For businesses with fleets, company vehicles are the foundation that keeps everything running. If you rely on your fleet to carry out essential business, it’s important to protect your investment with comprehensive insurance.
If your company has numerous vehicles, it can be a hassle to insure each vehicle individually, especially if you have multiple drivers. Multi van insurance is a convenient alternative that allows you to insure all your vehicles and drivers under a single policy.
This article will help you decide if fleet van insurance is a good option for your business, and how to choose the best one for your needs.
What is Multi Van Insurance?
Multi van insurance (also known as fleet insurance) is a type of cover that insures multiple vehicles and drivers under one policy with a flat rate.
Insurance providers offer a variety of different coverage types. The number of company cars you can cover will vary, along with the damages covered. Most providers have a minimum and a maximum number of vans, including even up to thousands of vans.
Benefits of Fleet Insurance
Covering your entire workforce of vehicles at once is often more cost-effective and convenient than insuring each vehicle or driver individually.
Multi van insurance has many perks:
- By choosing a single policy, you save the headache of juggling different coverage levels per vehicle
- Having a single renewal date means less administrative work and time for you
- Because all your vehicles have the same level of coverage, you don’t have to worry about choosing the right policy for each individual van
- If your drivers aren’t assigned to a single van, your policy may include them driving multiple vans
- When you change vehicles, you don’t need to worry that your cover is invalidated
Is Fleet Van Insurance Right For You?
Fleet van insurance may benefit your business if:
- You have multiple company vehicles
- You employ numerous drivers
- Your employees drive fleet vehicles interchangeably
- You want to reduce time spent on administrative duties
While multi van insurance is great for large fleets, it benefits companies with small fleets too. Let’s be honest: even for those companies with a full-time fleet manager, the less paperwork, the better.
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Choosing the Best Multi Van Insurance Policy
There are as many different policy types as there are insurance providers. The best coverage for you will depend on your fleet’s activity and industry, and how many vehicles and drivers you insure.
Types of Fleet Van Insurance Policies
In researching policies you will find that insurance providers offer:
- Comprehensive fleet insurance
- Third-party only fleet insurance (TPO)
- Third-party, fire, and theft fleet insurance (TPFT)
A comprehensive policy offers the broadest coverage, but it’s also the most expensive.
To choose the best one for you, weigh your industry risk factors and business needs against the costs.
Before choosing a fleet van insurance provider, consider these factors:
- Do they cover your employees using vehicles privately?
- Which types of damage are covered (personal injury, accidents involving wildlife, damage through vandalism, own fault, etc.)?
- What is the co-payment rate, and does it differ depending on the damage type?
- What is the maximum coverage amount?
- Which types of insurance are included (e.g. liability, fully or partially comprehensive coverage, passenger accident)?
- Are there special additional services such as GAP coverage (for leased vehicles) or brain injury damage?
- If you have drivers with a claims history, will that impact your overall fleet premium?
- Will they cover your staff driving vehicles interchangeably, or do they need to be assigned to one van?
- Does the provider demonstrate the level of customer service you expect?
In the long run, quality customer service saves you administrative time and hassle. Providers may offer an auto-renewing policy, but it’s better to shop around each year, as you could locate surprising savings.
Remember, the cheapest option isn’t always the best.
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Sometimes spending more money upfront for premiums can save you hefty deductible fees down the road.
Getting Started
Choosing the right insurance provider and policy for your fleet is no small matter. In the event of a claim, you need to trust that you are properly covered so you can minimise financial losses. Fleet van insurance can be a time and money-saving coverage strategy that is worth considering for companies with multiple vehicles.
When shopping for policies, consider your risk factors, fleet size, and the needs of your drivers. Putting in the time upfront to research providers will save you administrative effort down the road. And while fleet van insurance is a no-brainer for large fleets, it’s often worthwhile for small fleets, too.
At the end of the day, no one likes dealing with insurance paperwork. Fleet van insurance can simplify your life, so you can spend more time focusing on running your business.
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