Isn’t it easy to get lulled into a false sense of security? Vince Dover was driving as we came back from meeting a colleague recently. We were travelling along the M62 at the same time as a driver claimed that the brakes in his Jaguar I-Pace had failed and would not stop him. It is reported that Merseyside and Greater Manchester Police used specialist tactics to ram the Jaguar I-Pace, blocking it between a number of police vehicles, to eventually bring the car to a stop. However (at the time of writing this Chatter), "An investigation, supported by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), is underway and a 31-year-old man from Bolton has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and causing a public nuisance."
But I have two points! The first relates to my opening sentence – we knew the route we were intending to take, so didn’t both to check Satnav. If we had, we wouldn’t have spent around an hour sitting in a queue behind the havoc caused by this driver. Lesson learned - even if you know your way, check the Satnav for holdups so that you can re-route if necessary!! Secondly, hundreds of drivers were inconvenienced that afternoon, so if the driver is found guilty, shouldn’t we be able to claim compensation from him or his insurance? Particularly HGV drivers/companies who may have been working to a tight schedule and missed collections or deliveries. Or getting to that plane at the airport.
There is a bit of a storm in the car market at the moment. Many drivers have seen large increases in insurance costs (the first of mine for 2024 is due in May!!) and many theories abound on the reasons for the increases. In addition to general inflation, there are suggestions that newer manufacturers (mostly from China) do not have a parts supply service behind them so many owners can be waiting months for parts to repair their vehicles. So long, in fact, that it is often cheaper for insurance companies to ‘write off’ the vehicle rather than to continue pay for hire cars. Personally I would ask why insurers wouldn’t put extra premiums on these vehicles rather than spread across all policies? When Range Rovers became almost uninsurable because of keyless thefts, Jaguar Land Rover set up their own insurance scheme.
Then there is the perfect storm in the secondhand car market. You may remember that following Covid there was a shortage of new cars because production had ceased worldwide, followed by a shortage of computer chips for almost a year. This means that petrol and diesel secondhand car prices are now at a premium. Add to that a glut of EV’s coming off lease plans at around 3 years old (around 75% of large EV’s are company owned because of the tax benefits) and the secondhand prices are dropping. These prices have a knock on effect to the insurers when it comes to paying out on written off vehicles – EV owners are very disappointed with what is offered in a payout, whereas petrol/diesel owners are elated!! It’s the cost to replace ‘like for like’.
Finally, our Secretary holds records of those who have returned a Subs form with their annual payment. However, whilst paying by Bank Transfer is easy, it is important that you also send us your Subs form, particularly if you wish to commence or change your commitment to Gift Aid. At the last count there are around 20 forms outstanding, so if you still have it on your ‘to do’ list, please remember to send it to Gary Whittle..
Roy Sammons