Europcar has opened a new branch in Derby (click here for a list of van hire hire companies in Derby).

The new Europcar Derby branch provides both car and van hire services and benefits from a spacious and accessible location on an industrial estate close to the city centre.

As far as I can tell, this new branch replaces Europcar’s old Becket Street branch, which no longer appears to be available on Europcar’s website.

The new Europcar Derby branch is located at:

• Unit A1 Cranmer Road, West Meadows Industrial Estate, Derby, DE21 6JL (for a map and more details, click here)

Customers can collect and drop off vehicles from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and Saturday from 8am to 1pm.

A meet and greet service is available serving Derby Midland Railway Station, while for leisure customers, Europcar’s freeDeliver service provides free delivery and collection to customers’ homes within a radius of 5 miles, and for all bookings of two days or more. Customers can have their car delivered to any residential address within an agreed one hour window, so there’s no waiting around and Europcar collects the vehicle at the end of the booking – no hassle, no charge.

Click here to get a Europcar quote now.

A recent data from the Freight Transport Association (FTA) showed that half of all vans on the roads over 3 years old are unroadworthy*. Europcar, the leading car and van hire company in Europe, is urging businesses to consider van hire as a cost-effective, flexible, and most importantly, safe alternative to running a fleet of older vans.

The FTA study found that there was an almost 50% failure rate on first time MOTs for vans, a sobering statistic, and one which Europcar believes demonstrates it is not always best for a business to run its own fleet of vans. As the industry changes, van rental can offer a solution which not only provides newer vans for use, but is also more flexible for a changing market.

Ken McCall, Managing Director of Europcar UK Group, explains:

“These figures from the FTA go to illustrate something that has been known within the industry for a long time – businesses are holding onto vans for longer, without having them properly maintained. This is a false economy for businesses at a time when costs are all important – as eventually the vans will either breakdown or fail their MOT.

“Rental provides the answer. Vans that are on average under 9 months old and maintained to the highest standard are available at short notice, providing a flexible fleet of vehicles for usage which can actually save businesses money.”

Listening to the changing needs of its customers, Europcar has recently undertaken a rapid expansion in its van network and portfolio of products. These innovations include increasing the number of locations where vans are available to 172 across the UK, extending operational hours and offering a discount of 25% for overnight rentals.  The core make-up of vans on the Europcar fleet has also been enhanced to ensure it remains the leading provider of vans in the UK.

“While it may seem counter-intuitive to some businesses to hire all or part of their van fleet rather than own, the market is changing, and owning and maintaining a costly fleet of vans is no longer the default option” concluded Ken McCall.  “Europcar has recognised this change in the behavior of businesses and evolved its van fleet accordingly, taking innovative steps to ensure our vans not only offer a supplementary service to fleets, but are actually a viable alternative.”

Click here to get an instant quote for Europcar van hire.

*Source: FTA, March 2013

The UK’s car and van rental industry contributes £14bn to the UK’s economy each year, according to a new report commissioned by the BVRLA, the industry’s trade body. That’s equivalent to £1 in every £90 of UK GDP when the operations of the industry itself, the UK-made vehicles and engines it purchases, the activity of UK dealerships and its impact on the used car market are taken into account.

Not all car and van hire businesses have thrived during the recession, but it has remained pretty healthy and some operators have thrived. The success of the industry has been helped by innovative and forward-thinking companies such as this one, that have realised that daily hire can be a meaningful substitute for ownership and leasing, removing the balance sheet risk and financing difficulties from businesses, leaving them free to concentrate on their core activities.

In terms of jobs, the industry employs 38,000 people directly and a further 145,000 people through wider supply chain and consumer spending effects. The total employment supported by the industry is equivalent to 1 in every 175 workers in the UK, and the sector generates around £2.8 billion of tax revenue per year.

The automotive sector is one of the UK’s few manufacturing success stories and vehicle rental and leasing companies are among its largest customers, purchasing an estimated 220,000 vehicles in 2011. This is 15% of total output but a massive 82% of UK vehicles sold to domestic customers. This expenditure is estimated to have supported a £2.4 billion contribution to GDP, 52,000 jobs and £810 million in tax receipts.

In the same year, the vehicle rental and leasing industry’s expenditure on foreign-made vehicles containing UK-made engines is estimated to have generated a £349 million contribution to GDP, 7,600 jobs and £120 million in tax receipts.

The vast majority of this business is conducted through motor dealers. In 2011, the sector purchased £11.1 billion of foreign-made vehicles from UK dealerships. This activity supported a £98 million contribution to GDP, 2,000 jobs and £31 million in tax receipts.

There is also a positive environmental angle to this activity. The industry can rightfully claim to play a leading role in driving down emissions. At 123g/km, the CO2 emissions of the average lease car registered in 2012 was 25% cleaner than the average car on UK roads.

Sounds like a good reason to consider hiring a van instead of owning one, especially if you don’t need it every day.

The long bank holiday weekends are traditionally when many people carry out DIY jobs around the house. Research on the cost of van hire over the May bank holidays reveals that DIY enthusiasts and home movers could be out of pocket by up to £1000 if the vehicle gets damaged, even if it’s not the driver’s fault.

This is a subject we covered in a recent post, but it does bear repeating, given how high the excess costs usually are with hire vans.

Almost two-thirds (65%) of van hirers are driving a van for the first time, increasing the risk of a minor reversing accident or scrape — or even roof damage from overhead obstructions… The problem is that the hire companies’ excess insurance is usually pretty expensive, making it tempting to take the risk and not bother.

The good news is that with a small amount of pre-planning, you can save up to 50% on hire companies’ somewhat steep rates by buying excess insurance in advance, not from the van rental company.

iCarhireinsurance.com, a leading supplier of van and car hire excess insurance protection, researched the costs of hiring an average sized van (Transit 280) in Manchester for the May bank holiday weekends (4 – 7 May and 25 – 28 May 2013) from three leading van hire companies, Europcar, National and Sixt.

Save up to 50% on insurance

The rental cost was found to be similar from all providers at just over £100 for the four days, but the excess liability, i.e. the first part of any claim that the driver pays, ranged from £800 to £1000.

Buying cover direct from the van rental companies to protect themselves from this expense could cost up to £66, or £16.50 a day, compared with a policy from iCarhireinsurance.com at only £7.99 a day (and £31.96 for the four day bank holiday weekend).

Those drivers that believe that they do not need excess cover because they are good drivers may be interested to know that analysis of iCarhireinsurance.com 2012 claims found that over a third (34%) of people that have claimed on their insurance for damage to a hire car or van said that the damage was “not their fault”.

Ernesto Suarez, founder and CEO of iCarhireinsurance.com, said:

“Driving a van is very different to driving a car, therefore we urge DIY enthusiasts and anyone using a van to transport items over the bank holiday weekends to check their excess liability if they don’t want to end up with a large bill they were not expecting. A scrape to the side of a van when loading decking can cost hundreds, if not thousands to fix.”

Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

If you still need to hire a van for the bank holiday weekend, it’s not too late –> click here to compare prices.

Europcar’s new branding is being debuted out on the company’s UK van fleet, incorporating the slogan ‘moving your way’.

London, February 2013 – Europcar the leader in car hire services in Europe, is unveiling its new branding as it goes onto 250 Peugeot Partner Vans.

Featuring the new brand positioning, ‘Moving your way’, the Peugeot vans available for hire across the UK will help build awareness of the message that Europcar is focused on enhancing the rental experience from start to finish.

Ken McCall, Managing Director, Europcar UK Group says:

“We’re excited to see our new brand positioning rolling out across our UK van fleet.Acting as a quality stamp, ‘Moving your way’ demonstrates Europcar’s commitment to providing vehicle solutions that fit in with the mobility requirements of our customers.”

You can find a full list of Europcar’s UK van hire branches here or book van hire by visiting Europcar’s website.

Van hire specialist Northgate plc, which operates the Northgate Vehicle Hire, Norflex and Van Monster businesses in the UK, issued a fairly cautious trading statement today, warning that “tough economic conditions” were continuing to impact its business and that it was currently trading at the lower end of expectations.

The statement was something of a contrast to its last update, which was comparatively optimistic. In today’s statement, Darlington-based Northgate said that the number of vehicles on hire had fallen from 45,000 at 31 October 2012 to 44,200 at 28 February 2013, a decrease of 800 units compared to a fall of 3,900 in the same period last year.

In response to this fall the firm has reduced down the fleet by 1,100 since 31 October 2012, which by my reckoning means it now has approximately 49,900 vehicles in its UK hire fleet.

Stable revenue and utilisation

Northgate has been trimming its fleet to maintain utilisation levels for some time now, and in fairness it appears to have been a successful policy that has allowed it to rebuild its operating margin (up from 7.5% in 2010 to 13.2%), reduce debt (from £615m in 2010 to £360m) and restart dividend payments.

According to today’s update, rental fleet utilisation has been stable at 88% for the last four months, down slightly from 89% for the previous six months (which did include the Olympics).

Northgate said that underlying hire revenue per vehicle had remained stable, suggesting that it is not being forced to cut its rates to secure business, and said that it had continued filling the regional gaps it had previously identified by opening new branches. A new branch opened in Luton on 18 February 2013 and further branches in Brent Cross and Huddersfield are scheduled to open by 30 April 2013.

Retail strength

One aspect of Nortgate’s business that may have helped its recovery is Van Monster, its chain of used van dealers. In its update today, Northgate said that “the used vehicle market continues to remain strong” and residual values were in line with those experienced in the year to 30 April 2012.

As I’ve reported several times, residual values for nearly-new vans are extremely strong at present, due to a shortage of supply. Van Monster enables Northgate to choose between selling de-fleeted vehicles at auction or through its retail branches, which it has previously said produce higher profit margins than other methods of disposal.

Outlook

The outlook is undeniably challenging, but Northgate’s recovery plans have been successful so far and the company has returned itself to a stable, profitable footing.

There’s no doubt that we all hate hidden costs — and much as the UK’s car and van hire companies will deny it, the cost of van hire excess insurance can seem to fall into that category.

Typically, you collect a vehicle that you’ve booked and the hire company representative will point out that your booking includes insurance, but that it carries an excess of perhaps £500 (I think my personal record is £750).

You will then be offered a chance to take out additional insurance to reduce this excess to a much lower figure, or even zero. This usually costs between £10 and £20 per day — a hefty increase on your daily hire rate.

The problem is that you may not want to manage without it — as you could be left seriously out of pocket if anything goes wrong.

There is another way…

Luckily, there is an alternative — you just need to plan ahead.

You see, even if you want to reduce your van hire insurance excess, you don’t need to purchase additional insurance from your hire company. In fact, you can purchase the extra insurance anywhere you like — and luckily there are several companies that specialist in providing this service and can offer you big savings over the standard hire company rates.

What’s more, buying excess insurance from a company like iCarehireinsurance.com is also likely to give you far more comprehensive coverage than typical hire company insurance, which usually excludes tyre, glass and roof damage (a particular problem with big vans).

iCarhireinsurance offers van hire excess reduction (to zero) from just £7.99 per day*. What’s more all their policies include parts of the vehicle that are often excluded from other insurance policies – such as tyres, windscreen, roof and undercarriage.

Buying excess insurance from a specialist company is a no-brainer in terms of cost savings — the only catch is that you need to do it before you pick up your hire vehicle, but since it’s all done on line, that isn’t a big inconvenience.

Why not try it next time you hire a car or van?

Europcar is following up on its New Year Sale with a Spring Van Hire offer that will allow you to hire a van from just £15 per day.

This offer is available for bookings made until 9th April 2013.

Click here to visit Europcar’s website

Ken McColl, Europcar UK Group’s Managing Director, explains why the company is running this attractive promotion:

“With many families still bearing the financial brunt of the festive season, our special offer on van hire will help families do more for less and get their house in order again.” said Ken McCall Managing Director, Europcar UK Group.  “We know spring cleaning is a tradition amongst many families so hopefully van hire from £15 per day will provide that extra incentive to get the work done before Easter arrives!”

There are more than 130 Europcar van hire branches in the UK, each offering a range of vans, from small vans like the Vauxhall Combo to large luton box vans that are suitable for small house moves. What’s more, all Europcar vans are fully maintained to manufacturer specifications and covered by 24 hour breakdown, for added peace of mind.

A range of hire packages are available allowing customers to hire from just an hour to a day, a week or even longer. For added efficiency Europcar can deliver vans to home addresses through its weDeliver delivery and collection service.

Click here to visit the Europcar website to arrange van hire from just £15 per day

Shropshire-based Jolly Good Van Hire has been celebrating the arrival of snow, according to Shrewsbury branch manager Jason King, who told Shropshirelive.com that the company’s workload “more than doubled” during the recent snow.

King said that reasons for the surge in business varied, with some customers needing replacement cars for accident-damaged or broken-down cars, while others needed 4x4s or additional delivery vans to cope with road conditions and courier and postal delays.

Jolly Good offers a range of cars and vans, including small vans, short and long-wheelbase vans, luton vans and 9-seater minibuses. The company also offers a range of cars and recently added a six-seater crew cab van to its fleet.

Of course, you can find Jolly Good Van Hire’s branches on the VanRental.co.uk:

• Shrewsbury
• Wrexham
• Ely

For more information, to get a quote or make a booking, visit Jolly Good’s website at:
www.jollygoodvanhire.co.uk.

If you run a van or minibus hire business that you’d like to list on VanRental.co.uk, visit our advertising page to get started.

My Dad was always fond of reminding me that “if a thing seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

Just like the time when someone knocked on my front door and offered me a sofa suspiciously cheaply, telling me that “they’d ordered too many”, anyone who offers you a rental van at an impossibly low rate with free delivery is probably pulling a fast one.

How to spot a bogus van hire firm

The season of goodwill is here, but for some people it’s just another opportunity to rip people off, so I thought I would pass on these 5 tips from the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) to help you spot bogus car and van hire companies before you give them your money:

1.   Only use a BVRLA member. Seeing our logo on the front desk or website is a sign that you are dealing with a reputable company that has been vetted and operates to a professional code of conduct. You will also be able to use our conciliation service in the event of any dispute. Find a BVRLA member via the ‘member locator’ on the BVRLA website at: www.carhire.bvrla.co.uk

2.   Never hand over cash. Most reputable rental companies will only want to accept credit/debit card payment

3.   Make sure the company is operating from a bona fide commercial premises, not a PO Box or virtual office, no matter how prestigious the location sounds

4.   Make sure the company actually owns and operates the cars it is offering – all BVRLA members operate their own rental fleet.

5.   Remember, if the price or service being offered seems too good to be true, it probably is and you may well end up out of pocket and disappointed!

As BVRLA chief executive John Lewis points out, it’s surprisingly easy to create a bogus hire firm:

“These companies offer unbeatable prices and free delivery – but they really are too good to be true. Unfortunately it is very easy for fraudsters to build a simple website and set up a call centre to pass themselves off as legitimate businesses.”

For some more excellent tips on car and van hire from the BVRLA, click here.