| In the wake of the latest Budget announced by | | | | hybrid and the Smart diesel. |
| the Chancellor of the Exchequer, there is | | | | |
| growing confusion about which cars will be | | | | Band B (cars which emit between 101-120g/km) |
| clobbered for more tax according to one of | | | | includes the Toyota Prius 1.5 litre |
| the UK's leading car insurers. | | | | petrol-electric hybrid, Smart car 0.7 litre |
| | | | petrol, Citroen C2 1.4 litre diesel and the |
| Swinton Car Insurance is concerned that the | | | | Ford Fiesta 1.4 diesel. |
| latest wave of car tax rises outlined by | | | | |
| Gordon Brown is leaving drivers unsure about | | | | Band C (cars which emit between 121-150g/km) |
| which category their car fits into and | | | | includes Fiat Panda 1.2 petrol, Ford Ka 1.3 |
| whether their vehicle is one of the heaviest | | | | petrol, VW Golf 1.9 TDI diesel, Ford Focus |
| polluters. | | | | 1.8 TDCi diesel hatchback and the Jaguar |
| | | | X-type 2.0 diesel saloon. |
| The Manchester-based insurance company | | | | |
| believes that the vast majority of drivers of | | | | Band D (cars which emit between 151-165g/km) |
| family saloon type vehicles are unsure where | | | | includes the VW Passat estate 1.9 TDI diesel, |
| their car fits on the pollution scale and how | | | | MINI One hatchback 1.6 petrol, Ford Fiesta |
| much it is costing them. | | | | 1.6i petrol and the Peugeot 307 1.4 petrol. |
| | | | |
| But, more alarmingly, an increasing number of | | | | Band E (cars which emit between 166-185g/km) |
| drivers are getting worried that they may | | | | includes the Ford Mondeo saloon 1.8i petrol, |
| unwittingly be falling into Vehicle Excise | | | | Vauxhall Vectra 1.8 petrol saloon, Rover 75 |
| Duty (VED) banding brackets which are | | | | 1.8 petrol and the Toyota Avensis 1.8 petrol |
| becoming demonised for being so-called gas | | | | saloon/hatchback. |
| guzzlers. | | | | |
| | | | Band F (cars which emit between 186-225g/km) |
| Jon Kirk of Swinton Insurance said that it is | | | | includes the Land Rover Freelander 2.0 |
| all very well the Chancellor raising car tax | | | | diesel, Toyota RAV4 2.0 litre petrol, Audi A4 |
| for the heaviest polluting vehicles and | | | | 1.6 petrol, BMW 5 series estate 3.0 diesel |
| lowering it for the most environmentally | | | | and the Mazda MX5 2.0 petrol. |
| friendly cars, but the simple truth is very | | | | |
| few people actually know which of the seven | | | | Band G (cars which emit more than 225g/km) |
| A-G bandings their cars fall into. | | | | includes the Jaguar X-type 2.0 petrol saloon |
| | | | auto, Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe 3.6 litre |
| "It came as no surprise that the Chancellor | | | | petrol, Renault Espace 2 litre petrol Range |
| put up car tax on the heaviest polluting | | | | Rover 4.4 V8 petrol auto and the BMW X5 4.8 |
| vehicles in the latest Budget," said Jon. | | | | litre petrol. |
| "And most people know that 4x4s are the worst | | | | |
| polluters on UK roads, but that's not the | | | | Simply by making these examples known, |
| whole story." | | | | Swinton Insurance hopes to put drivers at |
| | | | ease because they have a better framework to |
| As he points out, figures from the Society of | | | | work from when trying to establish how much |
| Motor Manufacturers and Traders revealed that | | | | more they are going to have to pay each year |
| the worst polluting band only accounted for | | | | in car tax. |
| 7.5 per cent of all new cars sold in 2006. | | | | |
| | | | "The biggest problem is that most motorist |
| At the other end of the scale the number of | | | | have little idea how much the increases |
| cars which fall into the first two bands only | | | | announced by Gordon Brown are actually going |
| accounts for 4.7 per cent of cars. | | | | to cost them until they receive their car tax |
| | | | renewal notices," said Jon. |
| "This means that nearly 90% of cars on UK | | | | |
| roads fall into just four of the seven | | | | "And given the Chancellor's timescales, some |
| bands," said Jon. "So you can see where the | | | | people won't feel the full effect of his |
| concern is arising as there seems to be a | | | | announcement for another 12 to 18 months." |
| huge mid-ground where owners of typical | | | | |
| family cars can't be sure where on the scale | | | | While there are losers who will have to pay |
| they are in terms of carbon emissions." | | | | more car tax because of the Chancellor's |
| | | | announcement, there are also winners. Drivers |
| Swinton Insurance points to a list of | | | | of cars in Band B will see their road tax |
| examples of cars in the different bands to | | | | bills cut by £15 to £35. |
| try to help clear up some of the confusion. | | | | |
| | | | But this will only be short-lived because the |
| Band A (cars which emit less than 100g/km) | | | | Chancellor also said VED will rise by £5 |
| includes the Honda Insight petrol electric | | | | for each of the next three years. |