Saving on your van insurance
A lower premium almost always comes from a choice you make deliberately. A few of those choices genuinely work; two others look as though they work and cost you money the moment you have a claim.
- Several insurers compared objectively
- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
This page in another language: Nederlands
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
- We compare the offerings of several insurers
- An adviser checks whether the cover suits your situation
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
- Independent advice
- Several insurers
- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
The biggest lever is the type of cover. As long as the van is worth a lot, comprehensive cover is usually defensible. As the value falls, there comes a point at which the own-damage premium plus the excess no longer measures up to what you get back in the event of a total loss. Third-party, fire and theft is then an intermediate step: fire, theft, storm and glass damage remain covered, a collision you cause yourself does not. Work that transition out each year instead of letting the policy run on quietly.
After that come four smaller levers that really do have an effect: an a higher excess, a correctly declared annual mileage, demonstrable security and parking, and bundling vehicles as soon as you have more than one. For the latter, look at the van insurance for a fleet. Paying annually rather than monthly also helps with many insurers, because instalments carry a surcharge.
Two forms of saving do exactly the opposite. Understating your mileage or wrongly describing the use falls under the duty of disclosure in Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code, and Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code allows the insurer to reduce or refuse the payout if the correct disclosure would have led to different terms. Understating the value of the fitted equipment leads to a proportionate settlement. And Article 7:960 of the Dutch Civil Code works the other way too: you never receive more than your actual loss.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare van insurance.
Independent, personal, sorted quickly
We compare your van insurance across dozens of insurers, explain where the real differences lie, and arrange the switch from start to finish — without you having to chase it yourself.
Van insurance
Compare
Get coveredWhy arrange it through Finass Verzekert?
We look at the terms as well as the premium, and stay your point of contact when there is a claim.
Independent
We are not tied to one insurer and compare on the basis of an objective analysis of several companies.
One fixed adviser
You call or email someone who knows your file. No menu options, no changing call centres.
Switching without hassle
We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
Help with claims
We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
What works and what does not
Four choices in a row, with the price they carry at the moment there is a claim.
Match the cover to the age of the van
Do not just compare premiums; set the annual own-damage premium against the residual value of the vehicle. With an older van without expensive fitted equipment, switching to third-party, fire and theft often gains you more than changing insurer. If it does contain a complete mobile workshop, that assessment is quite different and you keep comprehensive cover.
The excess is a deliberate trade-off
A higher excess lowers the premium immediately, but you bear more yourself with every claim. Work out at how many claim-free years that trade-off breaks even. Pay attention to the separate excess for glass damage and to any increases for young drivers. These stand apart from the amount on the front page.
Security and parking count twice
An approved alarm, extra locks on the sliding door and parking on an enclosed site lower the premium and reduce the chance of your having a claim at all. If the policy carries a security clause, complying with it is not a bonus but a condition for payment in the event of theft.
Saving that costs money later
What you should never do: declare the use incorrectly, leave out the fitted equipment and signwriting, or drop a cover that does touch on your risk. If the tools remains uninsured, you are left after a break-in with a repaired door and an empty van. For that, look at the tools insurance. Also loss caused by downtime and fines fall outside every car policy.
What does your premium depend on?
- Type of cover chosen: third-party liability, third-party, fire and theft, or comprehensive
- Level of the excess: the most direct lever on your premium
- Annual mileage: declare what you actually drive, not what you hope
- Storage and security: demonstrable measures are taken into account in the rate
- Age and value of the van: determines whether own-damage cover is still worthwhile
- No-claims years: built up in the name of the registered keeper
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Third-party liability | Comprehensive |
|---|---|---|
| You fail to give way and damage someone else's car | Yes | Yes |
| A stone-chip crack in the windscreen that you have repaired | No | Yes |
| Theft of the van from the public road, while your policy requires parking on your own site | No | No |
| You slide into the verge on an icy road and the side of the van is damaged | No | Yes |
| Your tools disappear from the load space after a break-in | No | No |
| You consistently drive more kilometres than you declared and then cause an accident | Provided that | Provided that |
A lower premium only gains you something as long as the details declared and the conditions set continue to be met.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Does a higher excess always produce a lower premium?
Usually it does, but the discount does not rise in step with the increase. Ask for the options side by side and compare the annual premium saving with the extra amount you pay yourself on a single claim. If you statistically have a claim once every few years, the sum often comes out in favour of a higher excess.
Can I switch to another insurer during the term?
Many general insurance policies can be cancelled daily after the first contract year, with one month's notice. In the first year you are usually tied until the contract renewal date. Check this in your policy conditions before you sign up with a new insurer, so that you do not pay for two policies for a while or end up uninsured for a period.
Is third-party only sensible for an older van?
It can be, provided you can bear the loss of the vehicle yourself. Bear in mind that you then have no cover for fire, theft and storm either, while those are precisely the events that occur relatively often with vans. For many vans, third-party, fire and theft is therefore the more sensible middle option; the difference in premium is usually smaller than people think.
What happens if I declare fewer kilometres than I drive?
If it turns out after a claim that the actual use differs from what you declared, the insurer may assess what premium and conditions it would have applied given the correct disclosure. The payout can be reduced proportionately. The saving you were after then disappears in one go, plus the difference in premium over the period that has passed.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare van insuranceThe main page
- Insuring a self-employed professional's van, by makeMake and specification, conversions, choice of own-damage cover
- Van insurance by make and versionList price, theft figures, parts
- Business van insurance through a.s.r.Theft, security clause, claims handling
- Business van insurance by make and modelTheft figures, parts, specification
- Van insurance for the self-employed: what difference the make makesMake, specification, fitted equipment
- Insuring a van as a self-employed professionalWAM obligation, break-ins, market value
- Saving on your car insuranceType of cover, excess, no-claims years
- Putting together affordable car insuranceForm of cover, excess, duplicate cover