Caravan Insurance

One insurance broker is issuing a caution to van drivers who drive other people's cars.

Jacqui Wilson, retail manager at BiB, told the Teeside Evening Gazette that it is a common mistake for drivers of commercial vehicles to assume they are automatically covered for driving cars, but this is not the case.

The majority of third party car insurance policies enable named drivers to drive other cars in an emergency, but the same does not hold true for van drivers.

The fact brings home the importance of checking details carefully when comparing cheap van insurance policies in a hunt for the best deal on the market.

"A typical example might be someone spends most of the time driving a van for their business, say a plumber or electrician," Ms Smith explained.

That person might assume they will also be covered to drive their partner's car, she continued.

However, "the driver would have to be named separately on their wife's policy to be insured," she said.

Another common mistake is to assume that cheap van insurance covers contents lost when a van is stolen or damaged.

However, Ms Smith said that this was usually specifically excluded and "anyone who carries valuable items in a commercial vehicle should be aware of this".