Insurance confusion

[Ashtoguy12]

Hi All

New to the forum and hopefully will be getting a van but having difficulty with insurance. We are foster carers so need business insurance. When I quote a shuttle this prices as a car and the price is reasonable. But we have found a kombi with 8 seats and when we put reg in websites it says it’s a van and needs to be commercial insurance so price doubles. We don’t need commercial insurance. Any advice on what I can do. The sites let me manually select the model but unsure if that’s best. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Chippie1]

I’d say you’re better off ringing I know it’s a pain in the ass but I always do it so I can tell them everything mods etc and get an agreed valuation! These comparison sites or any online insurance is very generic and you can’t change or add every detail

 

[Ashtoguy12]

Cheers. Just waiting on a call back.

 

[Bav]

Try to find a high street broker or call one of the national brands - they should have a good idea which insurers are suitable for your needs and, if necessary, they can pick up the phone and speak to the underwriter. The online comparison sites just cater for bog standard business.

Also, an 8-seater kombi is not a standard configuration, so what other changes have been made? Have you looked into re-reclassification - you might be able to get it reclassified as a 'van with windows', which may (or may not) help reduce your insurance premium.

Edit: You should only need Class 1 business use.

 

[Dave A]

Hi All

New to the forum and hopefully will be getting a van but having difficulty with insurance. We are foster carers so need business insurance. When I quote a shuttle this prices as a car and the price is reasonable. But we have found a kombi with 8 seats and when we put reg in websites it says it’s a van and needs to be commercial insurance so price doubles. We don’t need commercial insurance. Any advice on what I can do. The sites let me manually select the model but unsure if that’s best. Hope that makes sense.

We've got three vehicles with A Plan (01635 879910) including two transporters a T6 & a T25. They're quite flexible on vehicle spec/ mods and competitive on price. Haven't had to make a claim but they seem OK to me. Probably worth a call.

 

[Ashtoguy12]

Cheers everyone

 

[Alster]

As @Bav has pointed out an 8 seater Kombi is far from standard so I would be checking who did the work and if it’s been done properly.

 

[Ashtoguy12]

As @Bav has pointed out an 8 seater Kombi is far from standard so I would be checking who did the work and if it’s been done properly.

Looking at the floor etc all looks as if it was factory as the floor is the rubber flooring

 

[Ashtoguy12]

I also did a vcheck and it says 6 seater . Has 2 single front seats then 2 x 3 seater rows So presumably that would need changing with dvla

 

[Paynewright]

My van was originally a startline 9 seat window van. When I rang for quotes the price difference between 9 seats and 8 was massive. I wonder if there is some confusion with the insurers as to whether the number of seats quoted includes the driver or not? There is a threshold (IIRC - it was 2019 when I got the van) where 9 seats plus driver is a commercial minibus.

 

[Paynewright]

Looking at the floor etc all looks as if it was factory as the floor is the rubber flooring

The rubber flooring has all the ‘potential’ cut outs embossed on the underside - its a 2 min job to cut the flooring for new seat brackets.

 

[Alster]

I also did a vcheck and it says 6 seater . Has 2 single front seats then 2 x 3 seater rows So presumably that would need changing with dvla

I would guess that 6 seats would have been a 3 seat row in the back and a double passenger seat in the front + driver.

 

[Ashtoguy12]

I would guess that 6 seats would have been a 3 seat row in the back and a double passenger seat in the front + driver.

That’s what I was thinking.