Mini Fleet Insurance
Mini fleet insurance puts a small business's cars and vans on one policy, usually from two vehicles up to around five, with one renewal date and one premium.
What Mini Fleet Insurance Is
It is a different product from the fleet cover larger operators buy. A full fleet policy is rated on the operation's own claims experience over several years, which only becomes statistically meaningful at ten or more vehicles. Below that, insurers run mini fleet schemes that rate each vehicle and driver much as an individual policy would, then put them on one schedule.
For a firm with two to five vehicles that usually means a keener price than full fleet rating would give, and far less admin than separate policies on staggered renewal dates.
What Mini Fleet Insurance Covers
Comprehensive or third party, vehicle by vehicle
Each vehicle can carry the level of cover that suits its value. A new van can be comprehensive while an older one sits on third party, fire and theft, on the same policy.
Any driver or named drivers
Any driver cover lets whoever you authorise drive, within the minimum age and licence limits the insurer sets. Naming drivers is usually cheaper if the same people always drive.
Cars and vans together
Company cars and commercial vans can sit on one mini fleet schedule, so a business running two vans and a car does not need two kinds of policy.
Adding and removing vehicles mid term
A new vehicle goes on cover with a premium adjustment for the rest of the year, and the renewal date stays where it is.
Business use for the work you do
Class of use is set for the business, including carrying tools and materials between sites. Carrying goods for payment needs hire and reward, which is a separate declaration.
Where The Cover Stops
Wordings differ between insurers, so treat these as the usual position rather than as universal fact. Where one of them matters to you, it is worth checking on your own schedule before you need to.
Tools and goods inside the vehicle
The motor policy covers the vehicle, not what is in it. Tools need tool cover, and goods you carry need goods in transit cover arranged alongside.
Drivers outside the age and licence limits
Any driver does not mean anybody. Most schemes set a minimum age, often 25, and a minimum period of licence held. A driver outside those limits is uninsured even on an any driver policy.
Hire and reward
Delivering goods for payment is excluded under ordinary business use. If any vehicle delivers for a fee, it has to be declared.
Privately owned family cars
A mini fleet is for vehicles the business owns or leases. Cars owned by family members personally sit on a family fleet product, which we do not arrange.
How Many Vehicles Count As A Mini Fleet?
Most mini fleet schemes start at two vehicles and run to around five, and a few stretch further. The threshold varies by insurer, so the same business can be a mini fleet to one and too small for another.
Once a business runs ten or more vehicles, full fleet rating usually makes more sense, because by then there is enough claims history for an insurer to price the operation as a whole. Between five and ten is the grey area where it is worth quoting both ways.
Our motor fleet page covers the larger end, from fleets of a handful of vehicles up to mixed fleets with HGVs on them.
Mini Fleet Or Separate Policies?
The case for a mini fleet is strongest when vehicles change during the year, when different people drive different vehicles, or when you are tired of three renewals scattered across the calendar.
Separate policies can still win where one vehicle is driven by somebody with a poor record. On a mini fleet that driver's history affects the whole schedule; on their own policy it stays with their vehicle.
No claims bonus is the other question. Some mini fleet schemes recognise the no claims bonus each vehicle has earned, some build a fleet claims record instead, and moving between the two can lose years of discount if nobody checks first. Ask before switching.
How To Choose A Mini Fleet Insurance Broker
Small fleet cover looks like something you could buy on a comparison site, and for one van you can. Once there are several vehicles and several drivers, the questions that decide whether the policy works are not on the comparison form.
Will they quote it both ways?
A broker should compare a mini fleet scheme with separate policies when the answer is close, rather than assuming one route is always cheaper.
Have they asked about your drivers?
Ages, licence history and points decide any driver terms. A broker who only asks for registrations has not established who is actually covered.
Have they asked what is in the vans?
Tools and materials are not covered by the motor policy. A good broker raises that before a theft does.
What happens to your no claims bonus?
Moving vehicles onto a scheme can preserve or lose earned discount. Ask how each vehicle's bonus is treated before you switch.
We are an independent broker authorised and regulated by the FCA. We quote mini fleet schemes alongside separate policies where it is close, and most of the small fleets we arrange are trade businesses running vans between sites.
What Moves The Price
Every policy is priced on the business behind it. These are the things that move the premium:
- Where the vehicles are kept overnight
- The drivers: ages, licence history and points
- Any driver or named drivers
- Vehicle types, values and what they carry
- Claims and no claims history
- Annual mileage and the work the vehicles do
We are a broker, so we take it to several insurers rather than quoting one. Call 02382 000820 for a quote.
What We Need To Quote
- Registration, make, model and value for each vehicle
- Driver names, dates of birth and licence details
- Where each vehicle is kept overnight
- What the business does and what the vehicles are used for
- Current renewal dates and no claims bonus per vehicle
- Claims in the last five years
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this policy.
- Motor fleetOnce you are past five or so vehicles, or running HGVs alongside vans.
- Tool coverThe tools in the vans, which the motor policy does not cover.
- Goods in transitMaterials and stock while they are being carried.
- Tradesman insuranceThe trade version of this, with tools and van cover built around it.
- All trades A to ZCover written for your specific trade rather than the general product.
- Talk to a brokerTell us what you do and we will say which of these you actually need.
Common questions
What is mini fleet insurance?+
One policy covering a small number of business vehicles, usually two to five, rated on a scheme built for that size rather than on fleet claims experience. Cars and vans can sit on it together, with one renewal date and one premium.
How many vehicles do you need for a mini fleet?+
Two with most insurers. Schemes typically run to around five vehicles and a few go further. Above about ten, full fleet rating usually takes over.
Is mini fleet insurance cheaper than separate policies?+
Often, and it is almost always less admin. It can cost more where one driver has a poor record, because that affects the whole schedule. We quote both ways when it is close.
Can I mix cars and vans on a mini fleet?+
Yes. Company cars and commercial vans can sit on one mini fleet policy, as long as they belong to or are leased by the business.
Does a mini fleet keep my no claims bonus?+
It depends on the scheme. Some carry each vehicle's no claims bonus across and some build a fleet record instead. Check how yours is treated before moving vehicles over.
Who arranges mini fleet insurance for tradesmen?+
Commercial insurance brokers, rather than comparison sites, because the scheme needs the drivers and the use of each vehicle explained. CoverTrade arranges mini fleet cover for UK trade businesses. Call 02382 000820.
Other cover we arrange
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