Northern Ireland van insurance customers are being advised to do their bit for the environment while the UN climate change summit is taking place in Copenhagen – and they could bring down the price of their premiums in the process.

Mobile resource management experts Trimble recommend that van insurance customers switch off their vehicles' engines when they are stuck in traffic or a rush-hour standstill, something they say under five per cent of drivers currently do.

"If a driver is parked at the side of the road to complete paperwork or make a call, or [is] even making a delivery which lasts more than ten seconds, the engine should be switched off," suggests managing director Andrew Yeoman. "Idling the engine for more than ten seconds uses up more fuel than switching off and restarting again."

According to Yeoman, enough fuel to drive one mile is wasted for every two minutes an engine is left idle. He cites recent tests carried out on a lorry fleet which illustrated that reducing daily idle time from an hour to 10 minutes could save businesses £614 per lorry since 564 fewer litres of petrol would be needed.

The latest developments in the field of in-cab technology signals mean Northern Ireland van insurance customers have the chance to trim the cost of their annual premiums.

According to the wireless communication experts responsible for the "all-seeing" Driver DNA Box, White Van Man has the potential to transform himself into King of the Road with the introduction of the device.

Not only does it offer the potential to reduce the price of Northern Ireland van insurance by recording where a vehicle is travelling and how it is being driven, the device helps to reduce carbon emissions by spotting van faults so they can be tackled in good time.

Trimble's Andrew Yeoman explains that the DNA Box sends diagnostic information it records in a vehicle back to business managers, so they can monitor bad driving habits and how well the vehicle is running. This, he says, will save firms money by running teams more effectively, as well as offering the potential for cheaper van insurance premiums.

"Improving road safety is paramount to us and our fleet customers," he concludes. "If we can help drivers realise what they need to change and help prevent accidents then we are proud and pleased to do so."

Van insurance customers in Northern Ireland and the wider UK have been stepping up their vehicle security during the recession, Swinton has discovered.

The majority of 2,000 commercial vehicle drivers questioned by the van insurance provider admitted they had either bought or updated protective equipment in the last 18 months.

Immobilisers and trackers were the crime-prevention methods cited most often by van insurance customers across Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, followed by extra door locks and steering locks.

Just under two-thirds of respondents revealed that safeguarding the contents of their van was their main motivation for taking security measures, while just over a fifth said the vehicles themselves were their main concern.

According to the van insurance provider's study, the recession is behind 91 per cent of drivers' growing fears about vehicle crime, which Swinton says has increased in some areas of the UK.

"However, this has had a positive effect on our van drivers as they are becoming increasingly more safety-conscious," remarked Phil Moss, Swinton's commercial vehicle manager.

He went on to note that many Northern Ireland van insurance providers offer discounts to drivers whose vehicles have extra security features like trackers and/or immobilisers.

Northern Ireland van insurance customers spend, on average, two hours searching for online van insurance quotes, new research suggests.

Analysts at van insurance provider Swinton Commercial looked into the experiences of 1,000 customers, finding that motorists are spending more time looking for cheap van insurance quotes than they were at the same time last year. In October 2008, the average van insurance customer spent an hour and a half searching for a policy.

Swinton's researchers say this is the first time in five years that the length of time spent looking for van insurance has gone up rather than dropped, which it had done every year previously.

They attribute the change to recession-induced financial pressures, particularly since motorists are now more likely to be on the lookout for a cheaper van insurance quote.

Phil Moss, Swinton's commercial vehicle manager, adds: "The increased use and availability of the internet has had a massive impact on the car insurance industry. Motorists can now get a quote anytime, anywhere and in a short amount of time."

Other recent research by Swinton found that van insurance customers in Northern Ireland and the wider UK increasingly use their vehicles as a "mobile office".