Minibus Insurance
Competitive Minibus, Coach and Bus Insurance Backed By Independent Advice
Minibus Insurance
Looking for competitive coach, bus, or minibus insurance backed by outstanding customer care? Call the JMG Sandbach team today on 01782 308 372 and let our independent specialists compare the market to find you the protection that’s right for you. Whether you need cover for a coach, minibus, bus, or even fleet insurance, call us on 01782 308 372 or contact us today.
Why Get Your Minibus, Coach or Bus Insurance From JMG Sandbach?
Since our founding in 1995, we’ve helped hundreds of coach, bus, and minibus owners get the competitive insurance they need. Our clients choose us as we offer a fantastic combination of service and value that gives you:
- Highly competitive cover from leading insurers
- Personal service from quote to claim
- Independent advice
- Help from specialists who are minibus, coach and bus insurance experts
To experience our exceptional service, call us on 01782 308 372 or contact us and let our team help you get the minibus, bus, or coach insurance that’s right for you.
What is coach, bus, or minibus insurance?
Coach, bus, or minibus insurance is a specialist form of cover designed to meet the needs of people who are minibus, people carrier, coach, bus and other public service vehicle (PSV) drivers. A typical policy can cover your vehicle and passengers from a range of risks and is a legal requirement for driving on the UK’s roads. It covers minibuses that can carry between 9 and 17 passengers and buses or coaches that carry between 30 and 100 passengers.
Which vehicles can a coach, bus, or minibus insurance policy cover?
This type of policy can cover a range of vehicles, including:
- Multi-purpose vehicles (MPV) – vehicles with 5 to 7 seats, including ones being used to carry paying passengers
- Minibuses – with between 9 and 16 seats. It can cover minibuses being used for private use, for not-for-profit organisations such as schools, clubs, or nursing homes or it can cover minibuses that are hired out to paying customers
- Coaches – ones that have around 30 to 60 seats. Again, cover can be arranged for private use or for those being used by paying passengers
- Buses – while bus insurance can cover standard buses, ones ranging in passenger capacity from 40 to 70, it can also cover larger, articulated buses that can carry up to 140+ people
What levels of coach, bus, or minibus insurance are there?
As with car insurance, there are three levels of coach, minibus, or bus insurance:
- Fully comprehensive – this is the highest level of cover and includes third party, fire and theft and pays for repairs or the replacement of your minibus, coach, or bus if it’s damaged maliciously or involved in an accident
- Third party, fire and theft – protects your minibus, coach, bus, or MPV from damage caused by fire or theft. It won’t pay out if the damage is caused by something else, such as an accident, but it will pay for damage to another’s vehicle if that accident is your fault
- Third party only -this is the minimum level of cover required by law. It covers you if you damage someone’s property or injure them while driving, and it also protects any passengers if they’re injured in your vehicle. It won’t pay out if your coach, bus, or minibus is stolen or damaged or destroyed by fire
In addition to this, you can specify the type of use your coach, bus, or minibus will be covered for. These options include:
- Social, domestic, and pleasure – SDP cover, as it’s also known, is for people who don’t use their minibus, coach, or MPV to carry paying passengers
- Public or private hire – public hire is for MPVs being used as taxis that can be hailed by people on the street or booked in advance. Many minibus, bus, and coach owners will need private hire cover, which covers trips that are booked in advance only
- Minibus fleet insurance – if you have three or more vehicles, you can get a minibus fleet insurance quote and potentially save money on per-vehicle cover and cut down on time spent on admin
To get the coach, minibus, or bus insurance that’s right for you, please call us on 01782 308 372 or contact us and let our team help you get the protection that’s right for you.
How much does coach, bus, or minibus insurance cost?
While that will largely depend on which type of vehicle you want to insure, other factors in calculating your coach, minibus, or bus insurance quotes include:
- Driver’s age – younger drivers and much older ones are likely to pay more. Many insurers will only cover people aged 21-70, and you will need to be 21 or over and have been driving for at least two years before you can drive a minibus
- Your postcode
- Your claims history
- The type of driving you do – private use or for hire
- Where the vehicle is kept – off-street parking or being garaged will usually lead to cheaper insurance quotes
- How much no-claims bonus do you have
- The value of the vehicle(s)
- How long you’ve been driving – more experienced drivers can see reduced premiums, depending on their claims history
- Annual mileage – the higher the mileage, the more you can expect to pay
- Your access to other vehicles – having access to other vehicles is likely to reduce your premium
- Whether you want to add other named drivers to your policy
- The type of organisation the vehicle belongs to
What coach, bus, or minibus insurance options are there?
Depending on the policy you choose and what you use your vehicles for, the following may be included or come as an optional extra:
- Public liability insurance for private and public hire drivers – if you are responsible for causing injury or damaging the property of a member of the public and they decide to take legal action against you, you’ll be glad you have public liability insurance. It will help with the costs of mounting a defence and paying any compensation awards
- A replacement vehicle for non-fault accidents –could be vital if you need to use your vehicle every day for work
- Coach, bus, or minibusinsurance breakdown insurance – adding breakdown insurance to your policy can help you get back on the road sooner. Cover can be extended to include home start and European options. Breakdown insurance makes a lot of sense, especially as it can cost bus and coach owners £150 to get a breakdown truck out to them and £1.50 per mile to transport it
- Protected no claims bonus insurance – so that in the event of a claim, you won’t lose your no-claims discount
- Excess protection –if you’re required to pay an excess, such as if an uninsured driver hits you or you’re at fault in an accident, you’ll won’t have to pay your policy’s excess if you have excess protection in place
- Motor legal insurance –protect yourself/your organisation with up to £100,000 of motor legal cover, including recovery of uninsured losses, personal injury cover, and a guaranteed replacement vehicle regardless of fault
How to save on coach, minibus, or bus insurance
There are a few ways you can potentially get cheaper coach, minibus, or bus insurance, including:
- Increasing your excess – the amount you pay in the event of a claim
- Securing your vehicles – insurers will often provide discounts on more secure vehicles, as it reduces the risk of them being broken into or stolen. By fitting extra security features like internal cameras, alarms, and deadlocks, you can reduce the chances of it being stolen, and you may also get cheaper insurance quotes
- Build up your no-claims discount (NCD) – insurers routinely offer discounts based on how long you have been claims-free
- Install a telematics system – telematics black box devices have become popular with insurers as they provide them with more impartial information, which is especially useful when claims are disputed
- Having a named driver policy – specifying who can drive your vehicles, rather than having an any driver policy, can also reduce your premiums
- Train your drivers – a Department of Transport report on driver training suggested that if drivers had better hazard perception training, it could lead to an 11% reduction in collisions, and fewer collisions mean fewer claims and lower insurance quotes
- Get a coach, bus or minibus fleet insurance quote – if you have several vehicles in need of cover, then a fleet insurance quote can give you cheaper per-vehicle cover and less admin
Coach, minibus, and bus insurance FAQ
Coach, minibus, and bus insurance can be a complicated area of cover. To help you get the protection you need, here are our coach, minibus, and bus insurance frequently asked questions. We hope they’ll be of use, but if you’d like some personalised, independent advice, then please call us on 01782 308 372 or contact us and one of our specialists will be happy to help.
Yes, if you want to drive on public roads
You must hold a full category D1 driving licence. In addition, drivers operating minibuses for hire and reward must also hold a public service vehicle (PSV) operator’s licence from a local authority. Not-for-profit organisations such as schools and charities may be able to operate minibuses without a PSV operator’s licence if they hold a Section 19 permit
To drive a coach or a bus carrying more than 16 passengers professionally in the UK, you need a Category D driving license and hold your Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC)
No, there are specific risks associated with minibuses, coaches and buses. These are large vehicles, and they’re often used for profit – hire and reward – so the risks involved are different, and a special type of insurance is required
That will depend on things like the type of vehicle you want to drive, your postcode, the age of the driver, and whether it’s being used to carry paying passengers. If you’d like to get some independent advice or a coach, minibus, and bus insurance quote, then please call us on 01782 308 372
Yes, providing you can prove that your minibus is used for charitable purposes, you will be able to get a discounted charity minibus insurance quote
Yes, but the insurer will need to agree to them, subject to their status
Getting an insurance quote from us is easy. You can call on 01782 308 372 or contact us, and one of our insurance specialists will be happy to help