WASH ME – 17% of Britain’s drivers never wash their vans

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New research from Gocompare.com reveals the cleaning habits of Britain’s van drivers – and finds that Cambridge has the highest proportion of drivers who NEVER clean their vehicles.

If you’re the sort of person who keeps empty chocolate bar wrappers on their spare seat, dog chews on their floor (not that you’ve ever owned a dog), and a shopping bag containing other shopping bags in their glove compartment, you might be sympathetic to these survey respondents – everyone else, look away now.

New research from Gocompare.com Van Insurance has found the different approaches, views, and practices of van drivers when it comes to cleaning their vehicles. It’s not pretty:

17% of British van drivers admit to never washing their van at all.
67% said that their van is usually cluttered with food and drink wrappers.
22% said that they use their spare seats as their rubbish bin (for actual waste – not as a comment on their passengers).

The worst offenders

It would seem that there is a general reluctance among van drivers when it comes to cleaning their vehicles. 62% of drivers who use a van for their business said that they would rather pay someone else to clean it, rather than do it themselves.

However, some were prepared to suffer on through, while drivers in other areas couldn’t face cleaning their van at all. The worst included:

Cambridge –an entire half of Cambridge respondents never washed the outside of their van – and nearly 38% never washed the inside either.

Sheffield – 45% never washed the outside of their van. Though they were more inclined to clean the inside, the majority of the waste they did find there was old pay and display parking tickets.

Leicester – 33% never gave their vans a hose down. On the other hand, those that did preferred to clean it themselves, with 12.5% favouring doing it at home over taking it to a car wash, the next most-popular option.

Of the different professions, delivery drivers were the most likely to leave their van messy and unclean – perhaps due to being in a hurry – with nearly a third saying that they never gave it a wash over.

Squeaky clean (almost)

On the other end of the scale, London has some of the cleanest vans around – with 38% of business van drivers washing their vans inside and out on a weekly basis. But despite wanting to stay clean and fresh, it wasn’t through any work of their own: 70% admitted they didn’t do the cleaning themselves.

The only two locations cleaner were Belfast – at 44% with weekly full cleans – and Birmingham, with 40%.

Matt Oliver, from Gocompare.com Van Insurance, said: “With many van drivers using their vehicle for work, it’s interesting to see how attitudes vary when it comes to cleaning their vehicles.

“While making time to clean your van is unlikely to be at the top of anyone’s to-do list, a van can be the face of your business so keeping it tidy only makes sense.”