Belfast

Getting van insurance is something that every van driver in the UK needs to do…but how many also add contents insurance? Not enough.

Put simply, “contents insurance” is when you insure what is inside your van such as tools or equipment, so if they get stolen or destroyed then you are covered and not left out of pocket.

This was recently highlighted in West Belfast, where a business owner had his van stolen by thieves, no doubt for a joy ride, before leaving it in another part of the city and setting fire to it.

While the owner of the van was insured for the van, he didn’t have contents insurance, and unfortunately there was £4000 of equipment in there at the time it was stolen.

Who knows if the van thieves took the equipment or set fire to it all, but the fact of the matter remains that this innocent business owner is now £4000 out of pocket, and because his insurance company is not going to be paying out for his lost equipment then he could even find himself out of business.

“I’ve lost everything,” he said, “the van is probably valued at about £1500 but I had no contents insurance on it so there’s nothing to really cover the tools.”

Let’s hope this particular business owner in Belfast can get back on his feet quickly and it won’t mean the end of his trading days, but if there is one message that every business owner can take away from this story it is…get contents insurance for your van.

All you have to do is visit a van insurance website, such as this one, and then check the box for “contents insurance” on the simple form. Your details are then sent off to over 40 insurers, who then give you instant quotes.

Many van drivers shy away from getting contents insurance for the simple reason that it does make the quote more expensive, but when you use a comparison website you might be surprised to find how cheap the quote can be.

Not only that, but think about the consequences of not having contents insurance, and being put in a position, through no fault of your own, where you have thousands of pounds worth of essential tools and equipment just disappear into the night.

Do you really think these van thieves care about you and your business? Of course not. All they care about is themselves and what they can get. At least if you have contents insurance, then it’s you that has the last laugh.

All it takes is a few minutes to fill out the form on this website here at Cheap Van Insurance and you can start getting quotes right away.

A recent survey gives us an insight into van drivers around the UK and how they look after their vehicles. The results are interesting.

The one statistic that I noticed right away is how 45% of van drivers in Sheffield never wash the outside of their van at all, leaving them with the dubious title of “dirtiest vans in the UK.”

In contrast, van drivers in London are considered to be the cleanest, with 38% of drivers washing their vans every week. However, this isn’t a job they tend to do themselves, instead hiring a cleaning or valet company to do the work.

It doesn’t seem that a clean van means cheap van insurance though, because as I’ve talked about before, London has the most expensive insurance quotes, while places such as Sheffield in Yorkshire have some of the cheapest.

Imagine if van insurance companies started noting how clean you kept your van, and then gave you more expensive quotes if it had not been washed for a long time. I’m sure that drivers in Sheffield would soon start getting that bucket and sponge out.

Overall, 17% of those surveyed around the country admitted they never washed their van at all…perhaps they just prefer to wait for the rain? Maybe that is why Sheffield has very little washing going on, because they get the most rain!

67% of those who took part in the survey also said their van is typically filled with food and drink wrappers, and they only clean it up once it literally becomes unmanageable

22% also confessed they use a spare seat in their van as a rubbish bin, while 62% said they prefer to pay someone else to clean their van.

It isn’t just London where vans are a lot cleaner. Cities such as Belfast and Birmingham also see van drivers giving their vehicles weekly cleans, although in these cities they are more reluctant to pay someone to do the job, preferring to do the washing themselves.

While all of this does make for some amusing reading, let’s not forget that if the van is the face of your business and is often the first thing a potential customer looks at, then it makes sense to at least give the outside of your van a wash once a week.

Never washing it all, like 45% of van drivers in Sheffield, might save you a bit of time, but you can also lose valuable customers and business.

Talking of saving time, if you are looking to get a cheap van insurance quote but don’t want to spend hours contacting different companies then you are definitely in the right place. Just use our simple form to get started, and then get quotes from many different companies almost immediately.

It has never been easier to compare van insurance quotes, saving yourself both time and money. Give it a try right now.

Tag: Belfast

Van Fire Highlights The Importance of Contents Insurance

Clean Van = Cheap Van Insurance? NO!

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3