February 8, 2011
Commercial Vehicle Insurance
Surprisingly, there’s a lot more to van insurance than you would think.
There are many types of vans – panel vans, luton vans, transit vans, single cabs, double cabs, flat beds, tippers, cherry pickers, chassis cabs and so on and so forth. They all have different uses and therefore will all be rated differently by an insurer.
Cover for Business Use
It’s not often a van is bought for purely personal tasks like social, domestic and pleasure purposes, so most insurance companies will not provide insurance other than a commercial vehicle policy to cover a van. This doesn’t mean you cannot have a policy with SDP cover, just that it will be added to a commercial policy rather than being available in it’s own right. It is also worth noting that there are some significant differences between commercial vehicle insurance policies and your usual SDP personal policy for your private motor car.
An example of this is not being covered to drive other vehicles. Many people believe fully comprehensive policies automatically include this, but this is not the case. In general private motor policies often offer this as an extension to their customers, but it isn’t always included, and is actually being gradually withdrawn across the industry as new legislation begins to come into force. On a commercial vehicle policy it is not available, even as an option.
If a van needs cover for more than one driver, insurance companies offer “any driver” policies. although “any driver” applies to those who have clean driving licences and history. A driver with any points or claims would still need to be named on the policy, and this would naturally increase the premium due.
Driving Ages
As you would expect, the younger a driver, the more you will pay whether on a named or any driver basis. On an any driver policy, ages can be limited to any driver over 21, over 25 or over 30, with the latter being the cheapest.
Modified Vans
Vans are frequently modified by their owners after they are bought, in order to better suit their intended use. To preserve the interior, the van may be ply lined, or fixtures such as tail lifts or footplates and grilles may be added. These items are classified as part of the van’s “fixtures” so provision should be made to include their value in the value of the vehicle overall, if you are insuring it comprehensively, then if they are damaged, you can claim back their value. Note that these items are described as “fixtures” because they are treated as part of the van, other tools and equipment will not be covered and will need their own policy.
The number of seats is something that is frequently changed, but care needs to be taken. Removing seats doesn’t present much in the way of additional risk, but adding them does. Due to past claims history, an insurer will want confirmation that extra seating was installed by a qualified expert, i.e. a main dealer, and may refuse insurance if there is no evidence, such as a receipt, as proof of who the work was done by. This is done to make sure that all seating, belts and other safety features are fitted correctly, and in the event of an accident will not fail causing further unnecessary injury or potentially even fatalities.
Sometimes a van might be modified to make it more personal, such as adding fancy alloys or spotlights, or sign writing the vehicle. Either way, the insurer should be notified, and believe it or not, the premium will not always be increased. In the case of alloy wheels, theft is more likely, so a premium would increase, but a van with sign writing on the side is very distinctive, so is less likely to be stolen, and therefore might qualify for a reduction in premium.
What is all amounts to is:
* There are insurers out there who can cover you regardless of what type of van you have * It is always best to talk to your insurer or broker, if you have any doubts or questions
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