What are the benefits of motor trade insurance?

Motor trade insurance is for people who work with vehicles in any way. It covers you if you ever have customers’ vehicles in your care, or if you sell, recover or recycle cars from a designated premises, on the road or at your home. This includes trades such as vehicle servicing and sales, car valeting, breakdown service, motor mechanics and more.

Motor trade insurance versus car insurance

These types of cover are different. A regular car insurance policy will cover you for driving your car or someone else’s, depending on the policy and coverage level – and you need it by law. But a motor trade insurance policy is designed for traders who own or work with many vehicles, including customer’s vehicles. It means you don’t need to have a separate insurance policy for each car you drive, saving you time and money while giving you important protection.

Levels of cover for motor trade insurance

When it comes to traders insurance, you’ve got these key options:

• Road Risks – this is essential if you need to drive any vehicle that’s in your custody or control. Basically, if you ever end up responsible for a customer’s vehicle then you need Road Risks cover, and it’s the kind of cover traders like car salesmen and mobile mechanics need.
• Business Premises ­– if you run your business from a premises, it will need insuring, whether it’s a small garage or a big dealership. Options for this type of covers include protection for the vehicle stock you keep, your employees, your liability and business interruption.
• Motor trade combined – many trade insurers, like us, can cover both your road risk and business premises as a package under one insurance policy, meaning you get more cover and save money.

You can also get three basic levels of motor trade insurance:

• TPO (Third Party Only) – like normal insurance, this is the most basic level of insurance. It covers the third party alone, especially if you’re involved in a motor crash that’s deemed to be your fault. TPO is the most basic policy and the legal minimum available to motor traders.
• TPFT (Third Party Fire and Theft) ­– while this policy covers the same basic level as Third Party Only, it also cover both fire and theft.
• Comprehensive – this insurance policy is the most protective and includes the benefits offered by Third Party, Theft and Fire policy, as well as any damage to your vehicle whether you are at fault or not.

Depending on your trade and the size of your business, you might need more than Road Risks insurance. For example, if you have employees you will need Employers’ Liability insurance, or if you use expensive specialist equipment you should probably consider Product Liability cover too. The general rule of thumb is the more complex your business, the more complex your motor trade insurance policy should be so you’ve definitely got the right cover. Specialist brokers like us will be able to help you find the policy that suits your needs.

Benefits of traders insurance

If you are not insured with a suitable traders insurance policy and something goes wrong with your business or your ability to run it, you may end up in financial trouble. So it’s always best to have the right insurance policy in place to avoid any potential problems. Here are just some of the benefits:

1. It’s simple and efficient

When it comes to motor trade insurance, you can expect less admin. Let’s face it, none of us like getting buried in paperwork and with a consolidated trader policy, you will have less paperwork to deal with – and it’s easier for your accountant too, if you have one. With the opportunity to pay annually, you’ll only receive notification once a year too.

2. Better coverage

Trader insurance provides better coverage than normal vehicle insurance. As a client, you can get protection for all the cars you use in your business, as well as your valuable tools and equipment without which you couldn’t do your job. Whether it’s your IT equipment, accidental money loss during accidents or any damage – everything to do with your line of work can be guarded by traders insurance.

3. You can drive any vehicle for work

Getting a personal vehicle insurance scheme would ensure you and your vehicle are insured. But getting motor trade insurance policy means you, as the driver, are insured individually – so no matter the car you drive for motor trading purposes, you’re fully covered. This is a lot safer for you, your customers and other drivers on the road.

4. It will cover you for stolen vehicles

Cars, vans, motorbikes, lorries – they’re all expensive vehicles. If a car in your care is stolen, could you afford to replace it like-for-like if you can’t recover it? If your answer is no, then you might want to consider comprehensive coverage, which is often a stipulation for financed vehicles from the finance provider.

5. Tailored solutions that cost less

With traders insurance, you can ask your insurance provider to customise the policy based on your business’s needs and you can be confident it covers any size of motor trading business. What’s more, with motor trade insurance, you can add your partner or spouse to the scheme at a fair cost – meaning you can save money on your domestic insurance policies too.

Motor trade claims

Having a motor trade policy in place gives you the peace of mind that your business and the cars you use and work on are protected against the unexpected. This frees you up to concentrate on running your business and increasing your bottom line. And, if you ever have to claim, you can contract your insurer who will help you out and get you back up and running quickly and easily.