Taking a look at the recently released ‘RAC Report On Motoring 2010’ makes for some worrying reading in regards to certain road habits. The surveys that they carried out have revealed that over the last year there has been a substantial increase in the number of people who are breaking the law by using their mobile phone whilst driving. This begs the question, is that call really so important that you risk being pulled over by the police or even worse causing an accident? If the latter were to happen then you could end up with a big claim on your motor trade insurance policy.

The survey was conducted with 1,150 motorists being questioned about a wide range of subjects with varying thoughts and opinions. If we pay special attention to the usage of mobiles though, the results indicate that the number of people doing this has increased significantly. Last years figures showed that only 8% of motorists admitted to taking or making a call without using a hands free device whilst on the road and 11% admitted to texting whilst driving. However, this year those figures have jumped to 28% using their phone for a call and 31% for a text. Admittedly that may be down to the people in this years survey giving more honest answers but that would only account for a small rise.

It is easy to see how a trader could be tempted to use their phone on the road, any call that is coming in to them could be a potential new customer. At the end of the day though, it would take a matter of seconds to find a safe place to pull over and either answer or return the call. Surely this is a much better alternative than putting yourself and others in danger due to being distracted whilst on a call.

A contrasting statistic in the report is that 90% of the drivers that were questioned deemed themselves to be completely law abiding motorists. When you look at the figures for mobile usage this can only mean that some of the people do not see this breaking the law. With the police visibly cracking down on motorists who are caught using their mobile, you would hope that the percentage next year will have started to come down.

It is definitely something that all traders should think about carefully. Yes, taking that call may mean some more business for you but it could also mean that you end up severely injuring yourself and others if you have a crash. You don’t want to end up having to make a claim on your motor trade insurance because you couldn’t wait a few more seconds to take a call!

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If you are someone who has recently started, or who is thinking of starting work within the motor industry, then there are a number of things that you need to get sorted. One of the most important areas that you need to look into is making sure that you have  the correct motor trade insurance policy. Choosing the right cover can make a big difference in the event of you having to make a claim. However, there may be some terms within your policy that you don’t fully understand – to help you with this we have given you a brief glossary of some of the most common ones.

Additional Business Use – The ability to include your work vehicles on the policy and to include indemnity for journeys covering that occupation – eg a roofer

Broker – An independent insurance professional who is able to give advice and arrange a wide range of policies.

Carriage of Vehicles – Cover for vehicles on the back of a recovery vehicle (without this cover the vehicles would generally be Third Party Only)

Claim – When any loss or damage occurs to anything covered under your policy.

Demonstration Cover – An addition to your policy that allows potential customers to take the cars that you are selling for a test drive – generally accompanied use only.

Excess – This the first part of any claim that you make that you are liable for. ie in a comprehensive claim  the amount you have to pay before your insurer may release payment

Insurer – The company that is providing you with your indemnity and will pay out in the event of a claim.

Liability Cover – Can come in the form of employers, public and product/service liability. This is a form of protection in the event of someone making a claim against you as a result of an incident  at your work or an injury/accident/liability that came from your workmanship.

MID – This is the motor insurance database and all insured vehicles must be registered on here to comply with British law.

Premium – The amount paid for your insurance cover.

Split Indemnity – A policy where you have more cover on your customer’s vehicles than you don on your own. Eg a £10k to £30k split

Stock of Vehicles Cover – Cover for your own and customer’s vehicles while they are stored at your work premises.

This is by no means a definitive list of meanings and you will more than likely come across a number of other terms that you are unsure of. However, the ones supplied above are a selection of the most common and should at least give you a bit of a better understanding when you are looking for motor trade insurance. For further information about anything you should consult a broker who will be able to answer any of your queries.

Think Insurance can provide you with a cheap insurance quote today, whether you are looking for a motor trade, home, taxi or commercial insurance policy, leave your details and we will contact you.

Figures released last week seem to show that levels of vehicle and engine production in the UK are vastly improved compared to the same time 12 months ago. This must come as excellent news to all in the trade who have had a torrid last 24mths of stagnant, if not decreasing, car sales.

The results, published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, show that commercial vehicle production has risen over 20%. While car production has shown an even bigger increase, with levels rising over 35% from this time last year! The production of motor engines has also been boosted recently, with over 115,000 units being manufactured last month, a 15% increase compared to 12 months ago.

So, is it all plain sailing from here? It’s  very hard to say – with conflicting statistics entering the fray from a variety of different sources –  and despite the positive figures, these levels of production are still a far cry from those seen before the recession.

Example : So far in 2010 a total of 890,000 vehicles have been produced. Although this is over 40% higher than at the same point last year, there are still calls from within the industry urging the government to attract further foreign investment to counter the public’s fear of buying vehicles while they worry about their own jobs.

Our guess would be that the market is heading in the right direction – let’s just hope that there isn’t any more shocks to the economy to derail this fragile increase.

Think Insurance can provide you with a cheap insurance quote today, whether you are looking for a motor trade, home, taxi or commercial insurance policy, leave your details and we will contact you.

Are you in the motor trade and fancy earning extra cash by doing a bit of work from home? Then maybe now is your time to starting making some more money!

A frequent question asked is  what occupation do you need to qualify for a Motor Trade Insurance policy. The answer is – most occupations related to the industry do apply. Whether you do body repairs, change tyres,  mechanical work, wash cars or even break vehicles we can cover you.

As someone in the trade it’s almost a sure thing you’ll be asked to carry out private jobs for people in the local area and obviously it is an extra revenue stream. The problem is that you may be a bit worried in case anything goes wrong – are you insured? Well, a traders policy is what you need. With such a policy you would be covered to drive someone else’s vehicle for motor trade use, but also you can generally add on your own vehicles for no extra charge!

The beauty of a Motor Trade Policy is that you can also cover your customer’s cars to a higher level than your own. Eg  you can add your own vehicle to the policy  - say around £10,000 value – but you may work on vehicles worth £20,000 or even £30,000 – you can split the indemnity whilst keeping the cost lower than having a full higher indemnity. A useful way of saving money on your insurance premium!

You may also like to think about other associated products such as public liability and sales & service liability. This covers you against the liabilities that may arise from a legal dispute with a client following an incident or accident.

In these times of financial austerity having a secondary income is a no brainer – and since there is a huge number of vehicles in the UK there should be no reason why you can’t succeed however big or small your business may be. Just make sure that you have the correct motor trade insurance to cover you for the work you are going to be doing.

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Think Insurance can provide you with a cheap insurance quote today, whether you are looking for a motor trade, home, taxi or commercial insurance policy, leave your details and we will contact you.

A Motor Trade  Insurance Policy should satisfy most of your needs but you should also consider the additional products your broker can provide. There are a whole range of extra tools which may be of interest to you apart from the free help and advice. An excellent example of this is a Camera Guard Policy.

Aren’t we all fed up of seeing these speed cameras? Most of us think they’re a blight on the landscape at best. You add speed cameras to the local constabulary’s vigilance and lets face it these days the majority of us out there have got a speeding conviction! Well if you are in this situation this may be of more than a little interest to you.

What this policy covers is if you receive a ban from a speeding conviction it will financially compensate you. The maximum ban covered is for 6 months long. A camera guard policy covers you for the 6 months - paying you up to £1000 a month in cover for alternative transport whilst you are banned . This can be in the form of any public transport, a taxi, or even if you need to add a driver onto the policy in order to carry on with your motor trade business. You can employ someone to take you to look at cars you want to buy and bring them back – that’s right this policy would cover it!

Getting banned from speeding is an increasing risk, with more and more convictions every year. If you already have a few points lurking on your licence then can you really afford to not have a policy like this?

With this type of cover available from just £24.99 for the year there really is no excuse if you want peace of mind that if the worst happens you can still carry on.

Ask us about adding a Camera Guard Policy to your motor traders insurance today. Think Insurance, Quality Service and Price

Think Insurance can provide you with a cheap insurance quote today, whether you are looking for a motor trade, home, taxi or commercial insurance policy, leave your details and we will contact you.

Thinking of getting a Motor Trade Insurance Policy but however hard you search for an affordable quote you can’t find one? Then you’re not alone and this could be why - your Indemnity level is the stumbling block!

If you are repairing, cleaning or working on vehicles for a living look at the cars you have dealt with in the past. What value are they? If there aren’t generally cars worth more than £10,000 then you may not need what’s called “split indemnity” and the price differential will be low anyway (although it’s always worth asking!).

So, lets talk about split indemnity policies. Is your own vehicle worth less than the vehicles of your customers?  A split indemnity is as simple as it sounds: you have one indemnity level for your personal vehicles and another for your customer’s vehicles. So if your vehicle is worth less than £10,000 and your customers vehicle’s could value up to £30,000, you don’t have to have a £30,000 indemnity – you have an indemnity level of £10,000 for yourself and £30,000 for work. This works out a lot cheaper than having to purchase a £30,000 policy. You can save literally hundreds of pounds with this neat little trick!

If you think a split indemnity policy may be suitable for you ring your Motor Trade Insurance broker today for free friendly advice. Remember – if your broker doesn’t do split indemnity you could end up paying more than the rest of the trade.

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Think Insurance can provide you with a cheap insurance quote today, whether you are looking for a motor trade, home, taxi or commercial insurance policy, leave your details and we will contact you.

Buying and Selling cars? Think Motor Trade Insurance, Think Insurance.

If you go on any car site these days you will find adverts for various cars for sale, be it by a  garage, a trader or just a member of the public. Ever wondered how to get into it, or how they do it? Because adding cars onto your own private car insurance is an expensive option that ends when your insurance company twigs what you are doing! Do you buy and sell cars throughout the year, but find it a huge hassle not being insured to drive them, well here is the answer – you need a trade policy!

A motor trade policy can be useful for a part or full time motor trader. So what are the benefits? There is no cost to add on or remove vehicles. Often the policies have no limit as to the number of vehicles that can go on, be it personal cars or ones for sale. Sounds good? That’s not even the start of it! There are so many different options you can have with the policy that tailoring one to suit your individual needs can be quite simple.

You can trade from home or from a business premises,  you can add demonstration cover, change the level of excess, include additional business use and much, much more. The list goes on and is too extensive to list in this short piece.

The only real requirements of a motor trade insurance covering purchase and resale are:
Age – you generally need to be 24yrs old or above

Licence – you need to have a Full UK licence for at least a year

You must have been a UK resident for at least 3yrs.

You need to be buying and selling! (Although you don’t have to be dealing in large amounts to qualify)

Sound good? Thought so! Some traders we have spoken to believe buying and selling cars is  now be more profitable than ever. With money tight more and more people are buying used cars rather than suffer the depreciation when purchasing one from brand new. In the current climate do you think you could make extra income from vehicle sales? Costing sometimes even less (yes that’s right less) than a private car policy it could be worth a shot.

Check out Motor Trade Insurance with Think Insurance. Quality Service and Price

Think Insurance can provide you with a cheap insurance quote today, whether you are looking for a motor trade, home, taxi or commercial insurance policy, leave your details and we will contact you.