09-10-2014

So you need van insurance but don’t want to pay over the odds for it. Where do you begin?

Here are 5 quick steps to lowering your van insurance.

#1 Cancel auto-renewal - If you’ve already got van insurance, make sure that it’s not set to auto renew. This keeps you from being locked into another year with the same company, and frees you up to shop around for the best available deal.

#2 Brand your van - Slapping your business logo on your van can result in up to 5% off your insurance premium.

#3 Compare the (whole) market - The obvious suggestion is to use online price comparison websites such as Van Compare, Compare the market and others. But don’t forget that not all insurance providers are online. And spending a bit of time digging out the numbers of some offline insurance providers could save you a lot of money in the long-run.

#4 Consider using a smaller van - As well as lower insurance premiums, using a smaller van also results in lower running costs and better manoeuvrability.

#5 Use the Security Advantage Equation - It’s important to secure your van. But before you start shelling out money on expensive security modifications, make sure to run your figures through the Security Advantage Equation. Here it is:

Security Advantage = Insurance premium - Cost of security modifications

The goal is to have a positive Security Advantage number. So if your van insurance is only £400 and you’re considering spending £1,000 on new locks...the resulting negative Security Advantage number should dissuade you.