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What Is Classed as a Minibus?
A minibus is a vehicle that is larger than your average car, but still smaller than a bus or coach. A minibus would typically have between 9 and 16 seats. If you have more than 16 seats this would then be classed as a coach, which you can click here for a quote. On the other hand, if your vehicle fits less than 9 people, it would be classified as either a minicab or van.
Due to the nature of carrying multiple passengers its important to understand that minibus insurance can cost more than your general car insurance and its good to compare with all our insurance providers to get the best rate.
What is Minibus Insurance?
Compare minibus insurance from insurance specialists today. You may drive a minibus to transport passengers for trips or the minibus may be used to transport children to school. Whatever the reason we can help you find insurance for your minibus. In order to drive a minibus in the Uk, its important to understand you do need to have the correct minibus insurance. You cannot drive a minibus on a normal car insurance policy.
TThere are other factors you have to take into account depending on what you use the minibus for. If you drive the minibus for private hire or carry passengers for a fee you would still need to have a valid taxi licence.
Why Do You Need Minibus Insurance?
If you own a minibus then you need to get the correct cover in order to drive legally. Regular car insurance policies unfortunately won’t cut it. Due to their size, and the fact that they are often used to generate a profit, the risks involved in owning these vehicles are unique and therefore, a special type of cover is required.
Third party only insurance is the minimum legal requirement for you to be able to drive your minibus on UK roads. You will be covered against liability expenses for other persons involved in an accident that you’re to blame for.
When Must You Have Minibus Insurance?
If you own a minibus which is used for any of the categories to follow, you will undoubtedly be required to take out a minibus policy. Commercial minibus users would likely need to have either commercial minibus insurance or 9 seater minibus insurance. The other type of minibus coverage is designed for hire and reward usage, which is comparable to taxi insurance. Health and welfare organisations, schools, airport transfer companies, charities, churches, government, as well as public and private rental companies, include but a few examples of hire and reward purposes.
Types of minibus uses
Typically, minibuses are used for the following reasons:
- Private hire – this type of person may use the minibus for their own use but also use the minibus to carry passengers to and from airports or other journeys. You would need to make sure that you have the correct minibus insurance policy for this.
- Carriage of passengers – this type of minibus use could be for non paying passengers such as scout groups, care home residents, organisations, sports clubs and other groups of individuals. This is when the organisation pays for the service instead of the individual passengers.
- Contract Hire – this type of minibus use is for school trips, work events where you are going from one event to another.
What Are the Different Types of Minibus Insurance?
Depending on the purpose of your minibus, you can choose between taxi minibus, private minibus, or commercial minibus coverage.
If you don’t transport people for hire and reward, you’ll need either commercial or private minibus insurance. The purpose of your vehicle will determine which policy type you need to get. Both will give you all of the coverage applicable to normal van insurance.
If you’re transporting passengers for hire and reward, you’ll need insurance to protect your vehicle as if it were a taxi. You’ll need certain forms of coverage with this type of insurance.
Hire and Reward Minibus Insurance Types
There are a range of different types of cover available that fall under hire and reward minibus policies. Hire and reward insurance includes:
- Any driver cover: With permission from the policyholder, this type of cover enables your minibus to be driven by any legally licensed employees.
- Breakdown cover: This covers your vehicle if you require specialist assistance following a breakdown.
- Fully comprehensive cover: Coverage for damages caused by an accident, including your own car and any other vehicles involved in the collision, as well as theft and fire damage, personal items, and medical expenses.
- Public and private hire cover: Private hiring involves pre-booking. Minibuses that can be hailed on the street fall under public hire cover.
- Public liability cover: Coverage if your business is liable for property damage or injury to the public.
How Are Minibus Premiums Calculated?
You may be wondering why minibus insurance is more expensive than other vehicle insurance. Your insurer looks at several factors in order to determine your associated risk profile. The cost is determined using a number of different factors, including:
- Coverage level: The more add-ons you include in your policy, the more expensive your premium will be. Comprehensive and high-level coverage may be more expensive, but on the other hand, cheaper policies may lack critically important cover.
- Driver age: Drivers under the age of 25 normally pay a higher premium for their insurance. This is due to the fact that they are more likely than older drivers to file a claim.
- Minibus value: One of the most important criteria is the value of your vehicle. Insurance companies must account for the chance that your minibus may be written off and need to be replaced. The cost is also influenced by the worth of the vehicle’s components.
- Security precautions: This looks at how secure your minibus appears to be. If your minibus has little to no security measures in place, insurers will raise your premiums.
What Can You Do to Save On Your Minibus Insurance?
If the cost of your minibus insurance is eating away at your budget, it may be time to rethink your approach to purchasing insurance. There are steps that you can take that may possibly reduce your insurance premium. Here are some money saving suggestions:
- Ask for quotes from several insurers: Nowadays it is a quick and easy process to get multiple minibus insurance quotes. By comparing the rates from multiple insurance companies, you will get a better idea of what is on offer, and make an educated choice based on this information.
- Don’t pay monthly: Ideally, you should pay annually for your cover. Insurers often offer discounted prices if you choose to pay upfront as opposed to making monthly payments.
- Take action to secure your minibus: Security measures such as parking inside a closed garage and installing and alarm or immobiliser may lower the rate offered to you by insurers.
- Choose a higher increase: Your monthly premium will be more affordable if you set a higher excess. Although be careful not to select an amount that you won’t be able to afford.
- Get new quotes before you renew: Instead of simply renewing your insurance every year, you should shop around to see if there are any offers that beat your current policy.
How can Try Compare help you get cheaper minibus insurance.
We work with the UK leading minibus insurance providers, we help over 100,000 people a year find insurance and will make sure that we obtain the cheapest minibus insurance policy available along with the most effective policy. At Try Compare we want you to be covered correctly and it’s important you get the right policy for the right money.
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