RECORD HIGH INSURANCE PREMIUMS

Commercial vehicle insurance premiums rocket

Van insurance premiums have hit record highs this year, driven by increased claims costs and replacement part prices, with significant age-based discrepancies for drivers.

Fleets that use vans have been hit with the biggest rise in insurance premiums for more than six years. The rise, revealed in the latest Consumer Intelligence Van Insurance Price Index, is the result of the higher cost of claims, which has been pushed up by the cost of replacement parts and carrying out repairs.

Insurance quotes are at their highest level since Consumer Intelligence records began in 2014 – and have nearly trebled in the last decade.

Y3K CEO Paul Singh said: "Van fleets have been hit hard with increases in insurance premiums but they can look to get reductions in quotes if they employ telematics safety systems which improve driver behaviour and bring about significant reductions in incidents.”

The data also revealed vast discrepancies in the rises across different age groups in the past year. Younger van drivers, under-25, saw the lowest increases in premiums at 24.5% compared with 41.6% for the over-50s and 36.6% for those aged between 25 and 49. However, nearly 42% of over-50s van drivers can source a quote for less than £500 compared with 15% of those aged 25 to 49. No under-25s can do so.

Van premium increases also saw slight variations based on how drivers use their vehicles.