Vans have become critical during the UK’s lockdown and this has led to an uptick in van insurance requests
Van insurance take-up has been on the rise during the Covid-19 lockdown as deliveries have been crucial for both homes and businesses with social distancing being enforced as a UK wide measure to mitigate the spread of the virus.
This is according to reverse auction insurtech honcho is the latest to enter the van insurance market. It is the second motor insurance product that Honcho has taken up following its entrance into car insurance last year.
Gavin Sewell, chief executive at Honcho, said: “The events of 2020 have brought an even greater focus onto how critical vans are to all of our lives and now, more than ever, van owners need a better deal.
“Whether they are delivering our shopping or transporting tradesmen and their tools to keep our homes and businesses moving, vans are critical to us all.”
It follows price comparison provider The Van Insurer reporting a significant increase in quotes last month. In June it reported 15% more quotes, meanwhile it noted a 52% rise in requests between April and June as the UK eased lockdown.
The increase in van insurance quotes in June 2019 compared to June 2020 was 41%.
Different needs
However, Sewell continued: “Van drivers all have different needs when it comes to insurance – for example, some need cover for the tools in their van and for others, their business stops if they’re without their van and so they choose courtesy van cover. With honcho, van owners can choose the insurance specifics that match their individual needs, then we broadcast that out to our marketplace of insurance providers.
“Our van insurers get to see what each other are offering the consumer and can sharpen their offer with ever-lower prices over three rounds of bidding in just 30 seconds to try to win the van owner’s business with the exact cover that they’ve asked for. And without the hefty commission that old-fashioned price comparison sites hide away, Honcho is better value for everyone.”
The insurtech’s van insurance marketplace has the following van insurers and brokers on its platform, including: Quoteline Direct, Freedom Brokers, City Insurance, Sterling, Nova Direct, Van Line Direct, Principal Insurance, Motor Vision, Performance Direct and Grove & Dean.
But it said that several more van insurance providers which include Vanarama, Van Quote Direct and Computer Quote will also join honcho’s platform over the next fortnight.
Flexible cover
Last week Tempcover entered a new partnership with trade directory for tradespeople, Checkatrade to provide trade professionals in the UK with discounted temporary van insurance that is flexible.
For example, policyholders can take cover that lasts for an hour, anywhere up to 28 days.
Meanwhile at the beginning of September, Seopa – the parent company of comparison platforms Quotezone and CompareNI partnered with Freedom Brokers on a telematics van insurance offering which targeted light commercial van drivers.
At the time, Greg Wilson, founder of Quotezone and CompareNI said: “2020 has proven an interesting year for van insurance.”
Citing a 38% year-on-year increase in traffic to its van insurance system during lockdown he suggested that it was due to a growing number of small businesses purchasing new vans to extend their delivery service offerings.
Zego also cited a spike in the demand for delivery and courier fleets during the UK’s lockdown and expanded its van fleet insurance partnership with RSA back in May and began offering usage-based policies in a bid to reduce upfront costs for these businesses.
The insurance landscape is evolving. Click here to have your say and you could win £250 John Lewis vouchers. Brokers how well have your insurance partners supported you over the last 12 months?
Read more…Insurtech’s poised to prosper from post-pandemic business models
Not subscribed? Become a subscriber and access our premium content
No comments yet