Buying van insurance

Van insurance is nearly as competitive as car insurance these days so there's plenty of deals to be had so shop around

There are some key things to think about when buying van insurance:

1. Make sure you quote for the correct van - the system that looks up vehicles online using the registration number is not as accurate for vans as it is for cars so double check that the van that you are being quoted for is the right one

2. If you have to find your own van online, make sure you find the right one as there are a vast number of types for each model - particularly the Ford Transit and it can make a difference to the quote if you select the wrong one, not to mention problems when and if you have to claim

3. Look to see what covers the insurance companies offer for things that you may have i.e. signage, racking, chiller units and specialist modifications

4. Tools are rarely covered under a standard van insurance so if you keep tools in your van make sure you remove them at night and if you have windows in your van, black them out to stop people seeing what is in your van

5. Know who you need to drive your van - if its just you then only get cover for yourself. If you have other people driving your van then make sure you name them rather than getting an 'any driver' policy.

6. If you have named drivers make sure you get the correct cover level i.e.

Class 1 - allows the policyholder (and their spouse) to drive in connection with their business (as well as social, domestic and pleasure use)

Class 2 - allows anyone named on the policy to drive in connection with the policyholder's business

Class 3 - allows anyone named on the policy to drive in connection with the policyholder's business including commercial travelling

No Claim Discount

This is often a confusing part of van insurance, so we have tried to explain the key points of No Claim Discount

Do I need van insurance?

The answer to this is going to be 'Yes' if you own a personal use van or a commercial van. UK Van insurance allows you to drive a van (normally a Van is weighted up to 3.5tonnes - over that is normally a truck) on the roads in the UK. As with cars it is a legal requirement to have valid van insurance cover to allow you to drive any van on the UK roads. Many insurers combine car insurance with Van insurance however some specialist insurers also call it Commercial vehicle insurance or Commercial van insurance as they tend to cater specifically for comercial use vans rather than people who use them for personal use.

Is the cheapest van insurance the worst?

No - but you should always check the cover levels that each van insurance provider is offering to ensure that your van is covered. Cheap van insurance may just be that "cheap van insurance" when you should be thinking of what is good value van insurance i.e. are you getting the best cover for the best price rather than are you paying the least for the bare minimum van insurance.

Van Insurance UK

Easy Van Insurance only provides links to UK van insurance companies. However, as with all motor insurance types, it is understood that you will, on occasion, need to drive your van abroad and so provide temporary insurance (usually within the EU) abroad as standard for short periods of time.

Compare Van Insurance prices

Here at Easy Van Insurance we have done the leg work for you to give you an idea of which company is best for your type of van by picking 5 of the most common types of van and getting a comparitive quote from each insurer - below is a table of our findings

We have recently updated our van insurance quotes to give you an up to date comparison of the leading van insurance providers. On the whole it is not a good picture for Van drivers with some prices increasing by over 100% in 6 months with Churchill. However there are still good deals to be had with some Be Wiser insurance premiums actually reducing in the period.

Based on premium alone - Yes Van insurance comes out cheaper for all types and Direct Line insurance comes out most expensive for all quotes. However this does not factor in cover levels so its still worth comparing companies to get the best deal for you.

We used the same information on all quotes:

Postcode: Bromley
Main driver age: 39
Second driver: 29
Gender: Both male
Mileage: 12000
Clean driving history
Occupation: Manual

Van Insurance Quotes

In order to allow you to make the best decision on which insurance company is the best for you we have done the quotes for you on a number of the most popular van types in the UK (Ford Transit Connect, Ford Transit, Volkswagen (VW) Transporter, Mitsubishi L200 and Mercedes Vito). Each of the van insurance quotes we have done are on the same details to give a fair comparison. You can then decide which insurance company is the best for you to get a van quote from.

Online Van insurance quote

Easy Van insurance has done the leg work for you and done the quotes on a number of the most popular UK van types and also a summary of cover levels and how the online quote site works or if they give you an online van insurance quote or not. There are still some sites in the UK that only capture your details but do not provide a quote online - they will get an insurer to call you. In this day an age it is a shame that there are sites that still cannot give an onlne van insurance quote - however these are generally broker insurance sites (sites who find insurance companies who can cover you and charge a commission for doing so).

Specialist van insurance

As mentioned above some van insurance sites do not provide online quotes and these are generally broker websites. Whilst it is frustrating that they do not provide online van insurance quotes, they do have a use - specialist van insurance. What is specialist van insurance? Well it is for van insurance risks that are outside the norm. Examples of this sort of risk would be poor claims history, specially modified van, high risk use, low no claim discount, young drivers and so on. The specialist van insurance risk is one that mainstream insurance companies would not wnat to insure so these are not going to be cheap insurance quotes.

Compare Van Insurance

Easy Van insurance does not allow you to compare your own van insurance risks directly. Where we are unique is that we give you the impartial view of the insurance companies and compare a quote on a like for like basis so you can make a choice as to whether the cover each insurance company provides is correct and whether the indicative price is in the right area and then you can compare van insurance prices armed with the knowledge up front.