Frequently asked questions about van insurance
The questions that come up most often with a van concern who may drive it, what happens to the contents of the van and what the commercial registration means for your cover.
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In brief
A van has the same three types of cover as a car. Third-party liability cover is compulsory under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) and pays for the damage you cause to others with the vehicle. Third-party, fire and theft is added to it with a exhaustive list of events, such as fire, storm, theft and glass breakage. Comprehensive cover also covers damage to your own van that you cause yourself. The structure is set out in more detail on the van insurance.
The commercial vehicle registration (grijs kenteken) is not a form of insurance but a tax and technical registration: the vehicle is fitted out to carry goods and the load space meets the requirements. If you change that fitting-out or use the van mainly privately, it affects both your tax position and your policy. You can read more about this under the a van with a commercial registration.
The biggest misunderstanding concerns the contents. What is in the load space is never insured on the motor policy. Tools and materials belong on a tools insurance, goods you carry between sites on an own goods in transit insurance, and customers' goods you carry for payment on carrier's liability.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare van insurance.
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We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
The four questions that come up most often
The essentials by subject, so that you know which part of your policy conditions to look up.
Who may drive the van?
A van policy contains a description of the insured driver. Sometimes that is anyone with the permission of the registered keeper, sometimes a minimum age or a minimum number of years of driving licence applies. If the driver does not meet it, the victim remains protected, but the insurer may refuse your own damage and recover the amount paid out from you.
What happens to the contents in a break-in?
Own-damage cover repairs the vehicle: the forced lock, the buckled sliding door, the bodywork. Everything that was inside falls outside it. Some tools policies also exclude items left in the vehicle overnight. Read that provision before you assume you are covered, and empty the van as far as you can.
Abroad, trailers and breakdowns
Which countries fall within the cover can be read from the green card with your policy. A trailer shares in the liability cover of the towing vehicle as long as it is coupled; damage to the trailer itself needs its own cover, see the trailer insurance. Breakdown assistance is a separate module and does not automatically come with own-damage cover.
Reporting and settling a claim
Report a claim as soon as you know about it; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to do so, and reporting late can affect the payout. In a collision, always note the other party's registration number and complete a claim form together. In the event of theft or a break-in, report it to the police and keep the police report, because without a report a theft claim is generally not taken up at all.
What does your premium depend on?
- Weight and payload: the basic classification of vans
- Age and value: determines which type of cover makes sense
- Number of no-claims years: built up in the name of the registered keeper
- Use of the vehicle: private, carrying your own goods or carrying goods for others
- Storage: an enclosed site or the public road
- Excess: you choose how much you bear yourself, including for glass damage
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Third-party liability | Comprehensive |
|---|---|---|
| Your van rolls down the slope and pushes over the neighbours' fence | Yes | Yes |
| The sliding door was forced in a break-in and has to be replaced | No | Yes |
| The machines that disappeared from the load space in that same break-in | No | No |
| A colleague drives with your permission and hits a post | Provided that | Provided that |
| Damage to your own trailer while it was coupled behind the van | No | No |
| A flying stone chips the windscreen while you are driving | No | Yes |
With every claim, first ask yourself what has been damaged: the vehicle, the load, or something belonging to someone else.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Can I insure a van in my private name?
Yes, you can, provided the use really is private. If you drive materials around for your business with it, a business capacity goes with that, and a policy tailored to it. On a private policy the no-claims years are in your name and on a business policy in the company's name; the two are not simply interchangeable.
What is the difference between third-party, fire and theft and comprehensive cover?
Third-party, fire and theft covers only the events listed in the policy conditions, such as fire, theft, storm, glass breakage and collision with an animal running loose. Comprehensive cover also covers damage to your own vehicle that you cause yourself, and usually vandalism as well. Anything not on the list is not insured under third-party, fire and theft, however unwelcome the incident may be.
What happens to my policy if I sell the van?
Cover ends in principle as soon as you no longer have an interest in the vehicle. Notify your insurer of the sale and the transfer of liability, and ask for a statement of your no-claims years. You can take those to a next vehicle within a certain period. Do not let the policy run on quietly on a registration that is no longer yours.
May I carry goods for someone else in return for payment?
Only if your policy states that capacity. Carriage for payment on behalf of third parties is a different capacity from private use or carrying your own goods and is excluded as standard. You are also liable for the goods themselves, and that liability falls outside every motor insurance. Have the capacity amended before you make such a journey.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare van insuranceThe main page
- Business van insurance through a.s.r.Theft, security clause, claims handling
- Insuring a van as a self-employed professionalWAM obligation, break-ins, market value
- Insuring a van or company vehicle as a self-employed professionalThird-party liability obligation, own-damage cover, tools
- Insuring a van for business useUse, load, drivers
- Insuring a van for a self-employed professionalOne vehicle, private and business, tools