If you're reliant on a van for your trade then you'll be well aware of how important insurance is. But when you've got so many costs and jobs to juggle, budgeting for insurance can be tricky. No matter how difficult it may be though, it is something that you'll have to do at least once a year.

Like any kind of cover, van insurance is reliant on a number of factors to determine cost. For instance the kind of work that you do and the mileage it covers will greatly influence the amount you end up paying. A courier travelling tens of thousands of miles each year is likely to have a far higher liability than a florist who does local deliveries only.

Due to the way in which circumstances can change quite markedly over the course of a year, your van insurance is equally susceptible to alteration. For example you might have more expensive equipment stored on board and require better contents cover, or a new driver may need to be added to your policy. Whatever the change, you need to update your coverage to reflect your current status. This of course can have an impact on price.

So if you're doing the annual budgets you'll need to be aware of what your van insurance is actually going to cost you. The best way to determine the likely outlay is to get a revised quote. This will obviously be much more straightforward if your details have remained the same and you've not had any cause to make a claim as the quote is likely to be similar to your current one. However, if you're buying for a new vehicle or circumstances have changed markedly, it may prove impossible to even estimate cost without getting an array of insurance quotes.

The best way to go about this is to get online and find a selection of van insurance providers and input your information. This can be done on a price comparison site or the domain of a particular provider, whichever you prefer. Obviously sites that are able to source a number of prices in one hit will help you to save time and get a better understanding of the cheapest options available without trawling through all of the online providers individually.

Just a few quotes can give you a pretty solid idea of the kinds of cover that are available and what you're likely to have to pay for them. You may also have to factor in whether you can afford to pay this annually in one bulk sum or if it will need to be extended across the year with monthly Direct Debits. If you do opt to pay it in full you could find yourself saving a fair amount on the total cost of cover; although you will of course have the slight disadvantage of paying a fair few hundred pounds in a single hit.

Your overall budget for van insurance will therefore be dependent on a number of factors. If you're operating with a firm eye on all costs, as more businesses are these days, you will probably need to spend a short while trying various insurance providers and seeing what the lowest quote comes in at. Even if you're happy with your current provider, it is often well worth scouting out other price and having a look if money can be saved elsewhere.

Insurance will have to be factored in with other annual costs, like tax, as well as your day to day running costs and repairs. It can be an expensive business owning and operating a van, but by being careful and budgeting properly you can keep costs down and get coverage that will provide you with an effective safety net should anything go wrong whilst you're working.