subject: Motor Trade Insurance: The Things You Need To Know [print this page] When you are working with cars, be it servicing, valeting, buying, selling, or anything else, you need to make sure you are covered for any potential damages. It is required by law that all motor traders have some sort of insurance, and it could end up saving you a lot of money if you should face a claim. There are different levels of insurance available, and you can choose how much protection you need depending on the type of services you offer. The absolute minimum level of insurance you need is Third Party Only insurance. This is a legal obligation for anyone on the road or working with motor vehicles, and means you will be covered if you have to pay for the damages to someone's else's vehicle. Third Party Fire and Theft will give you all the same protection, plus coverage in the case of fire of theft of a vehicle owned or controlled by your company.
Accidental damage will be covered on top of this with Comprehensive insurance. This means if a vehicle which you are responsible for gets unintentionally damaged in any way, your insurance will pay for these damages. You can also purchase Motor Trade Liability insurance. This can include employer's liability, public liability and sales and service indemnity. Employer's liability will ensure that you are covered if an employee should sustain an injury. Public liability will keep you protected if a customer is injured or their vehicle is damaged or lost, and sales and service indemnity will ensure you are covered if any accidental damage or injuries should occur due to your services, e.g. a vehicle being repaired incorrectly leading to an accident.
If you want to fully protect your business against any potential claims made against you, you can purchase Combined motor trade insurance, which will cover everything including your property and tools, your premises, money, vehicles, and any liabilities. You can rest assured that your whole business is protected with Combined insurance.
Motor trade insurance differs from personal car insurance because only the driver is insured, whereas with car insurance both the driver and car are insured. This means that they can only drive that one car, whilst motor traders are free to drive any car, including customers' cars, as long as it is for business purposes.
Some motor trade insurance brokers will provide insurance plans specifically designed for different types of motor trader, such as mechanics, valets and tyre fitters. Only a few will provide these options, but most will at the very least offer all the options discussed above. It is worth shopping around, as some motor trade insurance brokers will offer insurance plans that are better suited to you than others.
There are some ways to reduce the cost of your premium. Firstly, making sure you don't make a claim unless it's really necessary can save you a lot of money because most companies will offer big no-claim discounts to those with a clean record. Secondly, having a lot of drivers can cost you more. It can save you a lot of money on your premium to just have a few drivers. Having voluntary excess on your policy can also help to bring your premium right down, but this can backfire if you do make a claim. The activities you carry out can also have an effect, as high-risk activities will give you a more expensive premium than low-risk activities.
by: Daniel Crow
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