Surprising Things That Will Affect Your Commercial Vehicle Insurance

Many of us view vehicle insurance as a necessary evil – something we have to pay for but think we will never need. So it can be tempting not to pay too much attention to the small print. But this can be a risky strategy should you need to make a claim.

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In particular, if your vehicle is a necessary part of running your business, then having it off the road for extended periods of time while you wrangle over your insurance claim can have a huge detrimental impact on your income.

There are many factors that can affect commercial vehicle insurance premiums, and they largely fall into two categories: modifications made to vehicles and external factors.

Modifications

Making modifications to any vehicle, personal or commercial, can impact your premiums. Whether they’re made for aesthetic or performance reasons, you should always check with your insurer to see if they affect your policy. While they may not always increase your premium, they may invalidate your insurance if they haven’t been reported. In fact, according to the Guardian, some insurers require you to get permission prior to making any modifications.

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Seemingly innocuous changes like adding decals can push up premiums, as they are seen to attract additional attention to your vehicle and thus can increase the risk of theft.

External Factors

Driving for long periods of time or for long distances, as many commercial drivers do, is a hard job. It requires great levels of concentration, and it can be easy to get distracted. The rise of in-vehicle technology, while seemingly there to help, can often draw the driver’s attention away from the road.

That’s why any vehicles that has to stop on a high-speed road, to carry out maintenance or repairs, for example, must have Chevrons kits like those supplied by https://www.vehiclechevrons.com/ applied to their vehicles.

Fuel prices, surprisingly, can also have an effect on insurance premiums. When fuel prices are higher fewer miles are travelled and in turn the number of accidents falls.

Finally, and possibly one of the most publicised factors to push up insurance premiums in recent years, has been the rise of the ambulance chaser. Although this practice is frowned upon and is now clamped down on to some degree, it has had a huge impact on the cost of insurance in recent years.

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