Minibus Fleet Insurance

Typical operators

• Schools, colleges and academy trusts running minibuses for trips, fixtures and transport between sites
• Charities and community transport groups carrying members, older people or people with disabilities
• Care homes and day centres taking residents to appointments and outings
• Sports clubs and youth organisations travelling to matches and events
• Commercial operators providing private hire minibus work, airport transfers or contract transport
• Coach operators whose fleet mixes minibuses with larger coaches

Fleet sizes

There is no fixed number that makes a fleet. As general market practice, many fleet products start from 2 or 3 vehicles, and mini-fleet products often go up to somewhere around 12 to 20.

A school with two minibuses and a charity with fifteen may be offered quite different products, so ask the broker which one fits. Our guide to how many vehicles you need for fleet insurance explains how insurers treat small groups of vehicles.

The four operating bases

Operating basis	What it allows	Who can use it	Vehicle size
Private use, no charge	Journeys where passengers are not charged	Any organisation	No permit or PSV licence needed
Section 19 permit	Charging specific groups of passengers, not the general public	Not-for-profit organisations	Standard permits up to 16 passengers, large bus permits 17 or more
Section 22 community bus permit	Charging on services open to the general public	Not-for-profit organisations	Vehicles for 9 or more passengers
PSV operator licence	Running a vehicle for hire or reward	Commercial minibus and coach operators	9 or more passengers, or smaller where separate fares are charged

Who issues what

Designated bodies or traffic commissioners issue standard section 19 permits, and only traffic commissioners issue section 22 permits and large bus permits. The Department for Transport updated its guidance on section 19 and 22 permits significantly in December 2020, after a High Court ruling on what counts as non-commercial.

Check your eligibility against the current guidance before relying on a permit. PSV operator licence types include standard national, standard international and restricted.

Permit driver conditions

Permit drivers must be 21 or over. For vehicles carrying 8 or fewer passengers they need a category B licence held for at least 2 years.

For minibuses carrying 9 to 16 passengers, drivers who passed their car test before 1 January 1997 generally have D1 entitlement. Later drivers can drive a permit minibus on a category B licence only if they have held it for at least 2 years, are unpaid apart from out-of-pocket expenses, and the vehicle weighs no more than 3.5 tonnes.

Matching the policy to the arrangement

Your motor policy has to reflect the arrangement, so give the broker your permit or licence numbers along with the basis you operate on: privately with no charge, under a section 19 or 22 permit, or under a PSV operator licence. The road traffic law requirement for third-party cover applies to the use the vehicle is really put to, so cover written for free social trips will not necessarily extend to charged services.

The questions to expect

• Vehicles. Make, model, year, passenger seat count, maximum authorised mass, adaptations and value.
• Drivers. Ages, licence categories, whether each is paid or voluntary, and any convictions or claims. Insurers set their own minimum ages and licence-held periods, which can be stricter than the legal minimums.
• Passengers. Children, older people, people with disabilities or members of the public, and whether escorts travel with them.
• Use. Typical journeys, annual mileage, school runs, weekend fixtures, overnight trips and travel abroad.
• Operating basis. Private use, section 19 or 22 permit, or PSV operator licence.
• Storage. Where each vehicle is kept overnight and during school holidays.
• Claims experience. Several years of history for the organisation’s vehicles.

Driver training

Insurers commonly ask whether drivers complete a minibus driver assessment or training course before driving.

An assessment is worth having for volunteers who drive only a few times a year, because they get least practice in the vehicle. Our guide to a driving for work policy covers how to write the rules down.

Why seats and weight come first

Passenger seat count and maximum authorised mass decide the licence needed and how the vehicle is rated. That is why the seat figure on the schedule matters as much as the registration does.

Daily school runs, weekend fixtures and trips abroad are also very different exposures, so insurers ask what a typical month looks like. Pupils, care home residents, club members and fare-paying passengers each bring different duties and a different claims profile.

Five alternatives

• One minibus used occasionally. A single vehicle may sit more simply on an individual minibus policy, or be added to an existing mixed fleet insurance policy if you already run cars or vans.
• Hiring a minibus for a trip. If you hire a minibus with insurance included, the hire company’s policy normally covers it, so check the driver conditions before you book.
• Hiring your minibuses out to other groups. Lending or hiring vehicles to people outside your organisation is self-drive hire, which many standard fleet policies exclude, and our page on self-drive hire fleet insurance explains the differences.
• Cars and people carriers with 8 or fewer passenger seats. These do not need minibus cover. A taxi fleet policy suits them if fares are charged, or a standard car fleet policy if not.
• Large coach operations. Established coach operators with many PCV drivers often use specialist passenger transport insurance rather than a general fleet product.

Where cars take over from minibuses

A vehicle with 8 passenger seats or fewer and a maximum authorised mass up to 3,500kg sits inside category B, so it falls outside the minibus licence rules above. A people carrier doing the same school runs is a car fleet insurance question rather than a minibus one.