Understanding how to get the cheapest van insurance for your business is an important factor if you want your van to be cost-effective.

Before buying an Any Driver Van Insurance policy, it is important to consider how you will run your van or vans and how to keep the cost of insurance as low as possible.

Is any driver van insurance right for my business?

Any driver van insurance offers flexibility if your van will be driven by more than four different people.

It might be the right option if you only have one van and will need it to be driven at different times by different people, or if you want to use your van for work but also want to enable other family members to drive it.

As the name suggests, you don't need to name the drivers on an 'any driver' policy, so it means that if your staff members change over the life of the policy you don't have to worry about updating your insurer with new driver details (there's usually an administration fee for this which can work out to be pretty expensive if you have high staff turnover).

Main Advantage: Ultimate driver flexibility.

What are the disadvantages of any driver van insurance?

Because you don't have to name the drivers, the insurer has no way of knowing each driver's driving history, i.e. they don't know if they have had speeding convictions in the past, have been involved in car accidents, or made claims on another van insurance policy. This means the insurer assumes a greater risk and this often makes any driver van insurance more expensive than alternative commercial vehicle cover.

Main Disadvantage: More expensive than other types of van insurance.

Can literally 'anyone' drive the van?

Most drivers will be covered as long as they have a driving licence that covers them to drive the category of van you wish to insure, however, you must check the policy for any restricting conditions. One of the main restrictions is age – most any driver van insurance policies will not allow drivers under the age of 21.

Another common restriction is that all drivers of the van must have a clean driving licence. Many insurers stipulate that each driver must have had a clean licence (no driving endorsements) for 12 months prior to driving the van.

THINK: no young drivers and no penalty points

Factors affecting the price of your any driver van insurance

A number of other factors will affect the price of your van insurance, including:

• whether you use the van for business use or personal use
• the van's size and age
• what you carry in the van
• the amount of annual mileage you cover in the van

What are the alternatives?

There are a number of alternative van insurance offers available, including:

Named driver van insurance:

Most van insurance policies will allow up to four named drivers on each policy. You will need to know the driver details of each potential van driver when taking out the policy and you will need to add or remove drivers when necessary.

Named driver van insurance can be a better deal than any driver van insurance especially if the drivers are older and have long clean licences.

Temporary van insurance:

This can be a good short-term option if you are the main driver of the van for most of the time, but might occasionally want or need to let another driver get behind the wheel. Some providers offer instant cover for a few hours only, which can be really useful in an emergency, while short-term cover can last days, weeks, or even months.

Multi-van or fleet van insurance:

If you have more than one van, you may find it more cost-effective to buy multi-van insurance or fleet van insurance. Typically, multi-van policies cover any driver in any van, so this creates ultimate flexibility for a growing business. Again, there might be certain restrictions and conditions in relation to the drivers who are able to drive, plus, the size and age of the vans and the type of business you do will affect the price of your fleet insurance.

Talk to iVan about any driver van insurance

Powered by City Insurance, iVan provides some of the best value van insurance from top insurers. We can help if you don't have a no-claims bonus and we offer loyalty discounts at renewal for existing customers.

Get a quote today or call us on 0345 6461396 to discuss your requirements.