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