Commercial vehicle news
08/06/2009

Van insurance customers saying no to scrappage scheme

The vehicle scrappage scheme has failed to kick-start the new van market, confirming the suspicions of most van insurance companies in the UK.

Statistics released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) shed light on the new van market in the past couple of months, revealing that commercial vehicle manufacturers are still struggling to secure business.

A spokesperson from SMMT revealed just why so many van insurance customers appear to be reluctant to buy new vehicles, saying, "Businesses across the economy remain cautious about their future prospects and it will take a little while for improving confidence to register in the marketplace."

In fact, the scrappage scheme seems to have had little to no effect in increasing the sales of new vans, either privately or for commercial fleets. Sales fell 50.2% from April to May and were down 33.9% on the previous year's levels.

And, with many people saying that they are more concerned about finding cheap van insurance than finding a new vehicle, experts are predicting that it will be some time before there is a turnaround.