With the multitude of choice of comparison websites one would be forgiven for thinking that cheap van insurance was easy to come by. However, as I’m sure many of you will verify, trying to retain, let alone reduce, van insurance premiums seems to be getting the exception rather than the rule.
With the end of the financial year rapidly approaching, finance departments will be pressurising fleet departments up and down the country (or bank business account managers if your business a smaller concern – don’t you just love them, BAM’s?) for end of year figures and budgets as well as costings and forecasts for next year’s vehicle expenditure. Just where do you pitch it?
Are all of your vans and trucks going to make it through another 12 months or should they be auctioned off, now? How on earth do you budget for fuel, given the proposed duty increases then postponements (not that the first delay in fuel-duty increase wasn’t welcomed in January)? And how are OFT findings and the government’s intervention in personal injury claims going to affect van insurance quotes and premiums in the future?
Over the next two articles, we will highlight half a dozen tips that could not only save you a packet in minutes using our online form, but also promote good habits for enhancing savings year on year through the use of better practises in your own fleet management.
Building up a no claims bonus and then protecting it when it gets to a certain level (usually five years claim-free minimum to allow it to kick in) can see massive discounts to the ‘retail’ price of van insurance. Nine years is usually the longest term you can accrue continual discounts on your base premium cost; if you do drive so safely for so long, 90% discount is not beyond the realms of possibility.
If you receive an unexpected rise after years of clear driving for all of your named drivers, but feel awkward in questioning which one of them may have accrued points on their private license which may make insurance brokers see them as hazardous, you can use a link direcly to the DVLA, services which send you reports, monthly or more frequently if you have concerns, which detail all of your registered drivers’ activity and license condition.
Continued