Is it a car or is it a van? This simple-seeming question is, it appears, rather more difficult to answer than many drivers might imagine. This revelation comes after one non-specialist van insurance comparison website revealed that last year 129,000 van drivers attempted to insure their vans with car insurance products. Interestingly, the phenomenon is not confined to van drivers; the insurance website revealed that nearly 50,000 car drivers attempted to get van insurance quotes for their cars.

The fact that hundreds of thousands of drivers are confused about the type of vehicle they drive would once have seemed both laughable and highly improbable; however, such increasing confusion is understandable as recent years have seen growing numbers of so-called “crossover” vans that offer the same kind of comfort, style and performance typically associated with cars.

Perhaps the confusion arises partly because of driver ideas about van use, with around 4 in 10 van insurance applicants using their commercial vehicles for personal use. Many vans now feature three seats or more and are smaller than the traditional van, so, it is easy to see how many might make the mistake.

Examples of the types of commercial vehicle that could easily be mistaken for a car include the Vauxhall Corsa Van, Renault Clio Van and Ford Fiesta Sport Van as there is really very little difference between the van and the domestic car versions, so it's not surprising that drivers are mistakenly applying for car insurance rather than van insurance.

Five other vans that drivers often mistakenly categorise include:

• Volkswagen Caddy
• Toyota Hilux Invincible
• Citroen Berlingo
• Nissan Navara
• Mitsubishi L200

Are you driving a car or a van?

When you apply for a van insurance quote with iVan, you might want to check whether you are driving a car or a van. This can easily be done by checking your vehicle’s V5 logbook.