Drivers with van insurance may welcome the calls from the used-vehicle pricing company EurotaxGlass's for manufacturers to take a more realistic approach when calculating values for hard-used vans.
Most van manufacturers are car-makers primarily and so as a result they calculate the values for their commercial vehicles against a three-year 60,000 mile standard this is because it is a familiar benchmark, according to the publisher of Glass's Guide to Commercial Vehicle Values.

However, the company claims that this should be changed as most panel vans cover more than 30,000 miles a year.

George Alexander from EurotaxGlass's said: "It is plainly wrong to continue to use such a yardstick when it does not reflect the norm. It is far better to use real world data for high-mileage, ex-fleet vehicles."

Meanwhile, the government announced plans last week to introduce qualifications for people who drive for a living as part of the effort to reduce the number of work-related casualties on UK roads. But according to the Department for Transport (DfT), the number of road users without adequate car and van insurance, or road tax rose from 3.6% of all drivers in 2006 to 5% in 2007.

Recently, MPs called on the government to introduce targets in a bid to reduce the number of illegal road users. Van insurance customers could see their premiums increase if they are involved in a collision with an uninsured driver.