After the cold winter and drifts of snow, everyone is looking forward to a long hot summer. During the summer, there is nothing more refreshing than an ice cream from the local ice cream vendor. If you own an ice cream van, you know how important the summer months are for your business in terms of capitalising on sales.
In order to operate legally, you need to have your ice cream van insured appropriately. Ice cream van insurance, like all other motor insurance policies, is provided in three cover levels; Comprehensive, Third Party, Fire & Theft and Third Party Only.
If you are looking for the cheapest ice cream van insurance available, then a Third Party Only (TPO) policy may be the best one for you. It offers the lowest level of cover available to make your ice cream van road legal, meaning that it is the cheapest to buy. This policy only pays for repairs and compensation to a third party vehicle in the event of an accident which is your fault. This means that any repairs required on your vehicle must be paid in full by yourself; the insurance company will not reimburse you for this. Perhaps more worryingly, this policy does not include theft and fire damage cover. This means that if you have a total loss due to theft or fire, you will not be compensated.
To ensure that this does not happen, we recommend that you take out a Third Party, Fire & Theft (TPFT) policy as a minimum. TPFT policies offer everything in a TPO policy, as well as cover against fire damage and theft. This means that if you should lose your vehicle in one of these circumstances, then you will receive compensation from your insurer to replace the van, thus minimising revenue loss. We recommend this as a minimum form of insurance for your ice cream van.
If you require an ice cream van insurance policy which offers full protection, then a comprehensive policy will be the best one for you. Comprehensive policies are popular as they offer all the protection of a TPFT policy, as well as cover for your vehicle in the event of a collision which is your fault. This means that regardless of the circumstances surrounding an accident, your insurance company will pay for the van to be repaired or replaced. It is this total peace of mind which attracts people to this policy even though it is generally the most expensive in terms of insurance premium.
If you are looking for ice cream van insurance and want to speak to an expert, contact us here at Falcon Insurance. Our UK based team are waiting to take your call on 0800 440 2867.
Ice Cream Van Insurance
Fleet Insurance Policies
Reducing your Fleet Insurance Quote
In the current economic climate, every business is looking to save money where possible whilst still maintaining good levels of service. If you are a company which uses a number of vehicles in order to operate, then you will benefit from having a fleet insurance policy in terms of time saved.
Shopping around for the best fleet insurance quote for your business can be hard work and the premiums can be quite large. However, there are a few things that you can do to try and minimalise the cost of insurance. Insurance premiums are calculated based upon risk; therefore, reducing the risk results in a smaller premium to pay.
Under 25’s – Young drivers are viewed as being high risk by insurance companies as they have a lack of experience on the road. Also statistically, younger drivers have more accidents than older ones which adds to the risk involved in insuring them. If possible, avoid adding drivers under 25 to your policy as it will make it increase. If however you must add them, ensure that they have a spotless record on the road as this will minimalise the increase in premium.
Driver History – The past performance of your drivers is also taken into consideration when the fleet insurance premium is being set for your business. If your drivers have had claims or convictions in the past then they are considered to be high risk, thus increasing your premium. If you can avoid insuring these employees then this will lower the cost of your fleet insurance policy. However, if insuring them is unavoidable, ensure that their driver training and any incident-related courses are attended as this will reduce the increase.
Previous Claims – If you have made a claim in the past then this will affect your fleet insurance policy quote. This is because you have had at least one accident which means that you are at a higher risk than a driver who has had none. Unfortunately, there is not much that you are able to do about this should one of your drivers be in a previous accident whereby they were at fault, but you should take steps to minimise the chances of this happening again in the future. This can include retraining drivers, incentives for careful drivers and punishments for repeat offenders e.g. no longer being granted a company vehicle.
If you implement these suggestions you should see a noticeable decrease in your fleet insurance policy premium. Give us a call today to discuss your fleet insurance requirements and to obtain a free quote.
Advantages of Fleet Insurance
Insurance is a necessity for any business operating vehicles on the road. However, it can be a time intensive task to sort out insurance for your vehicles, particularly if you have a large fleet to cope with. If your company operates 2 or more vehicles then you will benefit from taking out a fleet insurance policy.
Fleet insurance policies have many advantages for businesses over individual policies and make the whole process of sorting out insurance simple.
The main advantages include:
One Renewal Date – Rather than having to remember individual renewal dates for each vehicle, you have one renewal date which is applicable to the entire fleet. This means that there is no chance that you will overlook an individual policy coming to an end and as a result have a vehicle driving around uninsured. The one renewal date also saves times in that you will not be shopping around for the best policies at various times throughout the year, rather looking for one policy annually.
One Premium – It can be difficult for a company to set an annual budget; this is made even more difficult by having to arrange individual insurance policies with differing premiums throughout the year. The advantage of fleet insurance is that there is one annual premium to pay which will cover the whole of your fleet. Also, some fleet insurance companies operate a monthly payment scheme so you do not have to pay the full amount in one instalment, helping cash flow of your business.
One Company and Policy Number – Should you have an enquiry regarding one of your vehicles insurance, or need to make a claim, it can be a nightmare tracking down the appropriate company and policy number which relates to the vehicle in question, particularly if you have a large fleet. However, a fleet insurance policy is a form of blanket cover; therefore you will have one policy number and one company that this policy is with, making it easy to find the right people to contact.
No Limits on Numbers – Whether you have 2 or 2000 vehicles in your company, a fleet insurance policy can cater for all sizes of fleets. As each policy is tailored to your needs and that of the company, your premium will be determined by the number of vehicles and their history in terms of maintenance and drivers.
‘Any Driver’ Policies – To make the logistics of running a business easier, most fleet insurers offer ‘any driver’ cover with their fleet insurance policies. This means that your employees will be able to drive any of the vehicles covered by the policy, rather than have to stick to one vehicle. This is brilliant in terms of logistics and means that drivers can be rotated in vehicles, so if an employee is off sick, someone else will be able to operate their vehicle legally, therefore your output will not be affected.
Mixed Fleets – Not all fleets are made up of the same vehicles; you may have a mixture of vehicles used by your company to insure. The great thing about fleet insurance is that as it is a form of blanket cover, you can insure mixed fleets. Therefore, whether you have cars and vans, vans and HGV’s or any other combination of vehicles, you can put them on to the same insurance policy.
The advantages of fleet insurance over individual vehicle insurance for a company fleet are clear. The only thing which is left to do is contact us regarding your fleet insurance requirements on 0800 221 8267; our trained advisors are on hand to take your call.
Find The Best Shop Insurance Policy
Finding the right shop insurance policy to meet your needs can be very difficult, all business owners should shop around to determine which company has the best cover to meet their needs at a price which is affordable to them without cutting any corners. Anyone with basic computer skills and a phone can find a cheap insurance quote for their shop, however, finding the right policy is far more difficult and you should always be wary of arranging your cover over the internet for your business or shop policy as there are many questions which should be taken into consideration when arranging shop insurance which a computer system simply cannot ask.
When you are searching for a shop insurance policy, please contact Falcon Insurance and speak to one of our trained sales consultants who will take your details and search the market for the best possible policy to meet your needs at a price which is affordable. Falcon Insurance save business owners a lot of money and undue stress time and time again by doing all the hard work for you.