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Like other vehicle insurances, van insurance can be broken down into three categories –
• Fully Comprehensive Insurance – this is the most expensive form of cover, but provides the most benefits should you need to make a claim. Whether it's making a claim because of wear and tear, theft or a more regular claim fault, an accident, it doesn't make any difference as you will be fully covered. Furthermore, the one main thing Fully Comprehensive insurance covers that the other insurances don't cover is if you were to be involved in an accident, and the other party didn't leave their insurance details, you are fully covered and can expect to receive full compensation.
• Third Party, Fire and Theft Insurance – a popular choice amongst young drivers, Third Party, Fire and Theft cover ensures that you are covered should your vehicle suffer damage due to fire, be stolen or is involved in an accident, are to blame and the other party claims against you. The one thing it doesn't cover? Claims for your own vehicle involved in an accident where you aren't to blame, should you make a claim.
• Third Party Insurance – the most basic level of insurance, making it the cheapest. This is the legal minimum amount of cover needed. It covers the vehicle owner in the event of a third party making a claim against them, should they be involved in an accident and are rendered liable.
So how does van insurance differ from car insurance?
To qualify for van insurance, your vehicle should carry less than 4 people (including the driver), be designed to carry goods and must have a Gross Vehicle Weight of 3.5 tonnes or less.
Most insurance companies also require any van insurance holders to be aged 21 or above. Under that age, the risk is too significant to insure, meaning premiums would be too expensive.
In must also be noted that a lot of companies do not include cover for contents such as tools in your van. A percentage of companies do include this in there cover, but their premiums are often higher than those who do not include this extra cover. Instead, it's often recommended to take out separate cover for the contents of your van, as it can, quite frequently, work out much cheaper.
Further to this, you will have to create a much more tailored quote if your van is going to be used for use in the motor trade or as a vehicle for a full time driving role. Most insurance companies won't include this in their standard van insurance policies so give them a call to ensure you're covered.
A lot of people still believe that their van can be covered under a regular car insurance policy. This is, in its entirety, not true and a separate van insurance policy must be taken should you wish to be fully covered when driving your van.
All right, you expect to pay more for insurance when you're cruising around town in a Camaro or picking up the latest SUV off the lot, but are you seriously watching your rates go up for your fifteen year old clunker that barely makes it around town? You might be. There's a lot more to consider when you're figuring out the cost of your car insurance than how much your car is worth, and that something more might be sending your insurance rates skyrocketing as you watch the value of your car sinking lower and lower.
The question is, what's driving your car insurance rates through the roof? Before we start in on a long discussion on relative economics, ask yourself three questions:
1) Was I involved in an accident any time in the past year?
2) Was I convicted of a traffic violation by local law enforcement? (This can be anything from a speeding ticket to running a red light to driving under the influence. And for the record, if you just pay off your ticket and never appear in court it's the same as being found guilty according to the DMV and is still going to tack points on to your license. Food for thought.)
3) Did I change my policy coverage or limits since my last policy renewal? It's easy to forget these things, but if you moved out of state, added comprehensive or collision coverage to your car or raised the limits on your liability, you're going to watch the cost of your car insurance climb accordingly.
All of these things can have an immediate and rather dramatic affect on your car insurance premiums; however, if you're 100% certain that none of these is the reason for the sudden hike in the size of the checks you write each month you've probably been the victim of a company-wide hike in rates meant to compensate for the steadily rising rate of inflation.
Have you noticed that the cost of just about everything is going up these days? Of course you have. You can't even pick up a week's worth of groceries without going into the triple digits anymore! This raise in prices has led to an increase in the cost of living, an increase in the minimum wage and, for many companies, an increase in what they're charging their drivers for the privilege of being insured.
Think about it. What are two of your biggest expenses? We're not talking about the cost of your dry cleaning here. We're talking about expenses that could cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Your house, your car and the cost of your medical care are probably the first things that come to mind! The average insurance company pays out claims for all of these things on a daily basis, and without raising the cost of their premiums to compensate for the extra money they're paying out each month they're going to be out of business before you know it.
So no, it's probably not your fault your insurance rates went up. And yes, there's probably a very good reason. No, you're not going to be able to get out of it. What you can do is talk to your agent to see if there are any discounts you're not currently receiving that could lower your car insurance rates in the long run.
Remember, when you're talking about the amount of money you have left over at the end of the month every little bit counts.