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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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.

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If you work within the car industry and need motor trade insurance you need to make sure that you are fully covered in the event of an accident. Taking out the right trader’s policy could end up saving your business from huge, or even potentially terminal, problems. However, when you start to look for what is best for you it’s not advisable to  go and get the first cheap traders policy you come across. Doing this could lead to you finding out why it was such a low cost option if the time comes when you need to use your policy to make a claim!

When you start your search for an insurer you need to put some time and effort into finding the right one. Choosing a bog standard policy from a company that hasn’t assessed your needs correctly  will more than likely end up costing you less, but at the end of the day you may not be fully covered for all aspects of your work. Take for example a car salesman – if you  didn’t  have demonstration cover added to your  policy then you have to rely on a customer not requesting a test drive, or maybe they are insured on their own car policy(a grey area indeed!). Similarly, a basic policy may not include any public liability cover – this may not be a problem for some businesses but it could make a huge difference to others where the instances of court action are higher. Either way you should expect your insurance broker would talk through these options with you at least.

The best thing for you to do is to speak with a broker who has specific experience related to your industry. They will be able to find a cheap motor trade insurance policy that can be tailored to your needs and include any additions that may be needed. Just remember not to jump straight into bed with the cheapest insurer you can find or you may be left with a headache the morning after!

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.

There are car salesmen and women all over the country trading daily – whether it is someone doing it part time in addition to another job or someone working full time in the industry. There will be people who only run a small scale operation dealing with a couple of cars at a time and others who have a whole car lot that is always full. No matter how much you are involved in the buying and selling of cars, you should make sure that you have a sufficient motor trade insurance policy to cover you in the event of any mishaps.

Taking out the correct level of cover can give you protection for a whole host of things related to your work. One of the biggest differences between a private policy and that of a trader is that a traders policy can cover multiple vehicles and you on them. This is obviously going to be extremely beneficial to you if you are going to be handling different cars each week.

A handy addition that you can have with a traders policy is demonstration cover. This addition will insure you so that you can allow potential buyers a test drive in the car they are looking at. There are stipulations that need to be met with this so you should always check with your broker to get the full details. Having this addition can ultimately help you to make a sale as most people will want to take a car out for a spin before they decide on whether or not to buy it.

Another important aspect of these policies is the fact that you can get public liability cover with them as well. This cover can be very important as it protects you in the event of any of your customers having and accident or injuring themselves whilst on your business premises. You may also be able to cover your Sales and Service liability – where any work you have carried out can be covered. As almost all sales people are going to come into contact with their customer, this is cover should be at the front of the mind when looking for the right policy.

Choosing the right motor trade insurance can also mean that you can get your stock, business premises and contents covered as well. This can be reassuringly valuable in the event of anything happening at your workplace.

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.

Picture the scene – a customer drops off their Ferrari 360 with you to be valeted. The car is their pride and joy and they specifically ask  you to be careful with it. Now, no matter how meticulous you are with your planning and how carefully you go about your work, accidents can always happen. You may inadvertently spill some of your cleaning products onto the cars interior or drop something on the bonnet which leaves a scratch. If anything like this happens then it may not necessarily be due to your negligence but it still means that you are responsible. If you are not properly covered then you are going to end up having to fork out to fix any damage once the customer has assessed it.

If the same situation occurred and you did have a proper traders insurance policy then there would be a massive weight lifted from your shoulders. Sure, the customer is still going to be extremely unhappy that any damage occurred in the first place but at least it can be resolved quickly without you being the one to foot the bill.

Whether you are a valeter, a mechanic or you buy and sell cars, you should make sure that you are fully covered for any of the work that you do. This means that you need to have the correct type of motor trade insurance policy with the correct type of cover for your business. Failing to take out the right cover could lead to you paying a hefty price at a later date.

You need to make sure that you have a sufficient motor trade insurance policy whether you are going to be working with Ferrari’s, Skoda’s or Fiat’s. Don’t become another statistic!

Always check with a broker if you are unsure about the level of cover that you need.

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Whether the recession has truly finished  is a question most of us are asking – but there could be some light at the end of the tunnel. Pendragon, the UKs largest motor vehicle retailer, has declared that it’s sales of luxury and prestige cars have risen by a staggering 20% since the start of 2010. These sales are made up of premium brands like Mercedes and Maserati.

Trevor Finn, Pendragon’s chief executive, said about the premium car market “It has been an aggressive V-shaped recovery”. Sales of “premium” cars were the hardest hit in the beginning of the recession but are now in the vanguard of the recovery.

Overall new car registrations in the UK rose 24.6% in the first six months of ’10 – but only 12.9% if you exclude the effects of the scrappage scheme. The scrappage scheme was implemented to help offset the effects of the recession. It allowed a £2000 sum to be put against the value of a new car when you part-exed a vehicle over 10yrs old.

While sales of luxury and prestige vehicles seem to be on their way up other sectors are struggling. More average vehicles like Ford, Citroen and Vauxhall are selling their way out of the duldrums but at a slower rate. While commercial vehicle sales could be described as “subdued” – vans and trucks have been especially hit hard.

So, it seems as though mixed signals are the order of the day with some pointing up and some pointing down. Lets hope that the motor vehicle market as a whole has some more miles left in it.

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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.

If you are working with other people’s cars in anyway then it is important to make sure that you are properly covered in the event of any accidents. Mishaps can occur when you least expect it – and it might not even necessarily be due to your own action or fault. For this reason, we have chosen to give a brief outline of exactly why taking out a motor trade insurance policy is important if you are working as a mechanic.

If you are working in a garage then the chances of accidents occurring can be fairly high due to the nature of the work that is being done. Basically, as soon as the customer drops off their car for maintenance or repair, you are then responsible for it. Anything that happens between them leaving it with you and then picking it up again could be placed on your shoulders.

When you come to start on the customer’s car it may need to be moved into the garage working area - this could lead to a  bump or scratch. There could be an error made during the repair work that leads to damage being done. Maybe the inside of the car gets dirtied or stained whilst the job is carried out. If any of these things occur then the customer isn’t  going to accept their car back in a worse condition - they will want the problem sorted out.

This is where you motor trade insurance policy comes into play. By making sure that you are fully covered for your work you take away the financial risk if anything does happen. Imagine if you didn’t have the necessary cover and you damaged an expensive car, you could end up having to pay out a large sum to fix it. With the right policy, the costs for any damage that occurs as a result of your work will be met by your insurer. For this reason it is easy to see why you should always make sure that it isn’t going to be you who is forced to pick up the cost!

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A frequent question we are asked regarding motor trade insurance is “are modified vehicles covered?”. Well that can be a complicated issue and depends largely on the insurance company you decide to go with. Hopefully we can clear up some commonly held misconceptions in this blog.

Our first point would be: You are not automatically covered on these types of vehicle on your policy! Please, always ask your broker whether you are or not in fact covered before you purchase.

Some companies will refuse to cover modified vehicles full stop. If you have an accident whilst driving one you may in fact be breaching your cover and end up with an increased premium or a voided policy. Other companies will cover you but for an extra premium – this could depend on the amount of your business involved with “mods” for instance.

Some companies will cover some mods but not others! This can be tricky so if in doubt always ask. Certain modifications (eg alloys) are generally considered more benign than others (eg roll cages and performance increasing or structurally changing mods).Generally – what would scare your private motor car insurer may scare your motor trade insurer.

While certain insurers may cover your modified vehicles with normal policy cover others may only cover you for third party indemnity. This means that if you drove a customer’s modified vehicle, on your comprehensive policy, and crashed it then you would not be paid out for the damage (except to the third party of course). So be aware that you could end up with a bill that your insurer will not cover depending on policy terms!

There is much more to this subject than what we can cover here, so please remember to ask your broker about the conditions on their motor trade insurance policy when it comes to modified vehicles and you.

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.

Most people know that it is possible to get reductions in your premium for a private car policy the more no claims bonus you have. However, some people within the industry may not be aware that you can also get reduced costs for you motor trade insurance via the same means. Your discounts will work similarly whether you have a trade policy or a private policy – we have outlined some of the main points below.

If you are only just moving on to a traders policy then it is possible that you can add your no claims discount from your private policy. This can be applied without affecting your personal policy so it is always worthwhile looking into this as an option. In terms of the amount of discount, you can generally get up to 5 years no claims bonus but this may differ between insurance companies. The actual discount will obviously depend on the number of years bonus you have. It is possible to get large discounts if you have the full 5 year no claims, even as much as 65% could be taken off!

Similarly to a private policy, you can sometimes protect your no claims on a trade policy. However, if you make a claim and then switch insurance providers then the new company may not take the protection into account. If you don’t protect your bonus then in the event of a claim your no claims will either be stepped back a couple of years or reduced back to zero.

No matter whether your bonus has been accrued on a private or a traders policy, you should still usually be able to apply the discount to a motor trade insurance policy. With the potential to take a large chunk off the price of your premium, it is even more of an incentive to do all you can to make sure that you don’t end up making a claim.

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