The Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered his first full Budget yesterday and, as always, a number of his announcements will have an impact on Britain's motorists.

A transitional Budget before a move to an annual Autumn Budget, yesterday's speech held little particularly dramatic and, indeed, many of the elements had already been made public.

There were, however, several elements that will affect drivers, particularly those who run a company car. Here we round up the key points.

First the good news – fuel duty has been frozen for the seventh consecutive year, sparing motorists one source of increased expenditure.

That aside, however, running a car is set to get more expensive in 2017.

Tax rises

Insurance premium tax will go up by two per cent to 12 per cent on June 1, a move which will inevitably see the cost passed on to motorists.

The Budget also confirmed the previously announced changes to VED which introduce a simple three-tier charging system. Under the new tax regime, which comes in on April 1, buyers of virtually all new cars will find themselves worse off than under the old system. Our tables here^[1] will show you just how badly.

The cost of pollution

Mr Hammond said that the Government was committed to improve the air quality of Britain's cities, and a number of the measures announced in the Budget are designed to encourage more use of low- or zero-emissions vehicles.

Ominously for owners of diesel cars, he warned that the Government would continue to explore the "appropriate tax treatment" for diesel vehicles. This is unlikely to be good news and will most probably take the form of higher tax on diesel vehicles in a bid to move people and businesses away from the fuel. More details are expected by the time of the next Budget.

Company cars

Reflecting a desire to get more drivers into low-emission vehicles, changes to company car tax were announced that mean by 2020/21 the benefit-in-kind rates will be affected by how far a vehicle can travel without emitting any CO2. As a result costs for combustion-engined cars and more polluting hybrids will rise.

For now, however, the minimum company car benefit-in-kind tax charge will be nine per cent for cars emitting 0-50g/km of CO2, rising to 37 per cent for those emitting 190g/km or more.

Also affecting company car drivers is an increase in the fuel benefit charge multiplier. This means people whose fuel is paid for by their employer but who also use the car for private travel will see their BIK tax bills rise.

How much of the value of a business vehicle companies can write down against taxable profits is also changing, with the main rate threshold for capital allowances reduced from 130g/km of CO2 to 11g/km from April 2018. The lower threshold is also being reduced, from 75g/km to 50g/km. As a whole this means companies will be able to write off less of the value of their vehicles, unless they are ultra-low-emission.

Investment

As well as various additional costs for drivers, Mr Hammond announced a £270 million investment to keep the UK at the leading edge of "disruptive technologies". These include the increasingly important area of driverless vehicles, where Britain wants to be a world-leader.

He also said that the Government would spend £220m trying to ease congestion in the worst affected areas across the national road network.