Just as your personal car or motorbike needs to be insured, vehicles used by your business are also subject to the same legal insurance requirements. But instead of arranging separate cover for each vehicle, you may typically be able to combine the policies under one heading and use your buying power to secure a good deal. This is why business car insurance could be a competitive way of covering your fleet.

There are a number of things to take into account when you are choosing a policy and a provider. It could be useful to have the following pieces of information to hand when you are getting quotes.

Mileage

How many miles do you and your employees travel per year? Generally speaking, but not always, the more miles you cover, the more expensive the policy will be. It's worth taking a moment to ensure that your estimate of annual mileage is correct, because if you make a claim based on information that subsequently turns out to be false, the insurer could claim that the policy is void.

What about foreign travel?

Your business car insurance policy might include foreign travel as standard, or it could be added as an optional extra. If neither you nor your employees travel abroad in the ordinary course of your business, you could consider leaving this out of the cover to drive down costs.

Who can drive the cars?

Some policies will cover anyone who is employed by you and who is using a company car or van with your permission. However, you may find that it is cheaper to have a regular pool of named people who drive the vehicles. That way you can provide specific information about whether their driving licenses are clean, and whether they have had any accidents.

What about breakdown cover?

Some insurers offer breakdown cover as an extra. This may be a convenient way of organising both types of insurance. However, it could be worth shopping around, as packages that include both may not be the most competitively priced. If you do obtain breakdown cover, ensure that the cars are serviced in accordance with the insurer's requirements to make sure that the cars are kept in the condition they expect.

Where are the cars left overnight?

Just as domestic insurers ask where the cars are kept, commercial insurers are equally as keen to know what happens to your company cars when they return to base. If you have a secure company car park, mention this when you are getting quotes for business car insurance, to ensure that you are getting the credit for reducing the risk of malicious damage and theft.

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