Van Insurance for 'normal' non business use?

[anonymous-user]

Right, firstly I dunno if this is in the right section but couldnt see a insurance specific one so thought this was closest.

I've got a old, tired Octavia vRS which is soon going to cost me as much as I paid for it to keep it on the road. My mate is currently looking for a larger van to replace his little Corsa Combo he has now. I'm tempted to have it off him when he finds a replacement, it's only a little 1.3 diesel so sips juice, goes well and is quite clean. It'd be handy to have a bit of extra room, moving the motorbikes about, taking dog(s) down the woods etc, plus I enjoy driving a van in a strange way but.....

I have one issue, insuring it? I'm not using it for any kind of trade or business use BUT I would be using it for going to and from work often (when I can be bothered to get the bike out), from reading on one of the comparison sites even for that use it needs to be business class insurance? I'm assuming if I'm going down that route it'll cost me more. Will I lose anything that I have on my current car policy like driving other cars clause? I dont use it much but it's handy to have.

It sounds like it's not possible to insure it like a normal car, even though I'll be using it as one, just with the added bonus of some extra room.

Cheers in advance

[shovelheadrob]

You'll find that you'll probably have to pick up the phone & speak to a broker or insurance company direct, the comparison sites are geared towards vans for business use.

[Bellatrix]

We were in the same position when we inherited a Kangoo and eventually ended up with van insurance provided by the Post Office. You'll find it'll cost you more than the equivalent car but not by that much.

[dacouch]

Co Op and Direct Line used to offer this, not sure if they still do so give them a ring.

Expect to pay more than you would for an equivalent car

[SS2.]

We recently picked a Clio van as a short-term workhorse, shopper & dump wagon - insured it fully comp with Admiral for SDP & commuting.

Not that we were looking to transfer NCB from any of our cars, but it seems that whilst insurers will happily transfer no claim discount from a car to a van, they won't generally transfer it back from a van to a car.

Something worth keeping in mind before moving any NCB across to a commercial vehicle, perhaps.

[AndWhyNot]

I moved from car to van last year for a couple of practical purposes. Changed the insurance (Aviva) and the cost came down. I did add business use but this was optional within the insurance conditions. Only downside was that the policy was no longer eligible for multicar.

[JimbobVFR]

An east way to avoid the whole issue is to buy a Berlingo Multispace or similar.

Weirdly I found when I wanted a van to use as a small tradesman that for the same money the car version would get you much better condition lower mileage vehicle, even when insured for full business use the insurance was much cheaper than the equivalent van.

[anonymous-user]

Thanks for the replies, I'll have a ring round and see what kinda prices I'm looking at. The NCB transferring back to car policy is a bit worrying but again, I'll have to research it.

JimbobVFR said:

An east way to avoid the whole issue is to buy a Berlingo Multispace or similar.

Weirdly I found when I wanted a van to use as a small tradesman that for the same money the car version would get you much better condition lower mileage vehicle, even when insured for full business use the insurance was much cheaper than the equivalent van.

The problem with that is my mate is selling a Combo Van, if it was a Meriva I'd not want it.

[Hooli]

CaptainMorgan said:

Right, firstly I dunno if this is in the right section but couldnt see a insurance specific one so thought this was closest.

I've got a old, tired Octavia vRS which is soon going to cost me as much as I paid for it to keep it on the road. My mate is currently looking for a larger van to replace his little Corsa Combo he has now. I'm tempted to have it off him when he finds a replacement, it's only a little 1.3 diesel so sips juice, goes well and is quite clean. It'd be handy to have a bit of extra room, moving the motorbikes about, taking dog(s) down the woods etc, plus I enjoy driving a van in a strange way but.....

I have one issue, insuring it? I'm not using it for any kind of trade or business use BUT I would be using it for going to and from work often (when I can be bothered to get the bike out), from reading on one of the comparison sites even for that use it needs to be business class insurance? I'm assuming if I'm going down that route it'll cost me more. Will I lose anything that I have on my current car policy like driving other cars clause? I dont use it much but it's handy to have.

It sounds like it's not possible to insure it like a normal car, even though I'll be using it as one, just with the added bonus of some extra room.

Cheers in advance

We've got a Caddy Maxi van that I sometimes use to get to work & even do work miles in. It's insured for business use just like a car, rather than own business use. We're with Ageas & it was via Compare.com.
Just don't tick business use on the site as it assumes own business & triples the price.

[PurpleMeanie]

Look for "Private Van Insurance". Or "Personal Van Insurance".

e.g. http://www.axa.co.uk/insurance/personal/van/