’s roads and get nothing in return.

“The Government must allow London to retain its share of VED and to support the capital’s transport system properly as in other world cities.”

He said if ministers were not prepared to “play fair”, then he would need to consider other options, such as asking people who live outside London and make journeys into Greater London by car to pay a charge.

TfL’s feasibility study will need to establish whether such a scheme would be effective in delivering key existing policy objectives at the same time as providing essential income for London’s transport network.

Natalie Chapman, head of urban policy at Logistics UK, said: “A boundary charge would be a significant blow to the recovering logistics sector; it amounts to an additional tax on the businesses working hard to keep London stocked with the goods and services it needs to operate.

“While Logistics UK understands the troubled financial situation Transport for London is in, a boundary charge simply papers over the cracks – it is not a sustainable solution to its problems.

“We are calling for cool heads – both the Government and TfL need to work together to agree a long-term vision to fund the capital’s transport network.”

Khan says a public consultation process would be required before any charge could be introduced, in addition to economic, environmental and equality impact assessments.

An amendment to the Mayor’s Transport Strategy could also be required, subject to consultation.

Development of the scheme, consultation and implementation would take at least two years – meaning that any new charge would not be levied until after the capital’s recovery from the pandemic.

The Mayor’s move to begin examining the feasibility of a new charge comes as an independent review of TfL’s long-term future funding and financing options is published.

It found that this type of road-user charging could have benefits for Londoners – for example, reducing weekday traffic and emissions – and raise significant funds.

Commissioned by the Mayor and the TfL board in July, the review was carried out by an independent panel.

Road user charging

Rob Whitehead, director of strategic projects at Centre for London, said: “Given that the Mayor was charged by Government with devising a plan for putting Transport for London on a financially sustainable footing, without the need for a long term additional grant, it is unsurprising that this review concludes new charges are needed.

“TfL’s financial difficulties have arisen mainly because of its fare-dependent funding model, which has been hard hit by a loss of passengers this year.”

He argues that building on Centre for London’s proposals for London-wide road user charging, the proposal to create a cordon charge for vehicles around Greater London could help to secure the extra funding that TfL needs.

“It complements the Congestion Charge and the ULEZ, could be politically ‘sellable’, would raise substantial revenues, and should help to reduce congestion and pollution at a time when London’s roads are under unprecedented pressure,” he added.

“There is also a rough justice to the proposal. London drivers pay half a billion pounds to the Treasury every year in vehicle and fuel tax, with much of the money spent on the national road network, virtually none of which is in London. So it’s not unfair to ask those driving in from outside London to help pay for its transport infrastructure.

“That said, cordon-based schemes are a crude way of charging drivers for the contribution they make to congestion, pollution and road wear and tear.

“At some point the Mayor and TfL are going to have to bite the bullet and establish a distance-based road user charging scheme for London.” By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

The amount fleet operators and consumers with PCH are paying in end-of contract excess mileage charges for cars has risen significantly for the second consecutive year.

This year’s FN50 (top 50 leasing companies) research has found the average charge for defleeted company cars is £449, 19% higher than last year, which itself was 17% higher than in 2018. The 2018 figure was a record low of £324. The figures are similar if not slightly higher for consumers.

There remains a huge disparity in the size of the average charges reported by individual leasing companies and these range from as little as £20 to £900. The extremes highlighted in last year’s FN50 were £28 and £1,182.

Of the respondents to this part of the FN50 research, 38% of leasing companies had charges above the average amount, with 63% of those at £700 or above.

Of those with charges below the average, 15% were £100 or less.

The average proportion of cars subject to excess mileage charges has fallen one percentage point from last year to a record low 18%. Over the longer term, this proportion is significantly lower than the 2005 figure of 32%.

There is also a large disparity between leasing companies in the proportion of cars subject to excess mileage charges.

These ranged from as low as 0.5% to as high as 61%. There was a £350 difference in the size of the actual average charges these two companies billed: £440 and £790 respectively.

Just more than one-quarter (28%) said the proportion of cars returned which were subject to excess mileage charges was 10% or lower, while 24% said their average figure was about 25%.

Meanwhile, van operators fared much better with excess mileage charges. The average charge for vans fell £2 from 2019’s figure to £482, which points to a year of relative calm after the previous year’s 40% increase.

Those leasing companies with above-average charges for cars accounted for 67% of the companies with above average charges for vans.

As with cars, there is a huge disparity in the average charges reported by individual leasing companies, ranging from £55 to £900.

Of the leasing companies which supplied this information, 42% had charges above the average amount, with 16% at £750 or above. Of the companies below the average, 50% were £250 or less.

The average proportion of vans which were subject to excess mileage charge has remained steady over the past three years.

This year it was 19%, two percentage points below last year’s figure and one percentage point lower than 2018. Two-in-five (38%) respondents reported being at or above the average figure.

As with cars, there was a large disparity between the proportions reported by individual leasing companies. The lowest figure was 2% and the highest 85%.

Overall, 28% of respondents said their average proportion of vans which were subject to the charges was 10% or lower, while 12% were above 50%.

Like last year, there does not seem to be a common factor to determine why the excess mileage trends have either increased in the case of cars or slightly decreased for vans.

There is no consistent patterns in the duration of average replacement cycles operated by the leasing companies with the highest charges, or whether vehicles were being returned early, on time or late at the end of their terms.

Another unknown is the effect the Covid-19 pandemic had on this year’s figures. In July, a Fleet News survey of 150 fleet decision-makers found almost 61% expected to see average mileages of their company car fleet fall.

More than half (57%) of respondents said the majority of company cars they operate were not being driven for work, while 43% said less than one-third of the vehicles on their company car fleet were being driven for work.

This would suggest vehicles could either have been returned with lower than expected mileages as business travel reduced, although many fleets extended their vehicle contracts during the pandemic. Other vehicles could be likely to incur increased charges due to an increased workload.

LOCKDOWN HELP

During lockdown, leasing companies worked to mitigate the impact on mileage charges.

For example, Miguel Cabaça, managing director of Arval UK, says: “Arval will be as understanding as possible in these difficult times.

“We will be having individual discussions and be offering proactive solutions client-by-client.”

Leaseplan said customers’ individual mileage allowances would continue to roll on, on a pro rata basis, if leasing agreements were extended.

This year’s FN50 should provide a clearer picture of the impact of the pandemic on business mileage and how fleet decision-makers have managed their vehicles during the crisis, as more leases expire and vehicles are returned to their leasing providers.

Previous FN50 reports have suggested that when end-of-contract charges are falling, it is most likely through contract hire companies keeping track of mileage and discussing higher mileage than agreed with customers mid-term, and allowing flexibility to increase monthly rental rates to compensate so there would not be a large excess mileage bill at the end of the fleet lifecycle.

These are among the measures introduced by Free2Move as it has focused on reducing excess mileage charges for its customers.

“We have taken two very decisive moves in this area in recent years, taking account of prior dissatisfaction in the market at the level of these charges,” said Mark Pickles, managing director of Free2Move.

“Pence-per-mile rates for excess mileage have been reduced to take account of the ‘real’ impact on residual values, rather than to be used as a ‘penalty’ or profit opportunity – treating our customers fairly is a core principle.

“We also have a large number of our fleet fitted with onboard tele-matics, using our own Free2Move Connect Fleet system, to be able to monitor the mileage on a real-time basis.”

Where Free2Move sees mileage is starting to trend above the contract-agreed figure, it calls its customers to find out if they are aware of this, if it is a trend that is likely to continue or is a seasonal aberration, or if they would like to amend their contract to avoid any end-of-contract penalties.

Pickles added: “Most customers, faced with this up-to-date and reliable information, elect to increase their monthly lease payment slightly to cover the extra mileage and avoid a nasty surprise at the end.

“In the same way that we are used to our gas and electricity bills being adjusted to take account of higher usage rather than building up a deficit on our home energy account, Free2Move is able to neutralise this impact and give the customer a choice of how to deal with a change in usage.

“By utilising the telematics data, we can avoid false alarms, see patterns emerging and give fleet managers the choice of how they wish to manage the change.”

Pickles adds that pooled mileage arrange-ments give its larger customers more flexibility and reduce the need to swap cars or vans between users to manage mileage, resulting in fewer excess mileage charges and less intervention on the part of the customer.

The average proportion of trucks which attracted excess mileage charges also increased year-on-year, this time by three percentage points to 10% compared with 2019.

The average charge was £600 – 50% less than in last year’s FN50 report, while the disparity in the proportion of trucks subject to excess mileage charges reported by individual leasing companies was much smaller than with cars or vans, ranging from 9% to 12%.  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News