Where To Get The Best Business Car Insurance Deal?

Do you drive your car for work purposes? Working for yourself or working for a company?

It’s important to remember most traditional car insurance policies will only cover you for commuting to and from work - and not during workday - if you haven't mention it while choosing your policy.

If you’re involved in an accident where you were driving for business reasons other than commuting, this could leave your insurance policy void and you wouldn’t be covered. This is not a situation you want to find yourself in.

Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered and this won’t have to happen. Everything you need to know can be found right here in our definitive guide to the best business vehicle insurance policies. Let's dive right in!

What is business use car insurance?

Business insurance for cars is an addition to traditional car insurance policies that allow you to use your car for all kinds of business-related reasons that includes everything other activity than just commuting.

Standard policies in the UK usually cover social, domestic, and pleasure driving (commonly referred to as SDP), and tend to cover commuting to and from work, but you’ll need to check this with your individual provider. These insurance categories fit under different insurance types that are as follows;

Insurance categories	Details
Social, Domestic, and Pleasure	This standard type of insurance covers the majority of all driving the average person does. Driving journeys covered include going to the shops or town, visit friends, going for a day out, going to the doctors, and general day-to-day travel.
Social and Commuting	If you commute to work, even if that means driving to a train or bus station or taking someone else to work, you’ll need to make sure you’re covered by a commuting policy, especially since commuting hours tend to be busier than the rest of the day. Many providers will combine these two first insurance categories, but it’s always worth checking with your preferred provider to make sure you’re going to be covered when you drive.
Business Class 1, 2, 3	If you use your car for work purposes, which includes anything more than commuting, you’re going to need business class insurance to guarantee you’re covered. A standard insurance policy won’t do. Keep reading to find out more about these classes in detail!
Commercial	If you use your car for business purposes, but in the sense that driving is your job, you’ll need commercial car insurance. This includes driving jobs such as delivery drivers, taxi drivers, or driving instructors.

Since you’re driving around more, potentially doing more miles at various times of the day on roads you probably don’t know very well, if at all, business car insurance does tend to be slightly higher than traditional car insurance, but it’s essential you have to ensure you’re covered in the event of an accident situation.

What’s covered by a business car insurance policy?

In short, everything you would normally have in a standard car insurance is covered in a car insurance for business use policy, but the increased risk factors of driving on new roads and more miles are included.

In regards to what kind of business is typically covered, most policies cover;

• Travel between different work sites, such as worksites, warehouses, and offices
• Visits to potential clients or meetings with customers
• Situations where you drive other employees around
• Drives where you’re carrying out any business duties
• Driving to banks or other businesses for work-related purposes.

Why you would need a business car insurance policy?

If you use your car for business purposes, you need business use insurance on your car. While standard insurance policies will cover you for commuting to and from work, if your use of the car for business purposes extends past this, you need business use cover.

For example, some of the job roles you might find yourself needing this insurance policy on include;

• If you’re a salesperson and travel to make pitches.
• If you visit clients or customers.
• If you transport files or documents between commerical properities.
• If you’re a nurse who visits patients at their homes.
• If you’re a regional manager who drives better stores.

These are just a few examples to job roles where you could use your personal car for business purposes, and if you fit any of these roles or similar roles, you’ll need to invest in business use insurance.

If you don’t mention your car is used for business purposes and you’re caught, this is known as fronting, and it can even lead to you being unable to secure insurance in the future.

Being caught in this way can result in points on your license or even a driving ban for several years. However, as we said above, if you’re driving around engaging in business activities while only insured with a personal car insurance policy, an accident situation could void your insurance and you won’t be covered.

This means you’ll have to deal with any legal and financial consequences yourself, and you may not receive any form of compensation. This alone should detail how important it is to invest in dedicated business car insurance.

The different classes of business car insurance

Typical car business insurance policies tend to fall into three different classes, depending on what kind of policy you want and what kind of cover you’re looking for: class 1, 2 and 3.

While you won’t necessarily choose one of these yourself, but they are more used by the insurance providers to determine your premium, they will affect what cost you’re going to be paying.

Let’s dive into what they’re all about.

Class number	Details
Class 1	The standard form of business car insurance. You’ll receive all the benefits a traditional car insurance policy has when driving for business purposes. This includes driving to see customers and clients or driving to locations for work intentions, such as driving between offices or commercial buildings. For some policies, your spouse may also be covered to drive your car for business and personal purposes.
Class 2	Class 2 business car insurance is exactly the same as Class 1 with the exception you’ll be allowed to add a named driver to your policy. The named driver will receive all the same benefits as the policyholder, but the clause states that you MUST work for the same business.
Class 3	Class 3 business car insurance uk is ideal if you’re planning on driving a lot of miles for work. If you’re a sales rep, deliver samples, or hold a role like a regional manager that travels to lots of stores throughout the country, this is the type of policy you’ll need to cover you.While this is the most expensive form of business insurance, it does cover you for an excessive number of miles, ensuring you’re always covered in every situation.

How to reduce the cost of my business car insurance?

Due to the increased risk factors of driving for business purposes (increased mileage, driving at all hours of the time, driving on unfamiliar roads, etc.), business insurance car does cost more, but there are plenty of ways you can reduce your premiums.

Of course, you’re always going to be on the lookout for the best deal possible, especially when it comes to business car insurance. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to ensure you’re always getting the best price.

• Increase your voluntary excess and you’ll see your premium reduce. However, always remember that this is the amount you’ll need to pay when making a claim, so ensure it’s affordable.
• Since you’re driving to a lot of different locations and are, therefore, at more risk of being affected by crime, increasing and installing security features of your car can reduce your premium
• Make sure you’re taking time to shop around to find the best deal and don’t just go for the first insurance policy you find. There could be an even better deal suited to you just around the corner.
• More often than not, it’s more affordable to pay for an annual policy than it is to pay in monthly installments.
• If you use multiple cars in your business for work purposes, it may be more affordable to invest in fleet insurance, rather than insuring each car individually.

Can I drive any car with business insurance?

No, you can’t just get into any car and drive it when you have business insurance, but you can insure any kind for business purposes.

It doesn’t matter what car or van or motorbike you have, you can insure the vehicle for business purposes. Simply go through the application process and make sure you select the ‘Business Use’ option, in addition to the Social, Domestic, and Pleasure option, to guarantee coverage.

Can I get business vehicle insurance for a day?

Of course! There are plenty of one day car insurance providers out there that offer 24-hour car insurance coverage.

If you’re borrowing a colleague’s, friend’s, or partner’s car for business purposes and only need to be insured for a single day, this can be a much more affordable approach and is so much better than taking out a full policy and cancelling after a day.

If you’re interested in taking out a one day car insurance policy for business use, check out our definitive guide, or check out these insurance providers;

• Markerstudy Insurance
• ERS Short Term Insurance
• XPEKT Car Insurance
• Day Insure
• Insure Daily
• Veygo by Admiral

Can I get temporary business car insurance?

If you’re planning on using a car for longer than a day, but less than several months, or you’re not sure how long you’re going to need to be insured on a car, you can always look into getting a temporary car insurance policy.

Temporary car insurance policies work in the same way that one day cover and fully comprehensive cover works, but you can select a predetermined amount of time that you’re covered for, whether that’s weeks or months. Some providers you may want to look into include;

• Insure Daily
• Day Insure
• Insure 4 a Day
• Cuvva
• Temp Cover
• Collingwood Insurance
• RAC
• Veygo by Admiral
• One Call Insurance
• Aviva
• Sky Insurance