Does Van Insurance Cover Multiple Drivers?
Caeva O'Callaghan | April 12th, 2023
If you have a van, it’s likely you use it for work. But can your employees or co-workers drive your van under your van insurance policy?
If you need it to, this is almost always possible. Having multiple drivers for the same van is similar in a lot of ways to adding other drivers to your car insurance policy.
The only real difference is the purpose of the driving: van drivers are far more likely to need the vehicle regularly and for work purposes.
In this article, we’ll cover the following questions:
- How do I add someone to my van insurance?
- What is open driving?
- Can a learner driver operate a van?
For any number of reasons, you may need someone else to drive your van once in a while. Read on to find out more about adding named drivers to your van insurance.
How do I add someone to my van insurance?
Adding another driver to your van insurance policy may help you reduce the cost of your premium. This can be a relative, family member, colleague, housemate, partner or spouse. Anyone who is likely to need to drive the van can be added as long as they meet certain conditions.
The conditions the other driver in question needs to meet include having a full license and clean driving record. Some insurance providers offer a discount of up to 20 percent just for adding another named driver.
It’s definitely worth asking your existing provider if they can give you a named driver discount. And, if it’s time to renew your van insurance, shopping around for a named driver clause could save you a lot of cash.
What is open driving?
An open driving car insurance policy allows other people to drive your vehicle, even when it isn’t an emergency situation. With most insurance policies, someone else can only drive your van if they are a named driver or if it’s an emergency, for example if you need to be taken to hospital and calling an ambulance isn’t possible.
But with open driving, any colleague or co-worker can drive your van. In this instance, there is no need to get them added as a named driver on your insurance policy as the cover extends to others as well.
It’s vital to note that having open driving insurance does not mean that you can drive someone else’s van: the open driving policy needs to belong to the vehicle’s owner.
Open driving for commercial vehicles does have age limits. Depending on your provider, the approved open driving brackets could be 25 – 70, 30 – 70 and sometimes, but not very often, fully open driving for anyone aged 17 +.
Normally, if you have a driver that is outside this age group, you can add them on as an additional named driver.
Can a learner driver operate a van?
All drivers must have a full driving license to drive unaccompanied in Ireland. It would be very unusual (but possible) to have a named driver on a van policy that holds a learners permit.
It really depends on your type of van, how large it is, and whether you’re pulling a trailer. If in doubt, contact your insurance provider to check whether the driver you have in mind is safe to operate your van.
When you apply for your driving licence or a learner permit, the categories of vehicles you are authorised to drive and operate are listed on your licence. It is a serious offence to drive any vehicle for which you do not have a licence, and doing so will invalidate your insurance.
Confused about getting van insurance? No need to be – give our van insurance experts a call today, and we’ll help sort it out. You can call us on 0818 224433 or 042 9359051.