Acceptance · no carriage for payment · mileage limit
Insuring a lorry in your own name
A lorry registered to a private individual is an exception for insurers. Acceptance is the hardest part, not the premium.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Een vrachtauto op eigen naam verzekeren.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
The number of insurers that accept a truck in the name of a private individual is small. The reason is not the vehicle but the unpredictability of the use: a business has journey records, tachograph data and a group of drivers, a private individual does not. Those who do insure this do so subject to conditions, and those conditions are worth discussing before you buy the truck.
The most important condition is that no carriage for payment at all takes place. Not for a business, not for an association, and not even once for an acquaintance who pays for the fuel. As soon as that is the case, you are driving commercially and the risk no longer suits the policy. In the event of a claim the insurer will rely on the description of use and on Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code, which links the payment to what you declared when the contract was entered into.
In addition, a mileage limit and a storage requirement is almost always imposed, and sometimes a minimum age or a minimum number of years holding a category C licence. If you mainly drive the truck to shows or use it as a living vehicle, report that explicitly; that is a more favourable risk than unlimited use. See also insuring a truck privately and insuring a truck as a hobby.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare van insurance.
What to look out for
Four conditions that recur as standard with private acceptance.
The description of use on the policy schedule
The policy contains one sentence about what the vehicle is used for. That sentence is the yardstick when a claim arises. If reality differs from it, for instance because you lend the truck to a contractor for a season, report it in advance. A change in risk that you do not report can cost you the cover, even if the damage has nothing to do with it.
Driving licence, code 95 and roadworthiness test
For private use you need a C1 or C licence, depending on the weight; the code 95 is only compulsory for commercial transport. The roadworthiness test requirement applies in full and is often annual. If you drive with an expired test certificate or an expired licence, your own damage is not covered and the insurer recovers what it paid the other party.
Hiring out and lending
Hiring out the vehicle is excluded without exception on a private policy. Lending it without payment is usually allowed, provided the driver has the correct licence and there is no driver clause on the policy. Do not take risks with a driver you do not know: a claim counts against your own claims record.
Report conversions and modifications
A fitted living unit, altered bodywork, an extra body or a modification to the chassis changes both the value and the risk. What you have not declared is not insured; the duty of disclosure under Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code applies at the start, and after that the insurer expects you to report changes. Keep the receipts and have the value professionally assessed.
What does your premium depend on?
- Maximum permitted mass — acceptance and rate vary by weight class
- Year of construction and state of maintenance — determines whether own-damage cover is feasible
- Number of years holding a C1 or C licence — experience weighs heavily here
- Agreed mileage limit — limited use is at the heart of private acceptance
- Storage location — a fenced site or shed versus the public road
- No-claims years — built up on your car policy, sometimes transferable
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
What is covered
| Situation | Third-party liability | Comprehensive |
|---|---|---|
| Theft of the truck from an unlit industrial estate, while the policy requires fenced storage | No | No |
| Hail damage to the cab during a summer storm | No | Yes |
| You damage the facade of a shed while reversing | Yes | Yes |
| Your windscreen cracks after a stone chip on a German motorway | No | Yes |
| You drive into a viaduct with too high a body and the box is torn open | No | Yes |
| A fire in the sleeper cab caused by a smouldering cigarette | No | Yes |
A clause about storage or mileage feeds through into every form of cover: if the truck is somewhere other than agreed, comprehensive cover will not help you.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
Why does not every insurer accept this?
Because the liability risks of a heavy vehicle are large and the insurer has little grip on how a private individual uses it. With a transport business there are journey records, driving and rest times and a demonstrable way of operating. Insurers that do write this category compensate for that with strict conditions on use, mileage and storage.
May I move house for family with my own truck?
Carrying your own belongings is not a problem. As soon as you carry for someone else and receive payment for it, even where that only covers the fuel, the nature of the use changes. That is commercial carriage and it falls outside the private policy. If you are moving house for family without payment, report it in advance anyway so that no discussion arises.
What happens if I exceed the mileage limit?
An occasional overrun usually leads to an additional premium charge. Structurally driving more than agreed is a change of risk that you must report. If you do not, the insurer can reduce the payment in proportion to the premium it would have charged had it known the correct mileage.
Is the liability cover the same here as with a car?
The statutory basis is the same: Article 2 of the WAM requires cover for liability towards injured parties, and the sums insured are subject to statutory minimums. The difference lies in practice. A collision involving fourteen tonnes is more likely to cause serious injury, so insurers accept more strictly and ask for a higher excess than with a car.