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Admiral business insurance: at a glance
Admiral offers two types of business cover: landlord insurance and van insurance. So, if you’re looking for a comprehensive business insurance package that includes standalone liability cover, you won’t find it with Admiral.
Even so, if you’re looking to cover your vehicle or a buy to let, Admiral offers flexibility with a few levels of cover to choose from, and extras such as black box van insurance and employers’ liability for landlords. There are also options for combining cover into one policy, which you can manage online, or through its app.
Admiral Business Insurance
- Maximum Cover AmountsPublic Liability: £10m | Employers Liability: £10m
Learn more about how we bring you our review.
Admiral business insurance pros and cons
Pros
- You can get a quote and make a claim online or by phone.
- You can save and retrieve quotes and manage your policy online.
- There is phone support for policy management.
Cons
- You can’t call customer services after 6pm on weekdays or after 3pm on Saturdays. Lines are closed on Sunday.
These pros and cons are based on a survey of UK business owners on what they found important when selecting a range of business products, conducted by NerdWallet in December 2022.
Admiral business insurance key features
- Online policy management and claims
- Cover tiers and optional upgrades for flexible cover
- An app is available
Admiral business insurance full review
Admiral started out in 1993, first specialising in car insurance. Now, it also offers personal home and travel cover alongside its small range of commercial cover.
Its business insurance offering may seem limited, but if you’re looking for landlord or van insurance there is quite a bit of choice when it comes to what is covered. You can pick your tier and bolt on upgrades for the risks you want to protect.
As Admiral is a broker, the policy you may decide to take out via them will be provided by another firm. Admiral will look to place your business with the most appropriate provider for your needs.
This review is based on Admiral and not the firms they broker to. The types of products, benefits & features referred to in this review cover the range of firms Admiral conducts business with. Specific details such as the pro’s and con’s refer to Admiral’s services.
Find out more about Admiral van and landlord insurance – including how it measures up to key priorities of business owners, according to our NerdWallet survey.
What types of business insurance does Admiral offer?
Admiral offers two types of commercial cover:
Commercial van insurance
This cover could apply if you use a van for work, such as working across locations. It can pay out if you are involved in an accident or your van is stolen or destroyed, depending on the type and level of insurance you choose.
As well as social and commuting options, there are two other products:
- Carriage of goods for hire and reward: This provides cover if you transport and deliver goods belonging to third parties, such as if you’re a courier or a taxi driver.
- Own goods: This is cover for using your van for work, such as if you’re plumber, or if you drive between locations for work. You can add vehicle contents cover for stock and tools.
You then choose the level of cover you want, from the minimum (by law) third party to comprehensive cover.
Optional add-ons include breakdown cover and motor legal protection, which can help cover legal costs if you are involved in an accident that’s someone else’s fault.
Landlord insurance
Admiral offers insurance for landlords who rent residential properties. You can choose buildings insurance, contents insurance or both combined.
- Buildings insurance (unlimited cover): If you own your business premises (outright or with a mortgage), this covers the cost of rebuilding it after damage by fire, flood or storm.
- Contents insurance (up to £75,000): If you leave your belongings in the property, such as a sofa or fridge, this covers the cost of replacing them if they are damaged or stolen.
There are three tiers to choose from: Admiral, Gold and Platinum, which range from basic to more comprehensive cover and higher limits.
All of Admiral’s landlord insurance plans include loss of rent if damage makes the property uninhabitable after an unexpected event. It also includes liability insurance as standard, to protect you if a tenant or member of the public is injured in an accident at your property, and replacement locks and keys.
The cover can be flexible, with optional add-ons at an extra cost. These include malicious damage and theft by tenants, landlord emergency cover and landlord legal protection.
Admiral business insurance features
Here, you can find out more about Admiral’s van and landlord insurance. We’ve also considered what business owners said was most important to them in our NerdWallet survey.
Professions and trades covered
Admiral offers two main types of insurance for businesses. Residential landlords are catered for, along with businesses that use a van, though this could be applicable to a wide range of types of business, operating across sectors.
Admiral’s van insurance can cover a wide range of vehicles and professions, such as electricians and couriers. Admiral’s landlord cover can be for a range of residential properties, freehold and leasehold. It also offers host insurance if you run a holiday rentals, though this is an add-on to a residential home insurance policy.
Whether your type of work or type of rental are covered will depend on a few factors. You can check when you get a quote, as you will be asked what your job is or more details about your rental properties, or you can call Admiral to ask.
Online policy management
You can log in to an online account to manage your landlord or van insurance cover. Its self-service portal lets you do a number of things, such as manage your payment details, but you may need to ask for some changes over the phone. Web-based policy management was the third most important factor in our survey.
Where there are fees for making changes to a policy mid-term, these may be reduced if you make changes through your online account rather than over the phone.
You can also download Admiral’s app to manage your policy, which claims to offer the same functionality as desktop online policy management.
Phone support
You call customer services about your cover or to get a quote. Lines are open 8am-7pm on weekdays, 9am-3pm on Saturdays, and 9.30am-4pm on Sundays (with limited times on public holidays).
In our survey, being able to call customer services to make policy changes was ranked eighth in importance, with the majority seeing the self-service, online route as a higher priority. But some also wanted to be able to speak to a person about their cover. So having this option (including on weekends and into the evening on weekdays) may appeal to some.
Making a claim
You can make a claim on your landlord or van insurance by phone or through your online account. There are dedicated phone lines depending on the type of cover, with slight variations in opening hours.
Once you have made a claim you can monitor progress through your account or call an agent. You can make a claim on a landlord emergency policy and breakdown assistance 24/7.
In our survey, being able to make a claim online was important for nearly half of business owners, and was the top ranking factor. So Admiral’s self-service options may align nicely with what some business owners are looking for.
Payment options
Van insurance and landlord insurance premiums can either be paid in one go annually or in monthly instalments. Having this choice was key for a number of business owners in our survey, with the option to pay monthly the second most important factor and annual payment ranking fourth.
Be aware that if you choose to pay monthly rather than in one go, you will pay interest on your instalments. The first payment may be slightly higher so that the remaining 11 months are the same amount.
Customer reviews
Admiral has a Trustpilot rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on over 18,000 reviews.
Admiral’s app is rated 3.9 out of five stars on Google Play, with over 4,850 reviews and 4.7 out of 5 stars on the App Store, with over 12,900 reviews.
Bear in mind that these reviews are not exclusively about landlord and van insurance, as Admiral offers other types of cover, too.
These ratings were correct on 9 March 2023.
Can you shop by profession with Admiral?
You can only buy two main types of business insurance with Admiral, so it’s more about shopping for the levels of cover within those, rather than grouping cover by trade.
Even so, there is information on the website for the type of vehicle you want to insure, including courier vans and pick-up trucks. These outline the levels of cover you might consider, including if you are transporting third party goods, plus the various policy upgrades on offer.
Similarly, landlord insurance offers types of cover, such as buildings insurance, and then a choice of three tiers, depending on what you want it to include.
How to choose the right business insurance
The business insurance policies or package you choose needs to address the risks your business faces. There are plenty of options available, but the following cover may be needed by some businesses:
- You need employers’ liability insurance by law if you employ anyone in the UK who isn’t close family. Though if you employ family and your business is a limited company, you will need it.
- Professional indemnity insurance is required by their governing body or regulator for some professions, such as solicitors and accountants.
- You may be asked to have a specific level of public liability insurance to carry out some work, including government contracts.
- If you use a vehicle for work (other than commuting), you must have motor insurance and should consider business car insurance or commercial vehicle insurance.
If you’re not sure which types of cover you need, an independent business insurance broker can help. Membership and trade bodies may also help you work out the minimum level of cover you need.
How to get Admiral business insurance
You can get a quote for landlord insurance or van insurance online or by phone.
To get a quote for van insurance, you will need to provide the following information:
- van registration number, number of seats, date bought and any security features
- driver name, address, job and driving history
- type of cover you want, estimated mileage and overnight parking place
To get a landlord insurance quote, you’ll be asked information such as:
- name, contact information and address
- property details, such as roof type and flood history
- number of rental properties you own
- rental income
- claims and losses in the last five years
You will also need to choose the type and level of cover you want your policy to include. This will be reflected in your policy documents, if your application is accepted.
You can then apply for the cover based on the quote if you decide it’s right (and affordable) for you, or compare the quote details with other providers.
How to save money on Admiral insurance
Admiral’s MultiCover offers discounts if you combine home, landlord van and car insurance policies. This would mean you have one renewal date and can add more policies at renewal time. This can include immediate family’s cover, even if they don’t live at the same address. If you make a claim on one policy, it won’t affect your no claims bonus on any other policies it is combined with.
If you add Admiral’s black box insurance to your policy, which uses telematics to track your driving, you may be offered a premium reduction at the next renewal if you get a good driving score.
If you make changes to your policy through your online account, you may pay lower fees than if you did it over the phone.
Review methodology
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Our reviews may display lenders’ rates. This additional information has not been included in our evaluations but is still very important when choosing a product. Rates offered can depend on circumstances, amount and term. Always check details before proceeding with any financial product.
Product details reflect the information that was available at that time but may have changed since. We strive to give you a review on as many products as possible, but there will be products not included on the market. The review is our opinion, but it does not constitute advice, recommendation or suitability for your financial circumstances.
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