A courier van is driven by someone who regularly makes short-term deliveries within a given area. This means courier van insurance is more expensive than most vehicle insurance, as it must cover people who may be in a hurry, who do a lot of driving, and who may be distracted with work issues.

There are a few ways, however, to save money on courier van insurance.

1. Hiring employees with very clean driving records is crucial for saving money on your van insurance. Do the maths. By paying a little more salary to an employee who is a proven excellent driver, you pay less insurance, and fewer accidents also mean less time and goods lost regardless of insurance coverage. It pays to hire good drivers.

2. Have your employees get a commercial drivers license. Your insurance company can help you select the proper path to maximise your savings.

3. Install as many safety devices as are feasible in your vans: theft protection, GPS tracking, improved brakes, everything. When you replace vans in your fleet, purchase only vans that come equipped with those things you can't replace, like four-wheel drive. Also maintain your vans carefully, through the dealer if you can do it cost-effectively. This ensures both that your vans are as safe as possible, and that you have proof if the insurance company asks that you have genuinely safe equipment.

4. If you've had a great safety record for a year or two, especially if you have several vans that belong to your company, approach your insurance agent and ask about a discount. Often just to keep your business your agent will give you a break in prices.

5. Don't forget to insure your goods in transit. Not all courier van insurance covers goods as well as the vehicle, so this is a critical addition to your policy.

When Tesco, the grocery and retail giant, created Tesco van insurance, they decided to find a way to charge less for the same coverage, much the way they do with groceries. This is both good and bad for you, the van insurance purchaser, for several reasons.

First, Tesco van insurance is strictly limited in who and what it covers, and they have their own definition for what is and is not a van; for instance, a van should be designed to carry less than four people to qualify as a van for Tesco insurance purposes. In order to be guaranteed coverage in case of a problem, you need to have used your van for precisely what you claimed, or run the risk of a denial. And they do not cover goods in transit or the contents of your van in case of accident; you will have to purchase a rider or separate policy to cover this.

All drivers eligible for Tesco van insurance must be at least 21 years of age and have held a UK or EU drivers licence for at least a year. Companies cannot get quotes; only individual drivers who hold the car in their names and who will be the main keeper of the vehicle can get a policy on any given van in their name.

If you own a van for your business that you also use for personal needs, you will have to purchase the policy for business use. You should read Tesco's van insurance policy details to get a better idea of how their specific requirements work.

Currently, Tesco will also give you a £50 voucher toward goods at one of their stores if you purchase insurance through them. This is nice, but be sure to take the long view of this; if another company offers you better savings than Tesco van insurance over a one or two year period, the voucher is not really a great deal.

Like any insurance, question everything in your policy. What seems like a good deal to one person in their Tesco van insurance policy may not be such a great bargain to you when you look at your own needs.

Ice cream van insurance costs often deter entrepreneurs from entering this business at all. Why? Because the liability is so high. Ice cream vans attract children. Children behave foolishly on the road, particularly when distracted by bright-coloured panels advertising tasty treats. Though accidents involving ice cream vans are rare, the relative cost of one tends to be very high indeed. For this reason, even high-deductible insurance coverage can be relatively expensive.

* It pays to shop around for your ice cream van insurance. While you should never purchase insurance from a fly-by-night company, you should try to get the best possible deal for your money.

* If you are the only driver of your ice cream van and you have a stellar driving record, use this to deal with the insurer. For most companies, insurance rates are not permanently set. And if you're purchasing ice cream van insurance from an agent rather than on a computer, you may be able to work with him to get a much better deal than you otherwise could get just by demonstrating how low a risk you really are.

* Maintain your excellent driving record to keep your ice cream van insurance rates low. One accident, especially one involving a child, can send your rates to the stratosphere. Always be vigilant.

* After two or three years with no accident and the same ice cream van insurance company, renegotiate your rates. The insurer does not want to lose a good customer with low risk, and you want to pay less money. By dealing directly to lower your rates, you can both win.

* Use the same insurance company for everything, from home insurance to business insurance. If you are working with the same agent to get your ice cream van insurance and your home insurance, he can better assess your realistic risk, and is likely to give you a discount. Still, don't hesitate to shop around for other deals if you think you can get a better one.