Commercial Vehicle Insurance

Van Insurance Explained
With Tips and Tricks On How To Reduce Your Costs!!

Unfortunately (or fortunately for us) everyone in the UK who owns a van or commercial vehicle must have insurance, and to someone who is fairly inexperienced to motor insurance the task of finding the most appropriate policy can be daunting. 

How To Obtain Van Insurance Cover.
There are more and more ways of obtaining motor insurance, through an insurance broker, directly with an insurance company, through online comparison sites, even through a supermarket, but which is the best way to obtain insurance?

By going directly to an insurance company like Norwich Union Direct or Direct Line for example, they say they can reduce costs by cutting out the the middleman, this may be so, but they can only ever quote themselves and in most instances they are not going to be the cheapest option anyway.

Comparison or aggregator sites work in a similar way to insurance brokers in the fact that they compare quotes through a panel of insurance companies. That's about where the similarities end. With comparison sites you are responsible that the information you input is correct. The sites check for the cheapest policies, but the cheapest policies are often inadequate or have various restrictions or clauses like much higher excesses for young drivers, maybe no courtesy car or legal cover,  limited mileage restrictions, or no European cover,  these sites will not tell you about these clauses, it is basically down to you to ensure the policy is adequate, most times you wont know about these restrictions until you come to make a claim and suddenly you're not paid out.

Insurance brokers will search a large panel of selected insurance companies and although they will look to find the cheapest policy for you, they will explain any restrictions a policy may have like full policy excesses etc or clauses to ensure you are aware of them and that the policy quoted is right for your needs as a motorist.  If you have any problems or need to make a claim you can speak to someone in the UK and a broker will be able to provide you with advice on mid-term changes or claims. At the renewal time they will also automatically search the market again for you to ensure your current insurers are still the most suitable option for you.  A direct company or aggregator site will not provide this level of service.

So we advise, use a broker!!!

The Right Level Of Cover
Basically speaking there are 3 levels of cover you can choose from.

1. Third Party Only.   This is the basic minimum level of cover you can have for van insurance. In the event of an accident this policy will pay for any damage to someone else's property, or injuries to others, including passengers. You will have no cover for damage caused to your own van, although if you are in the right in the accident this damage can normally be recovered from the third parties insurers.

2. This Party Fire & Theft.   This is the same as third party only cover, but includes cover for theft of your car or if the van is damaged by fire.

3. Comprehensive.   Also know as 'fully comprehensive or 'fully comp' this cover will provide the same cover as per third party fire & theft and will also pay for any damage caused to your own van irrespective of whom was to blame. This cover will also include cover for windscreen or window damage and also damage to personal effects in the van (to a set limit), excluding business items.  A hire vehicle can often be given to you as well whilst your vehicle is being repaired.

A rough rule of thumb is to insure a vehicle of £ 500 or less just Third party only, between £ 500 - £ 1,500 either third party only or Third party fire & theft, and over £ 1,500 either Third party fire & theft or Comprehensive.
We would say if you would struggle to replace a car of similar condition if you went out, hit a hedge and wrote the car off,  then insure it Comprehensive.

Use
If you are using your van or commercial vehicle for a business, you must make sure the policy includes business use, and not just social, domestic & pleasure use as this would be inadequate for a business van.  However if you are retired or a housewife then make sure your policy excludes the business use as you wont require it. Having a van which is used for S,D&P use though can put the cost up as insurers don't like insuring vans which aren't used for business.

Tips.
You're better off getting a quotation on all 3 covers as quite often third party fire & theft cover is cheaper than third party only as there are more insurance companies doing this cover and sometimes comprehensive can work out cheaper than third party fire & theft as certain discounts like age of vehicle, age of driver etc can reduce the premium.        Just ask!!

For a cheap van insurance quote online, click the button below.

Why Does Van Insurance Cost So Much
These are some of the things which an insurance company will take in to account when working out the price of your van insurance and why some people are more expensive than others.

• Sex.  Females although apparently they have about the same if not more accidents than males, they're claims are much smaller.  Usually blokes will have their mates in a vehicle and an accident often results in injuries to passengers and liability claims is what puts the insurance up for males, which is a main reason women can find cheaper cover, although on vans this isn't so much the case.

• Driver Age.  Young drivers and learner drivers are less experienced and are therefore considered more likely to be involved in an accident. Discounts will be given the older you get, but once you get to around 70+ your discounts will start to decrease.  As you get older your reactions often start to slow and stats show an increase in accidents arises in this age group.

• Security.  If the vehicle has a standard alarm or immobiliser, insurance companies will not normally give a discount for this as it's normally included within the group of the car.  If it has an aftermarket 'Thatcham' approved system then additional discounts can often be given.  If the vehicle is kept in a locked garage or even off road then additional discounts can given.

• Where You Live.  Being based in Cornwall we have one of the lowest rated areas in the country because of the low traffic density and lower theft risk.  Larger cities are more expensive because the likeliness of having an accident is greater and normally a higher crime rate.  Move out to the country to reduce your premium.

• Your History.  If you have been involved in an accident or made a previous claim, fault or non fault, your insurers must know, stats show persons who have an accident are more likely to be involved in another one within 3 years.  Motoring convictions will also increase your premium, even just one speeding conviction, so drive steadily.

• Vans & Commercial Vehicles.  There are currently a lot less van insurers than there are for cars.  Car insurance is much more competitive as there are more cars than vans on the road, so there is more space for more insurers to take a share of the market.  Vans are also used at more unsociable times, they tend not to be driven as carefully as private cars, and they have a large rate of being broken in to.  Having said this the claims rate is no higher than on private cars.

To find the best online van insurance quote, click the button below.