Cover Story: Which Minibus Insurance Should You Choose?
‘All men are equal but some are more equal than others.’ There’s a touch of cynicism in this 1913 quotation but here, it begs a question: is all minibus insurance equal. In practice, while minibus insurance must conform to particular rules, there are five types of minibus insurance. What follows explains the five types and highlights how each reflects a different kind of minibus usage.
Family
More and more people are appreciating the versatility of minibuses. After all, what type of vehicle could be better for transporting small groups of passengers in comfort and safety? Such use is especially relevant to those with an extended family.
Family minibus insurance is tailored to this kind of use but it has a significant proviso. The minibus concerned can be used for social, domestic and pleasure trips but using it for hire or reward is not permitted.
Charity
The versatile nature of the minibus is what tempts charitable organisations into using them. This temptation is strong, as is witnessed by the many minibuses on our roads in the hands of various charities.
Charity minibus insurance packages are aimed at non profit-making concerns and are designed to keep running costs to the minimum. Once again, a specific stipulation exists, in the shape of the requirement for a Section 19 or Section 22 Permit. This is to prove that the minibus insured is being used for non profit-making and charitable purposes.
MPV
For this article, a minibus and an MPV can be considered as identical. This is because an increasing number of commercial concerns have passenger-carrying MPVs. Part of these vehicles’ attraction for this use is that they can be easily modified to suit the Disability Discrimination Act.
As a consequence, organisations including nursing homes and educational establishments, as well as those that need to transport employees, are using MPVs. In answer to the obvious demand, minibus insurance brokers offer bespoke policies for MPVs used in this way.
Fleet
Spot more than one minibus in the same livery and the chances are you’re seeing part of a fleet of minibuses. Insurance companies, again with an eye to cost benefits, can cater for fleet usage of minibuses.
In this field, it’s common for minibus policies to cover more than one vehicle; some policies have no upper limit in terms of vehicle numbers. Similarly, parameters such as vehicle make and model are rarely fixed. These factors mean that a fleet of minibuses can be insured en masse, saving the costs and complicated paperwork involved in insuring vehicles individually.
Taxi
Minibuses can be seen operating as taxis and in doing so, they meet a demand. In being able to carry more passengers and additional luggage, minibus taxis are a desirable addition to any carrier’s fleet. Moreover, provisions for wheelchair-bound passengers are easy to arrange.
Taxis can be either public or private hire vehicles; the former can be hailed at any point, while the latter must be pre-booked. In either case, the same kind of insurance requirements apply. The main one is insurance for ‘The carriage of persons for hire or reward’. However, it is more-or-less universal for public liability insurance to be added to the policy that covers a minibus for use as a taxi. This should include an indemnity limit of at least 5 million pounds. Minibuses used in this way must also meet local government requirements.
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Tags: minibus, minibus insurance