No other seismic events in the van market were seen in recent months that could have contributed to such a large rise
The lower than expected Ogden rate has been blamed for a 2.2% bump in van premiums in the past three months, according to Consumer Intelligence.
The latest figures from its van insurance price index revealed average annual premiums were now £1,515.
Last year the Ogden discount rate was revised to -0.25%, taking many in the industry by surprise as they expected a rate of at least 0%.
”Average van premiums have now risen by 37.4% since April 2014 when Consumer Intelligence first started collecting data.
”Under-25s have seen increases of just 1.2% over the period while older drivers have been hit by increases of 45% or more,” the data analytics firm said in a statement.
Commenting, Consumer Intelligence’s John Blevins said: “The recent [premium] increases are hardly surprising following the Government’s reset of the Ogden rate in August.”
He added that pricing fluctuations were based on claims experience and ”no other seismic events within the van market” had been seen, other than the discount rate change.
Social, domestic and pleasure
But premiums for those using their van for social, domestic and pleasure purposes, known as SDP policies, saw a 1% fall over the same three-month period.
These premiums now cost an average of £1,417. This will be welcome news as the average SDP policy has risen by 41.6% since April 2014, compared with 36.4% for business use policies, Consumer Intelligence said.
Meanwhile, premiums for young drivers (aged 17-24) fell by an average of 11.6% over the past 12 months. Yet the average figure still stands at £4,112.
’Wise’ Van Man
Yesterday, fleet broker McCarron Coates unveiled an initiative aimed at lowering van premiums and improving the public image of so-called white van man.
It commissioned out a survey to help van fleet operators and individual van drivers improve their risk and ultimately reduce their insurance premiums to help its corporate client the Freight Transport Association.
The survey found that:
A third of consumers (37%) believe van drivers have “lots of bad and inconsiderate driving habits”
Nearly one-in-five respondents (19%) said they believed van drivers to be the worst on the road
A further 16% felt only HGV drivers are worse than van drivers
And 23% believe van drivers often exhibit bullying behaviour such as tailgating
Commenting on these findings, McCarron Coates director Paul Coates said: “Our Wise Van Man campaign is focusing directly on areas that fleet operators should be considering, to improve their drivers’ performance and behaviour on the road, increase safety and lower premiums.
”However, it goes further than this, adding value by highlighting why fleets need to consider how driver behaviours affect their public image and brand reputation.”
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