Getting cheap van insurance in the UK can be more challenging than finding cheap car insurance. There are several reasons for this. For instance, many vans have larger engine sizes than your typical car, and vehicles with bigger engines usually fall into higher insurance groups. Since your van insurance group plays a role in your insurance premium calculation, this means that vans often cost more to insure.

In addition, the vast majority of vans on the road in the UK are used for commercial purposes, which means there’s a good chance that they’ll spend more time on the road and clock up more miles than a family car that’s only used for ‘social, domestic and pleasure’

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Since each van insurer will use a slightly different insurance premium calculation when they’re calculating your premium, and those calculations will apply different weightings to some of the risk factors that will be used to determine whether you’re a more risky or less risky van driver, it isn’t possible to pinpoint which will insurer will offer you the cheapest UK van insurance guaranteed.

That’s why we always recommend that drivers shop around by comparing van insurance quotes from a wide range of van insurers, which should increase their odds of discovering the providers that are more likely to offer them the best van insurance quotes for their particular risk profile.

However, it’s important to bear in mind that if you do opt for the ‘social, domestic and pleasure’ van insurance class of use you won’t be able to use your van for any type of commercial or business use – doing so could risk invalidating your policy, even if you only use it for commercial purposes very occasionally.

For instance, engine upgrades, performance enhancements or tinted windows could increase the chance of the driver being involved in a road traffic accident, while adding signage to your Transit van or Renault Trafic could increase the risk of the vehicle being targeted by thieves because it could lead them to believe there might be valuable tools inside.

In addition, some aesthetic modifications, such as specialist paintwork, can result in a higher insurance claim if the vehicle is ever involved in an accident. New data from Quotezone.co.uk reveals that many van owners are not aware that aesthetic modifications, such as additional signage and branding, can potentially void your van insurance.

Finally, commercial modifications such as the installation of roof bars or a tail lift, could increase the cost of your modified van insurance by adding enough weight to the van to push it into one of the higher van insurance groups.

Some providers are beginning to offer black box van insurance, which could potentially reduce the premium for younger van drivers – provided they are safe drivers that obey the rules of the road, never speed and always comply with any curfews or other restrictions the policy imposes, of course.

That doesn’t mean that you’ll be offered very cheap van insurance when you opt for this type of telematics policy, but it should mean your premium is a little cheaper.

Most commercial van drivers still tend to favour standard van insurance policies over black box policies, though, possibly because of the curfews, restrictions and limitations that some telematics insurance policies impose.

Legal protection insurance could help cover the costs of pursuing or defending a van insurance claim that isn’t covered by your regular van insurance.

It could also cover disputes when buying or selling a vehicle or defending yourself if you’re accused of a motoring offence.

Some van insurance providers offer policies that give you cover when you’re abroad, though the list of countries covered is likely to vary between providers. It might be a good idea to consider European breakdown cover if you’re driving abroad – you can either take it out separately or as part of your van insurance policy.

Commercial van insurance comes in different forms, depending on how you use it. You’ll be able to choose from:

• Own goods: A carriage of own goods policy covers you for carrying certain items, such as tools for your business or stock you buy from a wholesaler

• Hire and reward: Hire and reward cover is a legal requirement if you carry goods or people that aren’t yours in exchange for payment – usually for one-off jobs, such as furniture removal

• Courier and haulage: If you use your van to make deliveries within a specific location, usually directly to the recipient of the goods, you’ll need a courier policy. However if you’re making commercial deliveries to one specific location, often over distances, a haulage policy will be more suitable