Van insurance cover is an essential element in protecting your van against theft or accidents. Not only is it important in terms of protecting your financial investment but it is also a legal requirement in the UK. UK laws are strict and you run the risk of heavy penalties for failing to insure your van correctly. So what type of van insurance do you choose. More importantly for the frugally minded is what kind of cheap van insurance is available
There are essentially 3 different types of van insurance available.
Comprehensive Van Insurance
This kind of van insurance offers complete insurance coverage for your van. This means that it covers the van for damages, accidents, crashes, robbery, fire and destruction. Comprehensive van insurance also covers third party damages. A third party may be either an individual or perhaps a business. As well as damage to property and the van, comprehensive insurance also offers medical coverage towards the owner and also the third party within the case of injuries. This is very handy if the van is involved in an accident where people are hurt and medical bills can become very expensive.
Because of the extent of the cover and possible cost to the insurance company in the event of a claim against them they charge quite high premiums in comparison to other insurance options.
Third Party Fire And Theft Van Insurance
Third party fire and theft van insurance provides insurance coverage in the event of of theft, harm, fire, disaster, lightning and blasts. But this kind of third party insurance does not protect you against damages to your own van in the event of an accident. However the cost of this insurance is much lower than comprehensive because the risk to the insurance company is much lower. The flip side is that in the event of an accident in which your van is extensively damaged you will have to cover the cost of this repair at your own expense.
Third Party Van Insurance
This type of van insurance is the cheapest of all the choices but it offers the least protection. You will enjoy no cover of any kind against any damage or loss to your own van and will be mostly protected against the costs of the damage to any third party such as another car or shop front or someones gate post.
The primary issues to consider when choosing insurance cover is affordability. Which insurance premium is manageable. The second issue to be decided is the level of risk to your van. What is the likelihood of it being stolen,damaged or involved in an accident. Who will be driving it and what will it be used for?
If it is going to be a delivery van traveling every day and being driven by an employee then the chances of an accident are much higher than if it is going to be used occasionally on the weekend for a leisure activity and being driven by yourself.
Once you have assessed your risk and affordability then it is advisable to shop around for a few quotes. Premiums can vary considerably and you can often save quite a lot of money by shopping around. This is true for car insurance comparison as well.
Car insurance is very similar to van insurance and the same classes of insurance are available for cars. So comparing quotes is very important to make sure you are getting the most cover for the lowest cost.