Ian Beevis

The fleets that get the worst terms aren't the riskiest. They're the ones whose paperwork doesn't match reality.

A common pattern is a builder with five vans who lists three drivers but lets any labourer move a van around site, or a sales fleet that quietly added two cars nobody declared. When a claim lands and the driver isn't on the policy, the insurer may decline it and the loss could sit with the business. There's also a quieter trap: a vehicle sold but never removed from the Motor Insurance Database, which is a legal duty under Continuous Insurance Enforcement and surfaces at exactly the wrong moment. Specialist brokers read a blended fleet as one risk, which is why a mixed car-and-van schedule places far more easily through them.

Match the schedule to who actually drives. That single habit wins better terms.

Construction fleets lose money in one predictable place. The plant.

A common pattern is a firm insuring its tippers and vans well, then losing a £30,000 road-registered digger and finding the motor policy paid for it on the road but not while it was working inside the site fence, where a separate plant or contractors' all-risks section should have sat. There's also the use-class trap: cover bought for own-goods site work but quietly used to haul spoil for hire and reward, which a specialist broker would have flagged and re-rated. Plant theft is a heavy industry exposure, with construction losses estimated above £800 million a year once downtime is counted, so security that is fitted and recorded usually earns its keep at renewal. The duty to keep vehicles roadworthy and properly used sits with the operator under HSE construction guidance.

Insure the machine for where it works, not just where it drives. That gap is where build firms lose money.

Motoring convictions cover a wide range of offences, from a single speeding endorsement to a drink driving ban. Each one carries a different code, and that code shapes how insurers assess risk.

Speeding codes like SP30 are the most common, and the insurance impact is usually manageable. At the other end of the scale, drink and drug driving codes can stay on a licence for 11 years. The age of the conviction matters almost as much as the offence itself.

Drivers with multiple codes face higher loadings because the combination signals a pattern, not just a one-off event. But even a single serious conviction can narrow the field of insurers willing to quote.

Rehabilitation periods vary by offence. Understanding when your conviction becomes spent, and how insurers treat convictions at different stages, could make a real difference to what you pay at renewal.

Electric vans are no longer unusual, but the best policy wording still does more than swap diesel for battery power. I would check three things before buying: who owns the battery, how the charging cable is covered, and whether the policy responds if someone trips over a cable while the van is charging.

The 4,250kg Category B rule is useful for payload, but it does not remove the need to tell the provider exactly what the van is and how it is used. A heavier zero-emission van, a depot charging setup and paid delivery work all give the underwriter important context.

For working vans, I would also separate vehicle cover from goods cover. The van policy may protect the electric van itself, while tools, stock or customer goods usually need their own cover or extension.

Deliveroo riders often assume the app's own insurance covers them end to end. It doesn't. Deliveroo provides limited third-party cover only while a rider is actively completing an order, so any incident between orders, while waiting or while riding home from a shift falls outside that cover entirely.

The Supreme Court's 2021 ruling on Deliveroo riders confirmed their worker status for some employment rights, but the insurance obligation remains personal. Every rider still needs their own hire and reward motor policy to be legal under the Road Traffic Act 1988. Deliveroo checks for proof of that cover at sign-up.

Multi-app riders face an extra risk. A rider who adds a second platform mid-year and forgets to tell their insurer is carrying food on a use class the policy doesn't cover. Adding the platform takes minutes. Skipping it can turn a routine bump into an uninsured incident.