Commercial Vehicle Insurance - Overview

Choosing commercial vehicle insurance can be a lot more difficult than choosing insurance for a private vehicle, making it potentially more difficult to make sure that you've found the best deal after searching the market. This is because of the range of commercial vehicles available - some suppliers are able to offer specialist rates for particular types of vehicle. For example, with vehicles of weight under 7.5 tonnes, some insurers will offer standard commercial vehicle insurance quotes online, but will require you to call direct for heavier vehicles so they can negotiate the best price for that particular vehicle.

There are some similarities with commercial vehicle insurance and private vehicle insurance that allow customers to make significant savings. For example, if you are a driver with no claims history, you may be able to transfer your no claims discount to a commercial vehicle if you are starting your own company. Insurers may also be able to offer discounts based on the level of usage of the vehicle (e.g. whether it is used locally or nationally), as well as for where the vehicle is typically stored. Additional security, such as an approved immobiliser can also help to bring your commercial vehicle insurance premium down, but you should check what type of security gives the biggest discount before investing in anything new.

Commercial Vehicle Insurance - Things to Consider

You should be aware that commercial vehicle insurance will typically not cover additional liabilities, such as goods in transit or tools stored in the vehicle, within the standard policy. However, many insurers offer this separately, and may be able to offer a discount if taken out with commercial vehicle insurance cover. Likewise, you might also want to consider the fact that the payout on a vehicle 'written off' might not necessarily cover the full cost of purchasing a replacement vehicle. To cover this, you should take out 'Gap' protection which will usually pay for the shortfall up to an agreed amount.

Commercial Vehicle Insurance - Safety Advice

It is important to know that road safety has an important impact on the insurance industry, and pushes premiums up, as well as affecting commercial drivers and other road users. For this reason, the police have recently launched a series of informal safety talks, promoting best practice for commercial drivers. For example, HGV drivers are not exempt from seatbelt laws, despite being in a large and 'safe' vehicle. Many accidents involve passengers hitting the windscreen, which is just as likely in a large vehicle as a small one.

Additionally, research has suggested that tiredness can cause a similar drop in attention and driving ability as drinking. There are concerns with some commercial drivers taking below the statutory minimum level of breaks from driving, and of those who do take the legal minimum having insufficient days off between long shifts to recover.

The police have also been concerned with the numbers of accidents caused by poorly maintained vehicles, as well as the time spent stopping vehicles that have been poorly loaded. Aside from the inherent safety risk, it is worth remembering that insurers may be unwilling to pay out in cases where it can be shown that an accident was caused by vehicle or loading condition, even where the driver was not directly at fault.

Visit www.car-insuranceuk.com regularly for the latest commercial vehicle insurance news and links to commercial vehicle insurance providers. Please follow the links on this page to obtain your own personalised commercial vehicle insurance or cheap car insurance quote and make your own comparison.

© April 2009