Vans- a couple of questions....

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Dave 123

Legendary Member
Ladies and Gents,

I am buying a Transit van. It will probably be an 18 plate Transit Custom, it'll be a nice one as I don't want to look like White van man! I may at some point soon be starting my own business. But in the first instance it will be private light goods.

Q1= Can anyone suggest good insurance companies?
Q2= If I buy it now just as little old me, can I then put the purchase against a business I haven't yet started at a later date?
 

Lavender Rose

Specialized Fan Girl
Location
Ashford, Kent
Q1 - We have a Mercedes Vito and I believe we use Admiral for van cover, pretty reasonable.
Q2 - As far as I'm aware from my brother being self-employed, I don't think you can balance a van purchase before you are self-employed to claim tax.
 

Salar

A fish out of water
Location
Gorllewin Cymru
Our business van is with Aviva, although we will be switching to NFU.

Regarding Q2 the purchase of the van might be covered by pre trade expenses, which allows you to claim for purchases before you start a business. You need to check this out though in case there are loopholes regarding vehicles.
 

KneesUp

Guru
I am not an accountant.

If you start a ltd company rather than being a sole trader I’d have thought you can sell your van to the business when you start, surely? As a sole trader you and the business are legally the same thing but as a ltd Co there are two legal entities.

Obviously being a ltd co is more expensive in terms of needing your accounts done professionally and so on though whereas as a sole trader you can do self assessment.
 

Levo-Lon

Guru
I use Direct line for Van

First year in business will be a eye opener.
You may need an accountant, id advise talking to one..

Good luck, and be savvy, by that i mean dont get realed in by banks and advertising.. They all want your money with little in return.

@screenman will give you some excellent advice.
 

screenman

Legendary Member
Best advice I can give, is lock it up and keep it hidden, the Transit was and maybe still is the most nicked vehicle.

Q2 speak to your accountant.

Out of interest, what sort of business.
 
Location
Hampshire
I bought a Citroen Dispatch late last year as I thought it drove much better, was more economical and cheaper (got a very good deal on a new one) than the Transit and have been very happy with it so far. The load space is slightly smaller than the Transit though if that matters.
As to business use; As others have said if you're going limited company you could sell it to the company but don't forget it would take about £4k of your personal tax code and the company would be liable for employers NI against the benefit, so you might be better claiming business milage instead depending on usage etc. (there's no tax implications on the van if you're a sole trader).
I'm paying £205 p/a for insurance with LV.
 

Brains

Legendary Member
Location
Greenwich
Van:
Given the option I'd buy anything but Ford!
The Fiat, Citroen/Pugot, and Merc all come out better on reviews
(or the new VW Crafter even better, but no 2nd hand market yet)
If you do buy a Ford, spend extra money on security as they are just too easy to break into.
(Over the years I've had two Ford Transits stolen and not recovered, still have one Transit, now fitted with a wheel clamp and steering lock)

Q1 - Insurance - I still use a broker, but NFU seem to come out ahead most years.
(As an FYI Admiral are the only company that take speeding tickets as a reason to bump premiums)

Q2 - You need to talk to your accountant, but I dont think advance purchase can be used.
You may need to 'sell' your van to yourself to gain that advantage. The same can be said of 'renting' your garage from yourself for business premises and 'buying' the dining room table to work from.
 

Cletus Van Damme

Previously known as Cheesney Hawks
I think you've made a wise choice on the vehicle by the way. I sometimes drive different vans, flatbed's and Ford's are the best to drive, from what I've driven. The smaller Transit Connect is a brilliant vehicle, I could drive one of those all the time. I also sometimes use a large Transit flatbed and that is great for what it is. The worst ones I have driven, a 2007 Vauxhall Movano, huge turning circle, just horrible to drive.

2018 Citroen Berlingo small van, not sure if this is a previous model, but I personally think they're a cheap piece of crap. 5 speed with reverse sitting in the normal 6th gear position, I drive 6 gear cars all the time and vans, I nearly put this piece of junk into reverse on the motorway, could just hear faint grinding. Why it is not to the left of 1st gear I will never ever know. The seats are rubbish, I'm 6'1" and its cramped as hell, the gearbox is like stirring soup, due its central dash position. Similar to an EP3 Civic Type R, yet that it is well engineered and doesn't have loads of slop in the linkage. This one is also so slow it's unbelievable, you can't adjust the steering wheel position, it's like a bus, the dash and switches are cheap crap. I guess they are cheap, not a patch on a similar ageTransit Connect in any respect, most of all the driving experience.
 

DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
As far as I can see, I have driven a lwb Transit & it was really nice, the security is something you need to invest in,though I have use of the Peugeot/Citroen/Fiat/Toyota clone which is a horrible pile of unreliable crap, you really dodged a bullet buying a Transit
 
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