21-12-2011

For all you delivery drivers out there, you’ll know just how important speed is to your job. The number of drops you can make in an hour or day is a key measure of your performance, leaving many delivery van drivers to cut corners where they can (metaphorically speaking of course). By leaving their vans unlocked and their engines running while delivering goods, drivers are at risk of invalidating their van insurance policy.

According to recent figures released by the Association of Police Officer’s Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service, nearly 40% of UK citizens will have been a victim of vehicle crime at some stage in their lives, with a high proportion of these crimes a result of opportunism on the behalf of criminals. With this in mind, we are advising Britain’s delivery drivers to take extra care this year; even if it does take you a few seconds longer, it is always worth turning off the van and locking it, even if the drop is only a few metres away. If you don’t, and the van, or item within the van is stolen, there is a good chance your van insurance company will refuse to pay out.

Obviously this evidence goes hand in hand with advice van insurance experts have been giving for years. Regardless of whether the van is locked or unlocked, all items of value should be kept out of the sight of passers-by, either shut away safely in the glove box or kept on your person.

A spokesman for the Association of Police Officer’s Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service, commented that: “Van drivers should never leave expensive GPS equipment, mobile phones or even CDs on display, or even worse, left unlocked anywhere in the van. During this Christmas period it is more important than ever for delivery drivers to take extra care to lock their vehicles, even when making the quickest of drops. If a valuable item or the van itself is stolen, there is a risk of invalidating your van insurance policy”.

If you’re a delivery van driver and it’s time to renew your van insurance policy, contact us here at Van Compare. We will tailor your policy so you have all the cover you need, at a price you can’t quite believe!