The most popular vans in the UK

The van is essential to many small businesses, and these unsung workhorses help to keep the struggling UK economy afloat. Here we take a look at the 10 most popular vans in Britain.

The Ford Transit

The iconic transit was launched way back in 1965 and has become the van of choice for many small businesses. The Transit has been called 'The Backbone of Britain' and is known for its reliability, versatility and ease of driving. A new transit costs around £17,000 and used ones are much cheaper.
The Transit is undoubtedly the UK's number one van and is also a very popular hire vehicle. In fact, there is one company offering van hire in minibus hire walsall  that has a Transit with more than 200,000 on the clock that has only ever needed minor repairs.

The Transit Connect

The Transit's baby brother, the Connect combines the flexibility of a small van with the reliability of it's big bro. Priced at just £11,000, the Connect offers an impressive volume of 3.4 cubic metres.

The Mercedes Sprinter.

Another iconic symbol of the UK economy, the Sprinter matches the Transit for reliability but does it with much more style. It is also one of the safest vans on the market, but its new price of just over £20,000 is off-putting to some small companies.

The Peugeot 207

One of the best small vans around, the 207 is perfect for one-man operations and can be bought new for just £8,000. It can also deliver a very impressive 65 miles per gallon.

The Peugeot Bipper

Peugeot again, this time the slightly larger Bipper. A new Bipper will set you back around £8,500 and is offered with a huge range of options. It has a capacity of 2.8 cubic metres and a turning circle of around 10 metres, making it great in tight situations.

The Vauxhall Combo

The cheapest van in the list at around 8,000. This may be about the same as the 207, but the Combo has more space in the front and rear and is also very cheap to run.

The Renault Kangoo

Also very affordable to run, but more expensive at £9,500, the Kangoo boasts a 3 cubic metre load capacity, a higher standard spec and an economical diesel engine.

The VW Caddy

The Caddy comes in two forms. The smaller version has a capacity of 3.2 cubic metres while the long wheelbase version can hold 4.2 cubic metres. However, you do pay more for all that comes with the VW badge - the Caddy starts at £16,500.

The Renault Trafic

A Transit lookalike, the Trafic comes in a range of styles and capacities. However, for £19,400 you would want it to match the reliability of the Transit, which, unfortunately, it fails to do.

The Citroen Berlingo

This nippy little van sits somewhere between small vans and Transit-sized workhorses. It is available with a capacity of 3.3 or 4.1 cubic metres and is available from £10,625. It may have a silly name, then again so does the Kangoo, but the Berlingo can deliver over 60 miles per gallon.

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Hiring a car could end up costing you £1000s

A Post Office investigation into overseas car hire has revealed some worrying trends.
The  excess on insurance policies from car rental firms tend to be anywhere from £400 to £1000. If the hire car is then involved in a serious accident, or should it get stolen, the hirer has to pay the full amount of this excess.

The sensible thing to do is to take out some additional insurance, known as an excess waiver policy. This extra policy will cover the hirer for the excess charged in the event of a claim.
The recent investigation, carried out by Post Office Travel Money, found that only around a third of British drivers take out excess waiver insurance, and only around one fifth invest in window, tyre and undercarriage cover.

Damage to tyres, windows and the car's undercarriage is not usually covered by a car rental firm's standard insurance policy.

Most minibus hire walsall companies do offer their customers the opportunity to take out excess waiver insurance, but they tend to charge a small fortune for it. Typically, one week's cover can be around £150 extra. That may exceed the price of hiring the car.

However, if you shop around, you will soon fine excess waiver insurance priced in the region of £30 - £35 per week. You can also buy annual cover for as little as £40 to £50. Such policies tend to offer up to around £2000 of cover, which is more than enough to cover the excess on most policies. They also tend to cover damage to the car's tyres, windows and undercarriage.

Some, not all, but some, car hire firms are known to be pretty aggressive when trying to sell add-ons such as excess waver insurance. They may even tell you that the policy you have taken out isn't valid. Don't listen – it is.
The best way to find more affordable excess cover is, of course, online. Using broker sites will save you the job of getting quotes from each company in turn. Simply enter your details and opt for the best deal. Do make sure that the site is comparing like with like though.
The prices of excess waiver insurance will vary depending on which country you are travelling to. To take two extremes, car rental in Wolverhampton, England is likely to be quite a bit cheaper than in Cape Town, South Africa.
Incredibly, some insurance companies even offer a full refund on their excess waiver insurance if no claim is made.

Older drivers may find that they are charged more for excess insurance, however there are insurers around who don't increase the cost for drivers until they reach 84 years of age.

The thought of incurring charges of £400 to £1000 for an accident, or theft, that could be no fault of your own is a worrying one. However, for just £30 to £40 you can protect yourself against the huge excesses offered by car rental companies and gain peace of mind. After all holidays are for relaxing, not for fretting about car hire walsall.


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How to drive a minibus

Many people, at some point in their lives, need to drive a minibus. You may wish to volunteer as a driver for a charity, or you may have a job where you are asked to drive the minibus, such as a school teacher, or carer.
The thought of driving a large passenger vehicle like a minibus can be daunting. Here we try to put your mind at ease by explaining what you need to know about the legal situation when it comes to minibuses. We also offer some helpful tips about actually driving the thing.

What is a minibus?

A minibus is simply a passenger vehicle with between nine and ten passenger seats. There are strict rules governing the driving of minibuses.

The law.

When did you pass your test? If it was before January 1st 1997 you automatically received the D1 qualification. This means that you can drive a minibus providing:

•  you are over 21

• there are no more than 16 seats in the vehicle

• you don't intend to charge your passengers

If you passed after January 1st 1997, you must apply for the D1 minibus entitlement in order to legally drive a minibus.

However – even if you don't have the D1 entitlement, you can drive a minibus as a volunteer, for a volunteer-run organisation as long as you don't charge. You must also be over 21 and have had a driving licence for 2 years or longer.

Anyone wishing to charge for running costs must have a minibus permit.
Anyone wishing to profit as a minibus driver must pass the appropriate passenger vehicle qualification.
It is well worth checking the full legalities of minibus driving on the DVLA website.

There have been several prosecutions for driving a minibus without the appropriate permit or licence. A company providing minibus hire in Ross on Wye recently had their vehicle impounded when it was found that they had hired it out to a customer who didn't have a permit. The company was fined and the customer was fined and given penalty points.

There are also strict rules about taking breaks from driving. For example, in any period of 4.5 hours of driving, a driver must rest for at least 45 minutes. Again, there are lots of rules here and it is sensible to check on the UK government website.

Speed limits

A minibus must be not exceed 60mph on the motorway or on dual carriageway. It must stick to a 50mph limit on single carriageways.

Driving tips

If you are driving a minibus for the first time it can be a considerably different experience to driving a passenger car.
For one thing, there's the physical size of the vehicle. You'll need to leave more of a gap between you and parked cars, and parking will be a little trickier in some situations.
What you will find, when you drive a large vehicle, is that other cars tend to get out of the way. Not all of the time, but a lot of the time. Because you are so big, they can see you coming, and they know they will come off worse in a bump. So passenger cars tend to give way pretty readily to minibuses.
Try to avoid very narrow roads. Meeting an oncoming tractor down a country lane isn't much fun in a minibus.

When you first get the minibus, drive around some quiet, wide roads until you get used to it. Practice parking as well.

Lastly – a minibus is likely to be heavier that anything you have driven previously. This means that you should try to anticipate slowing down and apply the brakes sooner that you usually would have to.

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