Van Breakdown Insurance – a guide to ISIS cover options

How much does van breakdown insurance cover cost?

As you might expect, costs vary. There are a number of distinct ‘rating factors’ that the insurer will consider when quoting you for van breakdown insurance. Most notably, these are:

• The extent of the cover itself. Unsurprisingly, if you only require a basic level of cover, it will cost less. The Roadside & Recovery cover (see details below) that we offer is available from as little as £63.84 – and that’s for an annual policy. However, it is worth considering whether that suits your needs. Paying as little as an extra £20 for the whole year could extend cover to include recovery to anywhere within the mainland UK, which may feel like small change when you’re stranded miles from home on a wet roadside! The best advice is to consider how, where and when you use the van – and talk to one of our advisors – in order to get a cost effective cover that also accommodates all of your requirements.
• The age of the van being insured. Unsurprisingly, a new van is less expensive to cover than an older vehicle. Outside of it being less likely to break down in the first place, there are a number of other factors that weigh in – for example the ease of availability of spare parts for an older van. That said, even cover for a vehicle that’s over 20 years old only adds less than £20 to your annual premium when compared to cover for a brand new vehicle.
• Where you are driving the vehicle. Again, something of a common sense factor. If you are driving in Europe and something goes wrong that means both you and the vehicle need to be recovered and transported back to the UK, the costs are higher.

But actually, asking ‘how much does van breakdown insurance cost?’ is probably the wrong question. As highlighted above, you are probably looking at something between £5.50 – £12 a month depending on your vehicle. That starts to look like excellent value when you consider the costs you could incur if you breakdown. Did you know that in the UK, Traffic Officers have the power to remove broken down vehicles from the side of the road? And to charge you for it? Prices vary slightly by region, but here’s the Highways England information and pricelist:

Additionally, the Highways Agency charge for storage of vehicles at one of their depots – somewhere between £20 and £25 per 24 hours, depending on vehicle size. Overall, costs can soon rack up and the cost of van breakdown insurance is relatively little by comparison.

At ISIS we can offer 3 levels of van breakdown insurance for commercial vehicles of less than 7.5 ton gross vehicle weight. Cover is available from as little as £63.84, dependent on a number of factors – including, most obviously, the age and weight of the vehicle, as well as the intended use. The cover options available are:

Roadside & Recovery Insurance

This is the ‘basic’ level of cover that we can offer. Examples of the cover Included as standard are:

• Assistance at the roadside
• Recovery to any UK location (Many basic covers ONLY get you as far as the nearest repairer)
• Contact friend or relative
• Misfuelling
• Lost Keys
• Vehicle recovery from snow, sand or flood – A feature not commonly seen on a basic policy, this means that we will assist with recovery where the vehicle isn’t actually broken down, but stranded.

Policy Summary

Total UK Cover

This has all the features of the Roadside and Recovery cover, and in addition adds:

• Assistance at your home address – meaning that you can rest easy, knowing that should your vehicle breakdown at your home address then assistance can be provided to get the vehicle moving again
• Cover for costs of vehicle hire, use of public transport and overnight accommodation if you are stranded.

Policy Summary

Total UK and Europe protection

Again incorporating all of the features of the above cover options, as it’s name suggests, this extends cover for driving in Europe. The European cover option incorporates a number of further benefits, too, reflecting likely or possible additional requirements that you may face in the event of something going wrong while you are on the continent:

• European Cover
• Cover for the trip prior to departure – meaning you’re not out of pocket if there is a problem with the van before you even get underway
• Replacement parts dispatch. It may be that repairers cannot easily access the required vehicle part in Europe. This covers the cost of a part needing to be specially sent so that the van can be repaired.
• Emergency repairs to vehicle following theft or break in – so that your vehicle can be secure as you make the remainder of your trip.
• Return travel costs cover for you and your vehicle to the UK.
• Replacement vehicle on your return to the UK. This allows you to use a courtesy vehicle while you await the repair and return of your own van, ensuring minimal disruption.

Policy Summary

What type of commercial vehicles can I take out breakdown cover for?

As explained, we can offer cover for commercial vehicles up to 7.5 tons . We can offer cover for a wide range of vans and light commercial vehicles and we can even offer cover for vans used for hire and reward use – something that many of our competitors cannot provide.