As the manager and owner of an electrical contracting business, I own eight Vauxhall Corsa vans for my employees to use, and I cover the vehicles on a fleet insurance policy. I started the business three years ago, and have employed the same broker for the entire time. After business began to boom five months ago, I thought it was time to employ two freelance electricians, and therefore had to buy two new vans. This brought the total up to eight, and I added the two new vehicles to the fleet insurance policy.
About two months ago business started to slow and reluctantly I couldn’t afford to keep on my two new freelancers, so I had to reduce their work. This left me stranded with two vehicles that I didn’t really want to get rid of as I could foresee business picking up again.
The vans were being kept in a friend’s lockup, and so I didn’t want to insure them if they weren’t going to be used. I therefore spoke to my insurance broker about taking the vehicles off the fleet policy, to which he explained about a new continuous insurance enforcement law, which has been put into place to attempt to control the rising numbers of uninsured drivers.
My broker explained to me that if I didn’t insure my vehicles or declare them ‘off the road’ or ‘SORN’, then I would be committing a criminal offence which would have consequences. The government use CIE systems to cross analyse the DVLA database with the Motor Insurance Database (MID), the information from which means they can then contact drivers who haven’t been insuring their vehicles. If insurance is not purchased, the driver will face a fixed fine of 100, and could face anything as serious as a court prosecution and a fine of 1000, as well as the possibility of the vehicle being clamped, seized and destroyed.
Following this advice from my broker, I decided to keep both the vans insured, as it would cost me a lot less to do this than face fines and any court prosecution. This advice saved me from unintentionally breaking the law, and therefore the information was very useful and gratefully received.
I would advise all businesses to speak to a local broker, the advice you get can be invaluable and they also work hard to ensure you have the most competitive price. Don’t get caught out by insurance seek advice from a professional.
If you want to get some fleet insurance for your family or your business, then you should get in touch with Coversure. They are an independent insurance broker with a great reputation and so they can get you the best deal around. van insurance