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In accordance with the laws prevalent in the UK all the motor vehicles, vans included, have to be insured as a minimum standard that has been set by the Road Traffic Act of 1988. It states that having insurance for covering the cost of damage that you may cause to other people owing to an accident is compulsory. The vans are categorized by Insurance companies in UK as a small commercial vehicle if it weighs less than 3.5 tons, whereas the ones that are heavier than this are categorized as trucks.
If you are a van owner, in the wake of the accidents and the stealing of commercial vehicles reported in UK it is very important to have your vehicle insured. In fact, if you do not have a minimum amount of insurance cover you are prohibited to drive. Although the level of the cover will have to be increased to cover your van not only for theft but also for any kind of accidental damage that might befall it.
The main kinds of van insurances being offered by almost all the insurers in UK are the third party only van insurance, the third party fire and theft insurance and the comprehensive insurance. They have been briefly explained as follows for a better understanding of the respective policies. The first kind of insurance, that is the third party only insurance, is the kind where only the damage that is meted to the third party is covered.
Any injury that the driver suffers from is excluded along with the damage to the van. This type of insurance is a must in UK and without which you a driver is prohibited to drive on road, whereas the third party fire and theft van insurance is a protection against all kinds of complaints that may be made against you in case you have had an accident. It mainly covers fire and theft aspects, and if your van is set on fire or stolen then with this type of insurance you are granted the right to make a claim after you have launched a complaint at the local police station.
When buying a cheap van insurance policy offered by an insurance company in the UK, it should be remembered that there is no one insurance policy that will cover your van for each and everything. Although the comprehensive policy does claim to give 'fully comp' or 'all risks', this is at times misleading as it gives the false impression that it covers for all kinds of eventualities, which is not true. In case you are unfortunate enough to meet with an accident, then the comprehensive insurance policy that is offered by almost all leading insurance companies operating in the UK provides a temporary van that you can use while your van is being repaired. In fact there will also be several companies that will have insurance policies which may even allow you to drive a van that belongs to someone else, although there are several limitations to this.
It is important to understand that this type of insurance is not the same thing as ordinary van insurance.This type of insurance was designed for those people who do a variety of different drop offs on a daily basis. Since you will be carrying other people's goods and dropping them off at various destinations, you are going to be required to have a special type of insurance in order to cover this.
You will find that this type of insurance is not something that most general van insurance companies offer, nor will you be covered by the regular type of van insurance that these companies do offer.
Whenever you begin shopping around for courier van insurance you will find that there are a variety of different types that will cover your courier van. However, it is important for you to make sure that you get the type of coverage that will cover the other people's goods. Essentially, what you are looking for is either Haulage cover or Hire and Reward cover. There is also third party insurance, third party fire and theft insurance and comprehensive coverage insurance available. You can also find insurance that will only cover those persons who are actually listed on the van insurance policy itself. Another option is to choose to have your insurance policy cover your entire organization.
So, what exactly does courier insurance cover? The answer to this question actually depends upon what type of coverage you select whenever you get your UK courier van insurance policy. If you choose to get a Haulage policy, then all of the goods that your van caries for other people on a multi drop basis will be covered. However, it is important to understand that your own personal goods will not be covered under this type of an insurance policy. In order to insure your own personal goods, you will need to add a Goods In Transit policy.
You should also know that there are a variety of discounts available to you. Some of these various discounts include:
1. Introductory discounts are available from some insurance companies for those who are just getting started in the courier business.
2. Discounts are available for those who have a good driving record.
3. Discounts are also available if you choose to have several different types of policies with the same insurance agency.
If you have multiple vans that you are using in your courier business, then you are going to need to put courier insurance upon all of the vans that you use. In such a case you are going to want to look into what is known as fleet insurance for couriers. With this type of an insurance policy you will be able to insure all of the various vans that you are using for your courier business under just one single policy.