One of the best ways of keeping your van insurance premium at an affordable rate is by keeping hold of your no claims bonus. If you’re a van driver, the good news is that you are statistically more likely to do this, as commercial vehicle drivers make far fewer claims on their insurance than others covered on UK roads.
As a van driver you are afforded a more receptive experience dealing with insurance brokers than those in the domestic market for several reasons. In the main, by buying a van in the first instance, an insurance broker may assume that you have made a considered purchase and not simply that you’ve bought a set of wheels because all of your mates are driving. You have made a decision that affects your entire livelihood and your van insurance company will respect that decision.
But more than that, if driving is your livelihood and you’re not a tradesman who uses his van to transport his tools and enable him to work on site, it is very liable that you have racked up experience in a few years that domestic drivers may never do. There is also the very real possibility that the company for whom you’re working has put you through advanced driver training to meet their own organisational goals, therefore even more in line for cheap van insurance quotes.
There are two ways that you can protect your current no claims bonus (PNCB) and your subsequent van insurance premium. The first is, if you’ve built up enough of a history of claim-free driving, you can pay an ancillary premium on top of your base van insurance policy. The cost will depend upon how many years you are claim free and the value of the bonus you are trying to protect.
The second way is, quite obviously, by not claiming against your van insurance. Using your experience to steer clear of incidents on the road and protect your van from theft will certainly help deliver the savings you’re looking for. This service, being discounted for full years of claim free driving, can roll over for up to nine years, where it will remain at the maximum discount until you make a claim, which you will not have to if you take out PNCB, as per option one.
The ulterior motive for offering discount in this manner for your van insurance provider is retention of your business. Many insurance firms will offer you an introductory discount equivalent to any no claims up to a point, but nine years continual discount is a lot to compete against. Hence, it’s win-win: you only pay for the cheap van insurance you deserve; they retain your business as you may struggle to find cheaper van cover anywhere else.
It’s not impossible, though; see if you could save using your no claims on your next van insurance quote from over 60 brokers and direct insurers using our bespoke online form.