Daily Motor News – Tuesday 15 April 2025   

Ant Middle, Ageas UK CEO, said: “The combined Ageas and esure franchise will benefit from an outstanding customer offering, through market leading technology and prominent brands, that will drive our expansion into new customer demographics. Under Elevate27, we want to continue to grow our broker and partnerships personal lines business in the UK, and esure will help us to rapidly expand our direct distribution, our customer reach, and our scale overall. esure’s technical capabilities will match Ageas UK’s and will enable us to develop our well-balanced business at greater pace and serve a wider range of customers. We’re really excited for the potential this brings our UK business and wider Group.” Read more

A fifth of drivers admit to not knowing what to do in the event of a collision

A fifth of drivers (20%) do not know what to do after a collision, according to latest research from insurer, Aviva.

Almost half of drivers (45%) are unsure what to do when dealing with a collision where damage to another vehicle or property is involved, despite this accounting for 85% of claims according to Aviva data. This rises to two thirds of drivers (66%) where someone gets hurt and to four fifths (80%) involving a wild or domestic animal. Read more

Roundtable tackles repair sector strain

Industry leaders from across the motor claims ecosystem convened in London on 26 March for the latest ILC Roundtable, powered by Activate Group.

The event brought together senior figures to address the increasingly complex challenge of repair capacity, amid rising vehicle complexity, fluctuating claims volumes, and economic pressures. Read more

Credit Hire Charges – How Much Is Too Much?

Chris Dibb, Credit Hire Technical Lead at Carpenters Group has reviewed a raft of cases recently which has highlighted just how far the daily credit hire rates charged by some firms has increased in recent years. 

In some cases now, hundreds of pounds a day are being charged for vehicles classified under the General Terms of Agreement (GTA) as S1 or S2. It leads me to think whether or not there is a line to be drawn in the sand in terms of just how high a daily charge can go before it is considered to be an unreasonable mitigation of any loss of use.  I think most would agree that there is a line in the sand somewhere; the debate being where on the scale that line is drawn. Read more

Toyota Proace Electric puts National Highways on the road to zero carbon

Supervising the thousands of miles of roads, tunnels and bridges across England’s major road network calls for a fleet of vehicles that can be counted on to do the job with complete reliability – day in, day out. When it came to choosing the first vans to join its fleet, National Highways turned to the Toyota Professional LCV range and the Proace Electric medium-duty van as the ideal choice. Read more

Powering Europe’s green freight future: ACEA and Eurelectric call for urgent grid reform and investment

As Europe accelerates its shift to climate-neutral road transport, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) and Eurelectric jointly urge policymakers to prioritise grid readiness for heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) charging infrastructure. Read more

Tariffs Take The Wheel: Higher Prices, Lower Sales, Greater Risks For The North American Auto Sector

The Trump administration’s shifting policy mix is altering the economic outlook, with our assumptions reflected in a likely downshift in GDP growth with rising downside risks. Read more

Higher pass rates in 2025 despite 18.3% drop in driving tests taken

New data from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has revealed that the backlog for driving tests has hit a new high, with the number of tests conducted falling substantially. Read more

Shredded tyres highlight car stunts danger – claim

Car enthusiasts are posing a danger to themselves and others, according to a man who has captured evidence of an unauthorised meet.

Shaun Bede-Cox, a warehouse manager for AM Trading in Harleston, Norfolk, said he had video footage suggesting drivers had been performing stunts, and found a shredded tyre in his yard. Read more

VisionTrack has welcomed Kuldeep Singh who has joined the company as Head of Operations.

Paul Anderson, Customer Success Manager at Entegral is running 121 miles in the Newcastle to Bishop Wilton Ultra to raise money for Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity. Click here to support: https://www.justgiving.com/page/paul-anderson-3