If you’re involved in school trips of any kind you’re going to need a suitable vehicle to accommodate, and that means you’ll need adequate school minibus insurance as well. This is particularly important to remember in an educational capacity as your passengers are vulnerable individuals, so just what do you need to consider when choosing insurance of this kind?
• Level of cover. Cover should always come first, particularly in this case, and that means going for a fully comprehensive policy will always be preferable. Of course, it all depends on your circumstances and budget, but you wouldn’t want to come unstuck with children in tow so it makes sense to be prepared.
• European travel. If your school trip is involving travel to Europe you’re going to need to check that you’re fully covered, but luckily most policies will include a maximum of 90 days EU travel as standard.
• Breakdown assistance. Breaking down is never going to be the highlight of your journey, but it could be even worse with school children. Avoid the possibility of being stranded at the side of the road with breakdown assistance, and with most policies offering this as standard (or at the very least an optional extra) you won’t have to worry.
• Price. Price will always be a vital consideration, and with budgets becoming increasingly tight it’s more important now than ever before. That’s why research is so vital—if you make sure to research the area and compare the options (ideally by coming to us) you’ll be able to find the ideal quote without spending a fortune in the process.
• Entitlement and training. Anyone looking to drive a minibus needs to have appropriate entitlement to ensure they can legally drive this category of vehicle, and whilst training isn’t a specific consideration when choosing insurance per se it’s an important point nonetheless—you should always have experience if you want to drive vehicles of this kind, particularly when dealing with children, and many school unions will actually require you to go on minibus driver training schemes.
These are just a few points you need to consider when choosing school minibus insurance, and if you make sure to bear them in mind you’ll be able to get on with your school trip in confidence.