Average Cost of Van Insurance 2024

We gathered dozens of van insurance quotes for some of the UK's most popular vans in order to understand how much it costs to insure your van against calamities like an accident, theft, fire, etc.

Wondering what policy, vehicle or coverage level might be best for you, and what you can afford? Use the information below to help you spot a good deal when you see it. The article will cover how the cost of your insurance will be impacted by factors such as:

Average Cost of Van Insurance by Coverage Level

According to NimbleFins research, the average cost of comprehensive van insurance is just over £1,300 per year (£121 per month at 18% APR), for plans with a roughly £500 excess. Comprehensive plans are the best type of van cover, as they cover both damage to other vehicles and also your own—even if an accident is your fault. Surprisingly, our research shows that comprehensive plans are generally cheaper than the other two types—Third Party, Fire & Theft (TPFT) and Third Party Only (TPO)—coming in at just under 60% the cost of TPFT cover.

At first glance, this pricing seems counterintuitive—why would the best coverage (i.e. comprehensive) be cheaper than van insurance offering less coverage? It comes down to real-world experience of van insurance companies. They have found that higher-risk drivers tend to favour third party policies. As a result, motorists taking out third party policies tend to have higher odds of a claim because they are riskier drivers, so insurers charge more for these policies.

And, of course, any van driver with a long no claims bonus will pay less than a driver who can't show a safe driving history.

How much is annual van insurance?

^Drivers pay excess towards their own repairs or claim—as Third Party insurance doesn't cover any damages to your vehicle you won't need to pay for one.*

TPFT coverage had an especially high level of variance from quote to quote, with prices of the 8 cheapest quotes varying from £1,552 to £2,601 per year. We also found that some insurers would impose large compulsory excesses on consumers (up to £3,000 in some cases) so keep in mind it could be expensive for you if your van is stolen or involved in a fire.

Average Cost of Van Insurance by Van Age

As vans get older, their value decreases as newer models are released and the vehicles begin to show their age. Because of this value decrease, risk levels for van insurers decrease, and they're more comfortable offering you cheaper deals (basically because it would be cheaper to replace your van if it's stolen or written off).

Research indicates that by year 5 vehicles have depreciated around 60-70%, maintaining just 30-40% of their original value. Unfortunately, while insurance premiums drop over this time, our research shows that they don't fall nearly as much as the value of the vehicle!

Another thing to keep in mind is that you may have to pay a slightly higher excess on older models, as the chances of something going wrong begin to increase as the vehicle gets older. Quotes for our 2014 Ford Transit required £481 of Total Excess, as opposed to £445 for our 2020 model.

Insuring an older van may cost you less

Average Cost of Van Insurance for Different Models

Naturally, the model of van you choose will have an impact on the price of your insurance. Engine size, wheel base and vehicle value are just some examples of variables that can make your premium more or less expensive. You'll, naturally, also find that picking more expensive versions of each model will increase your cost—for standardisation purposes we used the most popular version of each model to produce our results.

Some vehicles might cost more to insure

While engine size certainly played a key part in defining insurance costs (with the Sprinter having a 2.1L engine, compared to 2.0L for the Transit and Transporter and 1.6L for the Vivaro) for the expensive Mercedes, it clearly isn't the be-all-end-all of defining insurance costs—with the Transporter coming in as the cheapest vehicle to insure on average, despite having a larger engine than the Vivaro.

Average Cost of Van Insurance for Young Drivers

Much like the cost of car insurance, van insurance is considerably more expensive for younger drivers. As a 25-year-old van driver you can expect to pay just almost double the amount of a driver 10 years older than you. However, as you get older the financial benefits will start to diminish and eventually level out, and in some cases even become more expensive, although not by a considerable amount.

You'll find that ages 21 and 25 in particular bring down the cost over cover—that is, van insurance for over 21 or over 25 is a lot cheaper than covering drivers younger than these limits.

Your insurance will get cheaper as you get older, but the cost will eventually level out

Average Cost of Van Insurance with Additional Driver

The average cost of comprehensive van insurance with an additional driver is £1,742 per year, which is a mere 1.4% more expensive than insurance for a single driver. Interestingly, there was a great deal of inconsistency in the data and quotes ranged from 13% cheaper to 21% more expensive once a second driver was added to the quote—making it more critical to compare van insurance quotes if you're adding other drivers.

Adding a second driver shouldn't increase your premium by much

Another factor that can affect the cost is how the van is used: for business or private use. Business van insurance will tend to cost more than private van insurance, because business driving usually presents a higher risk. Business driving may occur during rush hours and on unknown roads and involve higher mileage and stopping on the side of the road to make drop offs. These factors can all increase the cost of vehicle insurance. Plus there are many other factors as well—e.g. even unexpected factors like signwriting on the side of a van can affect the cost of van insurance.

Which brokers offer the best value for money?

The Van Insurer, who partners with dozens of van insurance providers, has surveyed their customers to find out which van insurance brokers offer the best value for money. Here are the results (ranked by the 'Value for Money' metric):

Please note that ratings based on a just handful of reviews (e.g., Swiftcover, Zenith, Hughes, etc.) are not as reliable. Please see the full customer review ranking table for information on ratings for customer service, ease of purchasing, making documentation readily available, etc. Before buying a policy, you might also want to check Reviews.co.uk or Trustpilot for the latest customer reviews and commentary on renewal prices.

FAQs

Methodology

The data reflected here reflect average figures gathered from dozens of quotes online. Our sample driver was 35 years old.

We found a wide range in prices, with some policies costing twice as much as others, if not more. Before buying a policy, we recommend comparing prices of multiples plans to be sure you're getting a good deal. Get started with our van insurance comparison partner QuoteZone below: