The acceptance criteria for short term van insurance may differ slightly from a standard annual van insurance policy. This could mean that whilst you are able to get an annual policy with no problems you may find that you get refused when applying for one day van insurance.
If you have been refused a policy then you have probably fallen foul of one of the insurers policy exclusions. This essentially means that one of the factors in you application is stopping you from getting insured. It may seem strange that one insurer will turn you down whilst another will not. Temporary policies tend to be a lot stricter in their acceptance criteria so whilst you may have annual van insurance you cannot get a daily policy.
Not all insurers use the same underwriters and so the different policies they sell could suit one van drivers circumstances where another will not. If you have been refused then you may well find that another insurer will be able to cover you. Shopping around, although taking longer to do, can often result in being able to get insured. It can also be a good way of doing temporary van insurance comparisons.
Having some sort of driving misdemeanour can often mean that you are not able to get insured. Temp van insurers are particularly strict on this point. You should have not had and disqualifications on the last 3 years or more than 2 fault claims over the same period. They also have a 3 year limit on motoring offences so if you have been convicted of any motoring offences in the last 3 years it will more than likely affect you ability to get insured.
If you have penalty points on your licence then you may also be refused cover, the amount of points may vary but typically you need less than 9 points to be able to get a temporary policy. There are also many non driving convictions that can affect you application. Offences such as fraud, robbery, theft, handling stolen goods and other offences can mean you are unable to get coverage.
It can be very difficult to get temporary van insurance under 25 but will be almost impossible to get temporary van insurance under 21 years of age. There are signs that some underwriters are beginning to provide coverage for younger drivers and there is a short term policy to cover car drivers as young as 18 but at the time of writing van drivers need to be aged at least 21.
You will need to have held a full UK driving licence for a minimum of 12 months. There are also some restrictions on the use of the van you are getting insured. You can get cover for social, domestic and pleasure or for business use. You cannot however use the van to carry passengers or goods if you are doing so for hire or reward purposes.
As well as restrictions that apply to the driver there are also some restrictions on the van you want to get insured to drive. As with all temporary policies it must be a UK registered vehicle with a value of less than £50,000. You cannot get insured with a short term policy to drive a van if it is owned or has been hired out from a vehicle rental company.
The van itself must not have more than 8 seats installed which includes the drivers seat. The vehicle also has to have a gross vehicle weight of no more than 3.5 tonnes and must be less than 10 years old. You may be able to get insured to drive an older vehicle under certain circumstances which will be specific to the insurer you are approaching.