Minibus Insurance

What is minibus insurance?

Minibus insurance is a specialist policy for passenger-carrying vehicles bigger than cars but smaller than coaches. It’s cover against risks such as fire, theft and collision. At ChoiceQuote, we cover individual minibuses under our commercial van insurance policy, and also offer minibus fleet insurance.

What is the definition of a minibus?

A minibus is a converted van or small bus, fitted with between 9 and 16-17 passenger seats. It weighs no more than 3.5 tonnes (excluding additional equipment) and has surrounding windows in the passenger accommodation section. Some minibuses have extra features for disabled passengers, such as wheelchair ramps or lifts.

What does minibus insurance cover?

There are two types of minibus usage:

• Personal use, transporting non-paying passengers, including family members and people served by voluntary, educational, religious, sporting and other organisations.
• Private use, carrying paying passengers on a hire or reward basis.

For both personal and private use, you can choose between third party, third party plus fire and theft, and comprehensive cover with ChoiceQuote. To help lower premiums, we also offer different policies for different passenger capacities:

• 9-seater minibus insurance
• 12-seater minibus insurance
• 16-seater minibus insurance

What additional cover is available?

You can purchase minibus insurance from ChoiceQuote as a standalone policy or combined with another type of insurance in a single, convenient package. Optional additions include:

• Public liability insurance
• Personal accident cover
• Cover for named drivers
• EU cover
• AA accident cover
• Breakdown cover

Who needs minibus insurance?

Anyone who drives a minibus. You will need minibus insurance to legally drive on UK roads, regardless of whether it is for personal or private use. Typical minibus roles include the following:

• Charities and community groups
• Schools and colleges
• Religious groups
• Airport transfer services
• Health and welfare organisations
• Local authorities
• Sports clubs
• Companies transporting staff
• Taxi services

Who can be covered by minibus insurance?

ChoiceQuote minibus insurance policies are available for drivers aged between 21 and 79. You must hold a full category D or D1 driving licence.

We can also insure drivers with motoring convictions under certain circumstances, so please discuss this with the ChoiceQuote team.

How much does minibus insurance cost?

Naturally, you may want to pay as little as possible without cutting corners on essential cover. Factors that can influence the cost of your minibus insurance include:

• Vehicle value
• Number of seats
• Driver’s age
• Type of vehicle
• Length of no claims bonus
• Motoring convictions

Why choose ChoiceQuote for your minibus insurance?

The type of minibus insurance you require will depend on the way the vehicle is used and the seating capacity. Talk to the ChoiceQuote team first. We’ll use our 25 years of transport industry experience to help ensure you have suitable cover for your needs.

As well as minibus insurance, we offer all types of insurance for “businesses on wheels”, including courier insurance, taxi insurance and fleet insurance.

What we don’t offer are “one-size-fits-all, solutions.” We’ll use our insurance industry specialists and contacts to recommend a policy that suitably matches your requirements.

Our UK-based customer service team provide a highly rated service* and our claims reporting line is open 24/7/365. In order to pay for your policy we can offer easy payment options so you can spread the cost. Contact us and we can have you insured in minutes.

*We are proud to be independently rated “excellent” on Trustpilot. Correct as of January 2023.

How can I save money on minibus insurance?

There are a number of ways to help reduce your minibus insurance. Here are some factors to consider.

Paying annually

Savings are often available for paying this way, rather than monthly

Adding additional security features to your vehicle

Features like trackers, immobilisers and alarms can lower premiums. So can demonstrating that the minibus is emptied of valuables and kept in a secure place overnight.

Investing in telematics

It is worth considering having tracking devices installed to your fleet of vehicles as  some insurers could potentially reduce your insurance premium.

Minibus Fleet Insurance

We also cover fleets of minibuses or combined fleets of different types of vehicles including minibuses, of five vehicles upwards. Our team also have expertise brokering insurance cover for charity and community minibuses and transport. You can choose to insure your vehicles on a third party fire and theft or a comprehensive basis. Depending on your requirements, we can negotiate a policy that includes:

• Up to £5m coverage for third party property damage
• Windscreen cover
• Foreign use and EU cover
• No Claims Discount Protection

We are able to offer a combined package with other types of insurance such as Public Liability and Employers’ Liability Insurance. We are able to offer exclusive discounts with our telematics provider, and generous savings on the purchase and installation of tracking devices. This will potentially reduce your insurance premium when your fleet has the devices installed. For fleets of vehicles, we take pride in our claims management service, and work proactively on your behalf in settling claims swiftly and satisfactorily