Ivan Insurance

Men and women van drivers compare England football managers

2012-02-27T01:03:00.000-08:00

Proof that van drivers are just like everyone else comes with the news that, according to one van insurance company survey, van drivers would like to see Harry Redknapp as the next England football manager, above all other candidates.

My only wish is that the FA sits up and takes note, now. The reason I say this is because Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce has thrown his hat into the ring, saying he thinks that, as a former player at major tournaments and assistant to Capello during the last debacle, he has the experience and nous necessary to get us through a successful Euro 2012.

If by this he means throwing David James up front for the last minutes of an ignominious defeat to Ukraine and asking his defenders to aimlessly hoik the ball in the general direction of his head, then I worry that I may know what he’s talking about – many of you may well remember him doing this with David James during his ill-fated spell as Manchester City manager.

In fact, Pearce fared much better in the van insurance company survey when you compare how he polled against some of the other candidates. Pearce took 24% of the vote, compared to 12% for Alan Pardew and 52% for Harry Redknapp.

Maybe those 24% of van drivers are onto something – after all, who could forget “Psycho” stepping bravely and patriotically to the penalty spot during Euro 96. He was always passionate on the pitch, but whether this has translated into an ability to inspire passion during a management career that has encompassed spells at Nottingham Forest (caretaker), Manchester City and England Under-21s is a question which is very much open to debate.

Interestingly, the van insurance company surveyed female van drivers on the same question and comparing their answers with those of their male colleagues makes for some interesting reading.David Beckham, a man with no management experience whatsoever (Brooklyn, just email me if this needs correcting) is the leading choice for ladies, followed, perhaps unsurprisingly by the debonair Jose Mourinho.

Image © adifansnet @ Flickr under Creative Commons Licence

Snow plough ploughed straight into a garden

2011-12-23T03:19:00.000-08:00

Being in a vehicle that’s a bit larger and weightier than most cars – especially with the tools at the back – I’ve always felt that as a van driver I have to be even more careful than other road users in icy or snowy weather.

However, one snow plough driver didn’t manage to manoeuvre the roads as carefully as he should have while on the job in Balloch, Scotland.

While trying to make the tarmac safer for other motorist, the snow plough slid down a hill and careered into a woman’s front garden and her neighbour’s car.

The lady explained, “I heard a loud bang, and thought, this sounds close. I looked out of the window and there was a snow plough sitting in my garden. It had bashed into my next door neighbour’s car, then through the dividing fence and completely taken out the top half of my garden.

“I could see two shocked men in the plough. They opened the doors, and the driver got out and fell on the ice before they came over.

“It was just me in the house, but they did their best to help and gave me a number to call, reversed the plough and left.”

Luckily the men seem to have been apologetic, and representatives of the Highland Council have since visited the woman’s home to tell her that they will rebuild her garden, however the fate of the damaged car has not been reported on.

Photo © Will Merydith via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence

Proud to be a van driver

2011-12-02T05:04:00.000-08:00

Recent research by a commercial van insurer has shown that 53% of business van drivers enjoy driving their van more than their private car. Reasons for this included:

It makes me feel more authoritative on the road;
I feel safer because I can see more of the road due to my van being higher than my car;
I have more space in my van than my car;
I don't worry about scratching it as much as my car
I like being known as a 'van driver'.

I have to say that I agree with the majority of these reasons, I like having the space and being able to see over the tops of other road users, and I’ll admit to not taking as much care when parking near a bollard or a wall.

I feel free in my van, and that’s why I make sure that I get the best commercial van insurance possible for it so that I can keep driving it and make sure that I’m covered for any accidents.

One of those behind the research stated, "The results of the survey are quite surprising. People naturally think that if given the choice of driving a van or a car, the majority would prefer a car, but clearly this is not the case for van drivers. It seems that once a van driver, always a van driver.

Well said, Sir. I am a proud van driver through and through.

Photo © Eric Kilby via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence

Locking the van up for the night

2011-11-04T04:27:00.000-07:00

A recent study by a vehicle insurance company has found that the average family has £3,400 worth of junk in their garage – meaning that two thirds of them can’t fit their car (usually worth about £13,487) inside it.

Furthermore, apparently it’s the men who are to blame, filling the garage with old tools and half-finished projects they promise their partners they’ll come back to eventually.

I’m quite surprised really, but then I keep most of my tools and half-finished projects in my Transit, so there’s plenty of room in the garage for my van.

If someone broke into my van I’d probably lose a lot of important and costly items I use day in day out on the job, so it makes no sense for me to leave my van outside and lots of useless bits and pieces safe behind a locked door.

And I’m not the only one who’s worried about vehicle crime, reportedly 41% of those surveyed said that they were concerned that their car or van would be broken into, stolen or vandalised. Well, I’ve got the answer to their problems.

If you’ve got a garage, stop hording those rusty tools and that partly-built coffee table you promised your wife and make space for what’s meant to be in there – your vehicle.

And the director of marketing at the insurance company agrees with me, it seems.

She stated, "We understand that householders are busy, but if they gave their garage a bit of a clear out once in a while and parked one or more of their cars in it, they would have the peace of mind that one of their most valuable possessions is being fully protected, and they are likely to save on their car [and van] insurance too."

Photo © Elsie esq. via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence

He may be Top Gear, but he certainly won’t be top satnav

2011-10-17T05:15:00.000-07:00

As a holder of business van insurance I occasionally have to resort to my satnav when I’m not entirely sure where I’m headed. But when news emerged that Jeremy Clarkson was going to have a starring role as a voice on satnavs I was less than thrilled.

It’s not as though I harbour a particular hatred for Jeremy Clarkson, he’s just not my favourite person in the world. Plus, the satnav quotes included, “Keep left – if you're not sure which side left is you really shouldn't be on the road,” and other similarly insulting remarks.

When I’m forced to use my satnav, the last thing I want is for it to bark rude comments at me!

However, the chances are I’ll never have to suffer the Jeremy Clarkson voice as the BBC has had to go back on the deal. It has been revealed that the satnav breaches the broadcasting organisation’s editorial guidelines regarding conflicts of interest.

Apparently, around 54,000 of the satnavs have already been made, some of which have been delivered to shops. So now, all the proceeds made from the sales will be donated to Children in Need and no more of the devices will be manufactured. Plans to make the voice available for download for existing satnav owners have been scrapped too.

Now that I am extremely unlikely to have to endure Jeremy Clarkson telling me what to do, I can sleep soundly in bed (or van!) once again.

Photo © Handolio via flickr, under Creative Commons Licence

Salty sliced bread

2011-09-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

Now, as a van driver, I often don’t have time to go home for lunch.

For a while I was taking a bag of crisps with me and stopping for a burger somewhere for fifteen minutes, but then the wife started nagging me about my expanding stomach and told me to sort it out.

So now I’ve been making my own healthy sandwiches and cutting out the crisps.

I’ll admit I’ve been pleased with myself. I’ve not been having nearly as much unhealthy food, and having the willpower to drive past the shops I know stock my beloved snacks hasn’t been easy.

You can imagine how annoyed I am, then, to find out that apparently some slices of bread contain as much salt as a bag of crisps!

The Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) did a survey, and now I don’t know what’s ok to eat anymore.

Still, the weight I’d put on when I was eating crisps and burgers has come off, so maybe sandwiches are the better option for me.

It would be nice if every food didn’t have a scientifically proven down-side to it though.

Image © How can I recycle this via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence

Life in the slow lane

2011-08-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

I came across a great story about a fellow van driver the other day.

A pet shop owner was travelling along the M26 on his way to pick up some tropical fish from Heathrow Airport - as you do - when he spotted a tortoise making its way, slowly, along the slow lane.

The van driver explained, “I was just coming off the M20 and going on to the M26 and it was really quiet, no traffic in front of me and none behind me.

“As I was going along I just caught something out of the corner of my eye and I immediately thought 'tortoise'.”

Since the road behind was quiet, the van driver pulled over to the hard shoulder and waved an oncoming car over into the next lane so that he could safely grab the travelling tortoise off the tarmac.

The man added, “It was lucky really because at that point a stream of HGVs were coming along the road so he would have come out a lot flatter than he is now.

“He got a trip up to Heathrow and back and now he's living with me and has been nicknamed M26.”
What a lucky animal! I suppose it figured it should be in the slow lane, but at a maximum of 0.3mph to its name the slow lane wasn’t quite slow enough.

Photo © ksmahinay via photobucket

The van’s not for scrapping

2011-04-08T07:35:00.000-07:00

I’m feeling a bit miffed today!

When I finished work yesterday I went out to my van and some joker had stuck a card on the windscreen which read – Vans scrapped for cash. All makes and models considered. Any condition taken.

Now, it may not be the cleanest business van around at the moment, but it’s got a long MoT, it’s got full UK van insurance and it’s in pretty good nick really.

My mate’s Citroen Berlingo is two years younger than my van but he’s let it get into a terrible state – dents, scratches, rust patches and even a cracked rear window, but yesterday it didn’t have a flier under the windscreen wiper.

Vanessa reckons the people with the cards recognised a quality van when they saw it and were chancing their arm at trying to get a bargain, but I’m not falling for it.

Just like me, it may not be the youngest workhorse on the lot, but my van has a strong engine and there’s plenty more miles left in its chassis.

Vanessa says she’s not so sure about my chassis and she reckons I’d fail an MoT, but she reckons the van’s a good’un. Thanks for that, love!

So, I think I’m going to give my van a bit of TLC – it may even get a coat of polish – and maybe next time the scrap van chancers will leave it alone.

Image © yellow book via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence

When I'm cleanin' windows

2011-03-08T04:13:00.000-08:00

For the last few months I’ve had to get into my van with a heavy winter jacket, thick scarf and gloves on - hoping that the cab wouldn’t take too long to warm up once I’m on the road.

However, yesterday, for the first time in what seems like ages, I got into it and had to take some of those layers off because the sun had warmed up the insides so much it was baking!

Now, I’m not complaining about the sun or the higher temperature, I’m very glad to see them back, but what did annoy me was that when I rolled the windows down all the green algae stuff, which had stuck itself to the rubber surrounds during the winter, smeared the panes.

I had to get back out into the cold and clean the glass, and then I had to do something about the rubber surrounds themselves. I didn’t have any professional cleaning product for them, but Vanessa created a mixture that worked great: warm soapy water and a bit of vinegar.

I used the old toothbrush we keep under the sink for messy jobs, but a scrubbing sponge would probably have worked just as well.

Anyway, with glass and surrounds well cleaned, I was free to drive with my windows down and to enjoy the sun on my white van. Roll on summer!

Image © Photonoumi via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence

Wet roads spell danger for van drivers

2011-02-18T03:04:00.000-08:00

I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of the rain. I don’t like driving with the windscreen wipers squeaking up and down and when the wind gets up, if you’re in a high sided van, then driving can be a real pain in the neck.

Wet roads can spell danger in a second for van drivers and I would hope that most private van owners check their vehicle regularly, but if you drive a firm’s van you need to do more than check they’ve got adequate fleet van insurance, you need to make sure the van is fit for the road.

In wet weather that means having a long hard look at the tyres to make sure they’ve got enough tread, are inflated to the right pressure and that someone hasn’t mixed up tyre types.

The tyre safety organisation TyreSafe has some really useful information for commercial vehicle drivers and fleet managers, as well as downloadable tyre safety leaflets for car and small van drivers which can help you understand the dos and don’ts in tyre maintenance.

I checked Vanessa’s van tyres the other day and found that the two rear ones were underinflated. I think I’ll print her off a leaflet and pop it in the cab – and while I’m there I’ll grab my jump leads back!

Image © AlishaV via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence

Sandwich van wars

2011-02-07T09:05:00.000-08:00

As a van driver I’m always on the look out for an interesting and durable commercial vehicle because you never know when you might need to upgrade from a small van to a panel van or even up to a Luton.

So when the latest sandwich van swung onto our industrial estate I was ready to have a look.

Up until then we’d had a number of small vans come round with their sandwiches and rolls in the back – first was Barbara with her baps, crisps and chocolate bars, but sadly she was ousted when Larry’s Hot Lunch van came round. His dark blue transit van was equipped with polystyrene boxes containing bacon rolls and pasties and we thought we were in snack-heaven.

Then, just a few days ago, a new breed of sandwich van tempted the workers out from their yards and workshops, and this one was a beauty.

Sandy’s Sandwiches turned up with shiny silver van which, when the sides lifted up, revealed a hot cupboard containing bacon rolls and jacket potatoes, and a cold section where the sandwiches were presented on shelves and the cans were chilled.

Suddenly there was excitement on the lot, people I had never seen before came out to investigate and within moments the van was surrounded as workers chose their lunches.

I’m sorry to say it, but I think Larry’s days are numbered here on the estate. Warm rolls and bottles of pop just won’t cut it now that Sandy has bought her wares to us. Oh, and the van is spanking!

My van by Vanessa

2011-01-27T07:47:00.000-08:00

Hi, I’m Vanessa. I drive a van too and every now and again, when Ivan gets off the computer, I’m going to post my viewpoint about vans and van driving.

I love my van, I use it for my work, to take feed to my horse and my friends are always asking me to help them out by using it to move furniture, garden ornaments and all manner of things. I even transported a whole van load of helium balloons for a friend’s 30th birthday party once when the venue flooded at the last moment.

Yes, the pressure washer was a great idea for the outside, but I think it’s important to keep the inside clean as well and this can be a bit tricky at times, especially when a certain husband uses my van to transport bags of cement home from the builder’s yard.

I mainly deliver flower arrangements, from the tiniest button-hole to some really fancy creations – I don’t do the arrangements, but I deliver a lot for a local florist and some of them are beautiful but really tricky to transport.

So, having the proper equipment in your van is essential, that’s load securing straps, stacking boxes and containers to stop the arrangements moving around in the back, and some good old fashioned tarps to protect the floor from water spills.

I also go to the flower markets sometimes to pick up the bargains for the florist. You can get all sorts of things if you get up early enough – but sometimes it can be really chilly. Good job my van always starts.

And I always go prepared – I’ve got Ivan’s jump leads in the cab of my van.

Image of "Lion on Pallet" © D H Wright and "Jump Leads" © charles Williams, both via Flickr under Creative Commons Licence

Let the washer take the pressure off to keep your van clean

2011-01-21T05:25:00.000-08:00

I know it’s tough at the moment, what with the road grit and spray, but when you turn up to a job, the first thing a customer sees is your van and if it’s covered in grime, with “clean me” graffiti on the back – I did this in photoshop…honest – well, it doesn’t say a lot about your general standards, does it.

So me and the missus, Vanessa, we bought a pressure washer to keep our vans in sparkling-clean condition and I have to say it was a great buy.

I did my homework, as always, to find out exactly what I needed and just like finding the cheapest van insurance I used the internet to hunt down the best deal.

So, here’s my guide to getting the best pressure washer for the job.

Ivan’s top tips for pressure washer buying

First of all you must consider where you’re going to use the washer: If you work in remote spots without a power supply you’ll need a petrol pressure washer, but if you’re only ever going to use it close to home or your business premises, then an electric washer might be the safer option – no cans of fuel in the back of your van!

Secondly, what are you going to use it for? Cheaper models are likely to work at a fairly low pressure of around 100 bar and whilst these are great for cleaning patio furniture and bins, they won’t strip gunge off decking or remove two inches of dried-on mud from a tractor. For those sorts of jobs you’ll need 110 to 130 bar.

If you need flexible cleaning, look out for models which allow you to vary the pressure. And if you want complete flexibility you’ll need to check out how portable it is. So weight is a factor and it might even be best to get one on wheels for ease of manoeuvrability round your van as you clean it.

And finally, always check out the accessories the machine comes with, because some of them, like wheel rim brushes or rotary heads, can be expensive to buy as extras.

So, now you’re set with the best tool for job, you can make sure no one ever scrawls “Don’t wash – plough” on the back of your van ever again!

Ivan’s iVan van insurance blog

2011-01-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the iVan cheap van insurance blog. My name is Ivan (handy eh?) and I drive a van for my living.

My van is what keeps my business going and without it I can’t work, so, getting the right information about all types of vans, van maintenance and van insurance is really important.

Choosing the right commercial vehicle for a business is crucial – I mean it’s no good buying a Ford Transit Connect or a Vauxhall Combo when you need to move pianos or long lengths of copper pipe. And turning up to a job with the wrong tools is always a bad idea so why would you get your van insurance from someone who usually covers cats and dogs.

No, when you need a special job done, you turn to a specialist and if you need to know anything about van insurance, van driving or where to find the best bacon Butty in Hampshire, just ask Ivan and I’ll do my best to keep you up-to-date with all the goings-on in the commercial vehicle world.

And if I don’t know I can always ask the missus – Vanessa. She drives a van too and if there’s anything I can’t answer about driving a van for a living, she’ll be able to answer it for me! Know what I mean?

Welcome to iVan Insurance

2011-01-07T04:18:00.001-08:00