Insuring a van – PITA?

So, having decided to get a van, I find that the insurance is s complete minefield 😡

Regular insurers not interested, commercial insurers not getting their head around the way I want to use the vehicle

Any insurers worth speaking to – who understand the leisure use of a commercial vehicle?

Also, when I do get quotes, the range of numbers tell me something’s not working right 🙄

Try A-Plan and Adrian Flux, both will insure vans for leisure use. Flux can be a bit on the expensive side though.

http://www.comparethemarket.com/van-insurance/
easier than taking a piss

Try Brentacre, they’re a broker based in Wales, they specialise in unusual insurance requirements, vans, campers and modified cars etc.

Really friendly bunch of people, I was with them for years until I went all boring.

I’ve used Adrian Flux and Direct Line recently for insuring a van for social / domestic / pleasure use. Yes most of the major players aren’t interested but there are plenty that are. the comparison sites are pretty much a waste of time, unless you want to insure the van for business use.

Other interesting thing I found was when I converted that van to a sort of day van thing (added rocknroll bed, windows, heater etc) the insurance became way cheaper than just a van. It’s still a commercial vehicle on the V5, not a proper camper conversion. The insurance also covers you while you do the mods (on my policy it was the whole year), so you could do the work slowly.

When I got mine last year the usual comparison sites worked fine. More than 2 or 3 modifications and it got to the point of having to call rather than using the internet but no big deal.

In the end I went via a broker friend who knew how to (quickly put in the leg work and who got me the best quote so also worth considering doing it the old fashioned way.

I’ve used direct line past few years for kombi van, no issues at all

I’m with Adrian Flux, the first year was cheap but on renewal, they came back expensive.

I trawled the comparison sites and got it cheaper. Rang Adrian Flux and they dropped it even more.

Started out at £540 then eventually got it for £415. With the same insurer.

I paid Adrian Flux then called them Theives in Suits for taking the mickey with the initial price 😀

Well they did want customer feedback.

I did the comparison sites. Its insured with Swinton

I insured mine with Just Kampers Insurance (HIC) was a Kombi then converted to camper, no issues at all.

+1 for Brentacre. Got my van and car insured through them and as mentioned above good friendly service. I live in an area where crash for cash has screwed premiums but they were very cheap.

+2 for Brentacre.

I use Adrian Flux to insure a VW T5 panel van, self-converted into a campervan, for social, domestic, pleasure and business use. Doesn’t get too much more complicated than that, and they didn’t bat an eyelid.

Try Brentacre

+1

Greenlight for T5s….

I was with NFU for a few years but Adrian Flux worked out cheaper this time

so is the answer that it’s actually really easy to insure a van unless you try really hard to make it complicated?

As above, Brentacre are good but APlan are even better. £250 for a 5l V8 yank van and I can make any modifications I like to it. Only slight downside is a 5k a year mileage cap but as its a toy that doesnt matter.

Aviva for my van

direct line for my pug expert. just over 300 quid and they take/give NCD from/to car insurance. sd&p and business use.

Im another with direct line.

Very good when someone stuffed me up the rear on the M1. Maybe a better service as I was rear ended but van was picked up and hire one arrived the next day.

+1 for aviva

Will try Brentacre when I need to add stiffer coils to my car, strut bar and slightly tinted rear windows. 😀

Andrian Flux is not cheap for me due to only 3 yr NCB. 😮

Aviva for my Kombi T5. £50 cashback (Topcashback) made it the cheapest.

Found its cheaper to call up brokers rather than search online. I have used Adrian Flux and Insurance Choice

Another +1 for Brentacre. Transit mess/welfare van.

Insuring a van for business and social isn’t expensive, probably the same price as social only, so why not just tap in some imaginary business details and go for it?

+1 for Adrian Flux. Comparable quote to my last insurer and no nasty surprises on the last two renewals.

Aviva +1

They do an excellent job of not making it different to normal car insurance. Cheap for us too as part of a multi car deal.

Used CVD in the past but they charged big admin fees for any changes and just weren’t as straightforward.

Another + for Brentacre, beat all other quotes on renewal this year brilliant customer service.

Brentacre here (this year) but was Adrian Flux ladt year. Both were competitive and around the same price, but Brentacre were more friendly and said they would not charge me if I made any more mods to my van.

I got fed up ringing “specialists” all of whom took an age to record the van spec and then get back to me, “or had to check that with the underwriters”.

A mate recommended Aviva who have been excellent. They’re the insurers so everything goes direct, they didn’t bat an eyelid at any of the modifications to my T5 (Alloys, body kit, tints, kombi conversion, interior, etc). Adding work use was a no-cost extra and all my docs are available online when I need them. Even better they were cheaper than the cost of my normal car the van replaced. They were also happy to mirror my no-claims while I took a few months to sell my car.

I’ve heard too many stories about Adrian Flux when in the modified car scene to even consider calling them up.

A wee bump.

Big up to Brentacre. I’ve been converting my van into a “day van”. Phoned up my current insurers to tell them about the mods. They reacted as though I’d installed a home made particle accelerator in the back…

Passed me to their recommended partner who were clueless too. Made another enquiry online to another mob. They phoned me and eventually declined the quote because I didn’t own or have access to another vehicle. 😕

Had a quick search on here and found the recommendations for Brentacre. What an absolute pleasure to deal with. A really common sense approach. As soon as I mentioned my mods the guy said “oh you’ve got a day van”. Told me I can make as many mods as I want with no premium impact unless it increases the value or horsepower. Highly recommended for anyone going down the same route.

Unless brentacre use markerstudy as their underwriter….

Unless brentacre use markerstudy as their underwriter….

Wasnt them

Yeah I’m with Brentacre and I found the same. Spoke to a human in Wales who was into mountain biking. Totally painless and much cheaper then anyone else. It’s gone down substantially every year as well as I started with no NCB.

VW T5 2.5