As a van insurance specialist of many years experience, iVan knows better than most that “White van man” has long been an unfair term of disparagement that does little to recognise the fact that van drivers and tradespeople, in general, are made up of a broad and diverse demographic that typically is not reflective of people’s prejudices and misconceptions.

Now a new survey from the respected tradespeople vetting company Checkatrade has confirmed that an astonishing number of British people (63%) still hold on to these rather tired and misguided preconceptions about tradespeople and, by extension, van insurance customers.

The study, which questioned 2,000 British people found the following:

• Nearly half (44%) believe that so-called “cowboys” or rogue tradespeople still make up for a large proportion of the sector.
• 28% believe that trade services are overpriced.
• 23% believe that tradespeople are unreliable.
• 19% believe that tradespeople overcharge.
• 11% believe that tradespeople are unskilled.
• 6% believe that tradespeople are undereducated.

Perhaps most astonishingly, many people are open in their view of snobbery against and disdain for tradespeople, with 14% of the respondents confessing to knowingly negatively stereotyping tradespeople on the basis of their profession alone.

Interestingly, there is a discord between people’s perceptions of tradespeople and their actual experience of them, with nearly 85% of those who had instructed a tradesperson in the past year describing their experience as positive and 13% actually saying that their experience of instructing a tradesperson had exceeded their expectations.

As a van insurance specialist, iVan has long been a champion of the good work done by the nation’s tradespeople, so we are pleased that the survey has led Checkatrade to launch an innovative campaign under the handle “#RespectYourTrades”.

Van insurance for all the UK’s tradespeople

iVan prides itself on providing van insurance quotes for the nation’s tradespeople. Whether you are a plumber, a builder, an electrician, a plasterer, a carpenter or indeed any other professional who relies on a van, we believe that we are ideally placed to provide you with van insurance cover at a competitive price.

So whether you are a one-man band, a fleet manager or a start-up, use our online quote engine today so that we can help you achieve all your commercial vehicle insurance objectives.