Does Mileage Affect Van Insurance?

Caeva O'Callaghan | April 17th, 2023

Your job, address, and type of van all contribute to your van insurance quote – but will your annual mileage affect how much you pay?

Yes. How many miles you drive your van per year can affect how much you pay for your van insurance. The increase in cost is minimal – only around 5% – but it’s worth knowing that it happens before you’re caught out.

If you make long journeys with your van often, it may be worth budgeting a little more for van insurance.

In this article, we’ll cover questions such as:

• How does annual mileage affect van insurance?
• What happens to my insurance if I go over my mileage?
• What other factors affect van insurance premiums?

Read on to discover more about mileage, and how van insurers factor it in when calculating your premium.

How does annual mileage affect van insurance?

Insurance premiums are based on risk. The further and more often you drive, the more likely you are to be involved in an accident and need to make a claim. So, the higher your annual mileage, the more expensive your premium is likely to be.

Insurers calculate your van insurance quote partially on the amount of miles you drive on average per year. There are typically three tiers of cost:

• Up until 30K km per anum
• Between 30K and 45K
• Over 45K

Don’t panic – the difference in price from one tier to the next is normally only around 5%. So while your insurance does cost more if you drive more, it shouldn’t break the bank. However, it could be a nasty surprise if you weren’t expecting it.

Not sure how far you drive your van in a year? It’s easy to work out.

Check your annual testing certificate, which will show the miles you drove the year before so you can estimate mileage for the coming year. This is also recorded in your van’s logbook every time it gets an annual service.

Or, when you take out a new van insurance policy, simply make a note of the mileage on the odometer so you can look back and see how many miles you’ve driven when your policy’s up for renewal.

What happens to my insurance if I go over my mileage?

It depends – if you’ve just gone a few miles over, you’re going to be absolutely fine. It’s not like you can plan to go exactly eight thousand miles one year: van insurance companies know this is impossible for you to calculate.

Problems start to arise when you drive your van much more than you previously indicated. If you do this, your insurer could invalidate your policy and they won’t pay out if you need to make a claim.

This is because van policies will only cover you for the annual mileage estimate you gave. Any journeys outside of this are (technically) not insured. Sometimes, that means you won’t get a payout at all if you claim after going over your mileage. Other times it will mean you can’t claim as much as you thought.

Insurance providers may even charge a lump sum to cover the difference between your current policy price and what you would have been charged if your mileage was correct.

This is why it’s vital to always tell your insurance provider about a change in use for your van – if you suddenly use it for the school run every day as well as your business purposes, your mileage is going to jump up.

What other factors affect van insurance premiums?

Insurers consider a whole range of factors when calculating the price of a premium, many of which they identify from the initial questions they ask when you first take out a policy.

Mileage isn’t the only factor insurers consider by far. Many other things can affect how much you pay, and when your cover is valid. For example:

Driving convictions – drivers with more motoring convictions are (typically) a higher risk. Specialist markets exist for drivers with prior convictions, so if this applies to you, talk to us and our experts can help find a reasonable quote.

Claims history – if you have previously made claims, this could increase the cost of your premium. This is because, as you’ve already had to make a claim, the likelihood of making another one has increased.

Occupation – jobs which involve lots of travel are considered riskier by insurers. And if you’re transporting hazardous goods or very heavy equipment, this could also be more dangerous on the road.

Address – densely populated areas and places with higher crime rates could result in higher premiums, as you’re more likely to make a claim.

Wondering how to lower your van insurance premium? Get in touch today, and we can give you a competitive quote in no time. Call us on 0818 224433 or 042 9359051.