Weigh up all of your finance options

Your cash flow situation will be one of the leading factors into how you finance your next van purchase, another factor that will contribute is the quality of van that you are looking to purchase.

If you are looking to purchase a brand new van from a manufacturer’s dealership, they will have some good finance plans in place that could meet your monetary needs. Whereas if you are looking for a second hand vehicle you could purchase the vehicle outright if you have the funds, which is the cheaper option.

Make sure that you consider the practicality of the cost on your business if you do choose to go down the finance route, and also consider if this is an investment that is going to help your business.

Save on your insurance with fleets

As a rule of thumb; the more vans that you insure under one policy, the greater the discount will be when your compare it against having individual policies for each vehicle. Fleet insurance is one of the top 3 ways that can reduce your commercial van insurance.

“I have been trading as a courier for 6 years now and this is the first year I have looked into cheap courier insurance; I managed to save over £300, why haven’t I don’t this sooner!” – Lee Underwood, South West London.
Your fleet insurance quote may surprise you. On average we found a saving of 25% with limited companies who insure multiple vans under 1 policy.

Introduce fuel saving methods

There are three main factors that need to be introduced in order to reduce your expenditure on fuel; drive more efficiently, refuel at the right place and get involved with a fuel card system.

Fuel cards

There are a number of different fuel card providers in the UK, all offering something unique; 2000+ sites, truck specific, HMRC approved invoicing, fixed weekly pricing and more. Click here to get an overview of the largest providers in the UK and what money saving tools they can provide.

Where to get the cheapest fuel

The price of fuel increases and decreases every day depending on the economy, location and a number of different factors. 90% of the time a fuel station directly on the motorway will be more expensive than a local station near a lot of housing. For regular updates on where you can get the cheapest fuel near you, use this online calculator.

How to drive more efficiently

We’re not saying that you need to change the way that you drive your business van on a day to day basis, but here are a few tips on how you can use less fuel that you usually would:

•    Anything with any weight that you are unlikely to need during your day; remove it!
•    Air-conditioning uses up more fuel that you think, open up the windows instead
•    Regularly check your tyre pressure. If it’s too high or too low you are making your vehicle perform more than in necessary to make up for it
•    The majority of catering vans and courier vans will come with roof racks but if you don’t need them, get them removed!

Minimise the risk of accidents

When you have multiple business vans you need to rely on other drivers to keep your business going whilst keeping your vehicles safe. In the UK drivers between 17-24 years of age are considered to be the most dangerous drivers by over 35% of the public.

If you employ a high number of young drivers we would highly recommend sending them on a speed awareness course as a preventative to any accidents. From only £76 you could prevent a fatal accident happening in the future.

Be aware of any hidden costs

The number one cost that many van drivers forget about is the excess. We wouldn’t say this is a hidden cost but it is often a cost that we could really do without when we need to make a claim on our insurance. If you have a high excess clause as part of your policy make sure that you add on excess reimbursement insurance when purchasing your policy.

With this insurance add on, you will initially have to pay the excess fee yourself but with this added security, you can claim it back in no time. Excess reimbursement insurance, is it worth it?