Which motor trade insurance is suitable for you?

Choosing motor insurance that’s suitable for your business is important.

Clearly, you probably won’t want to take the risk of finding out in a crisis that your cover is inadequate. Equally though, you won’t want to be paying for cover that’s inapplicable to your unique business situation.

The potential solution to your dilemma is to examine the nature of your business. It will help to illustrate the specific nature of some of the risks you face and that will assist you in your search for appropriate motor trade insurance.

The generalities of your business

Some forms of insurance for motor traders might typically be considered to be applicable to many or perhaps most motor trade businesses:

• employers’ liability insurance – typically, this will be mandatory for most businesses with employees;

• vehicle cover – this might be very important when you’re working on and also perhaps driving your customers’ vehicles;

• public liability – just in case a customer or another member of the public, is accidentally injured by you or your property;

• any driver cover - for vehicles you own or which are under your charge (for example, if you have a demonstrator vehicle you allow customers to drive).

Specific cover variables

Other forms of cover though might be more specifically related to the precise nature of your enterprise. They might typically include:

• premises cover – important if your own, lease or rent premises. The specific nature of the peril covered here may vary depending upon whether or not you own or lease/rent the property concerned;

• tools cover – the theft or loss of your tools might be covered by some policies under “premises protection” and specifically burglary risks but if you’re operating on a mobile basis and don’t actually have premises, you may need customised cover;

• business interruption – this typically applies in situations where you’re unable to carry on your commercial activities in the short term while repairs are pending following an insured risk type problem (possibly including events such as repairs following fire damage to your garage – as per this example from the Birmingham Mail published 16^th January 2017);

• product liability cover – this might be important if one of your customers sues you for compensation following what they perceive to be poor work on your part or perhaps the supply of defective

Discussion

Finding a policy that you believe to be suitable might typically involve you in asking the following questions about your business operations:

• what elements of motor trades insurance cover do I need on a mandatory basis? That might include employers’ liability cover, some forms of vehicle cover and perhaps premises cover where you own the property and have a mortgage or other loans against it (the loan agreement might typically oblige you to maintain full cover at all times on the property concerned);

• which elements of cover would I like to have to provide me with peace of mind;

• which cover provisions simply don’t apply to my business;

• what are those cover components that I feel I can do without by accepting the risks?

If you’re unsure as to your options, an experienced provider of motor trade insurance should be able to assist.