In the last article, we had a brief overview of the AA Drivesafe insurance policy / onboard monitor.  Here, we look at how the process and the mechanics of the system work and how it could set you on the road to a future of cheaper van insurance policies through achieving and retaining greater discounts.

From an aesthetic point of view, you would hardly notice anything different. A GPS box the size of a tobacco tin is installed, which takes approximately three quarters of an hour with paperwork; this then monitors your driving skills, your speed, what carriageways you used, when travelled and cornering and braking. This information is then delivered to the driver in the way of a report, who can then take steps to improve the areas that need correcting. When certain levels are attained, a further discount is applied to the monthly premium.

You arrange the fitting of the box when you sign up for the car or van insurance and you are automatically given a discount, because of your intention to improve your driving skill. If you have had trouble with your van insurance because you have acquired a lot of points, you will also qualify for the Drivesafe campaign. The better you get, the more discount is applied until you reach optimum performance, which, as stated, could see you save up to £850 a year against a policy taken out without the Drivesafe discount.

Also at time of sign up to committing to become a better driver to qualify for the cheaper insurance – and before the GPS Drivesafe box is installed into your vehicle – you will have to have your driving license checked, your V5C certificate and what the history of your no claims bonus indicates.

Once all that has been verified and your box is fitted, you’re good to go. You can access your very own Drivesafe Dashboard to double check your progress and see if you can expect further discounts on the premium throughout the remainder of your annual policy.

Be warned, though: if your driving goes the other way, or falters for whatever reason, according to the GPS information, you may well see your premium rise!

And there is a bonus – because the box works on GPS, it doubles up as a vehicle tracking device in the event that you van is stolen, which contributes to the discounted car or van insurance you can hope to achieve. And, of course, better driving should lead to fewer claims which will help you start on that road to a healthy no claims bonus for the future, saving all around.

There are more signs than ever that UK shopping habits have changed as many individuals prefer the comfort of their own home to the hustle and bustle of the High Street, when they can stretch their budgets to treat themselves to the occasional gift, of course.

As such, there is a greater demand on the home delivery network, both from online companies and your big brands who are also finding that a well-crafted shop outlet on the internet is well worth investing in.

This has led to a whole host of secondary businesses – possibly start-ups who have worked in the courier trade before – encouraging people to start up their own home delivery services. A van, a place to perhaps store goods overnight and a decent communication platform – how easy could a self-employed business get?

For a start, there are a whole host of commercial vehicle cover policies that may or may not suit your business and could all, theoretically, fit under the umbrella of courier van insurance. But there are distinct differences that separate each of the documents that going online to compare van insurance to see if price could be your staff and guide may not immediately identify.

Higher voluntary excess will deliver cheaper van insurance premiums

And then there’s the adjustments you can make to one or all of your premiums, such as high excess/low cover, whereby if you agree to cover a larger portion of the bill before the van insurance company has to contribute, it could save you a small fortune. Why?

If the minimum excess is £50 and you agree to proceed with your van insurance quote on that basis, the broker or comparison website you use will factor in that, in the event of an accident, they are going to foot the majority of the bill. Therefore, by extracting more from your premium they are covering themselves for that eventuality.

If, however, you decide to increase that excess to say around £200, it is beneficial to the broker in two ways. Firstly, and most obviously, they will not have to find so much of the bill as you have agreed to pay the first £200. But what really works in their favour is the fact that, if a repair bill was £250 you, as the policy holder, are a lot less inclined to claim on your insurance, as you would be paying £200 out to get £50 back and losing your no claims bonus (providing it wasn’t protected), to boot. However if you’d opted for the £50 minimum excess, you may be tempted to claim on your van insurance because you would be getting £200 back off the insurers towards the bill, which is possibly more than you’d save on your no claims bonus.

So, in the next article, we will move on to the differences between goods in transit, courier insurance and even touch on Bonding, which you may need to look at if you’re starting to build a courier fleet and employing several staff.

Van insurance and your MoT – you can’t take to the road without either and the condition of one may well have an affect on the cost of the other. No one likes going through either, as you feel you’re often at the mercy of people who are only in business to extract as much cash from you as is legally possible for the transaction you are about to enter into. In some instances, as has been well documented, MoT dealers have been accused of adding items to your bill that haven’t even been inspected, let alone replaced.

Over recent years, the rise and rise of the comparison website has kept your once cheap van insurance policy slightly in check, wherever possible, but the same cannot be said for your MoT. If you don’t know someone in the game – not every street has a Kevin Webster – you are bound by their word that what they say needs correcting to pass the test does; and being British, we don’t like to call them a liar or, much less, take the car away and go get a second opinion. Although that would be our rite, if we so chose to do so.

Many people who own a van do so because they have to. Their business and livelihood depend upon it and sometimes you can get the impression that mechanics know it. But one thing you must not let happen is emotion to override common sense – they are professionals at what they do just like you are in your trade of choice; if they say it needs fixing you have to psychologically go with the train of thought that they’ve got your best interest at heart and that they’re fixing your van in line with legislation in order to save you suffering calamitous effects at some stage in the near future whilst you’re on the road. Effects that could have a more serious impact than just adding a few quid onto your next van insurance premium or losing you your no claims bonus.

In another of today’s articles, we’ll take a quick overview of what you, the van driver, can do to prevent being ‘charged the market rate’ (a polite way of saying ripped off, to which one of my previous MD’s will attest) when it’s time for your MoT, at least giving you the opportunity to put those things right that you can in advance, rather than leave everything up to the mechanic on the day of the test and contributing to their hourly rate, when there are things that even the unskilled driver can address.

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It is a common-held belief that fleet and commercial van insurance is either over-priced or that fleet managers believe there are cheaper van insurance premiums out there that avail themselves to the competition but not them.

There is some merit in that sentiment, especially if you hire fleet management specialists and literally hand all of that type of negotiation to them. There’s an element of trust involved but, by the nature of them dealing with large fleets and all which that entails for their bread and butter, you can expect them to be able to secure the cheapest van insurance for your niche and size of fleet.

However, one of the most basic aspects that inexperienced fleet managers overlook is the devil in the detail. Getting the right cover for your business has as much to do with securing a cheap van insurance quote as any other factor. You may be on the button that your competitor, who is in the same trade, is getting cheaper cover, but have they cut the fat their van insurance, namely the aspects of cover that have little relevance to their operation, whereas you insure everything with a ‘just in case’ mentality, thinking you’re better off for it?

Another aspect could be: how much time do you spend researching your van insurance quotes? Is five minutes once every twelve months enough for you? One call to the existing van insurance broker and then one to one of the big brands and you consider the job done?

It is quite conceivable that your competitor has spent hours researching online, taking the time to compare cheap van insurance between providers on the multiple platforms available. Like everything in the life, reward is only as great as the endeavour to achieve. (This is going into Copyscape, so no one think of copying that line, right!)

And the last aspect, which is obvious when you say it out loud, but what do you do to monitor it: what do your drivers contribute to your rising fleet insurance or what can they do to reduce your fleet van insurance? Constant, incident-free driving is the only way to get your van insurance to a level where you have a history worth taking out additional protected no claims bonus.

Address all of those issues and you may not have the cheapest van insurance in your market sector, but there’ll be few with considerably less.

To start your journey to reduce your fleet van insurance quote, choose from over 60 top insurance firms here, using our online form.