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