If you are working within the motor trade, whether you are a mechanic, a salesman or a valeter, then you should be able to take out a motor trade insurance policy. The biggest difference between a traders policy and a private car policy is that with trade cover, it is you who is specified on the policy whereas with private cover the vehicle must also be included. The benefit of this is that it means that you only have to take out one policy that can cover you to drive vehicles you will need to use for your business, including those of your customers (This is always subject to terms and conditions of course!). There are a number of options available for your traders cover and you need to make sure you choose the correct one so that you get the best value for your money.
Road Risk Cover
This form of policy will provide you with cover for vehicles that are both owned by the business and those that the business has in their possession for work purposes. It will not always provide cover to drive any car at any time so you need to be careful in regards to the vehicles you use under the policy .
Liability Cover
If your business is ever going to involve your customers coming to your place of work, it is important that you consider public liability cover. Taking this out means that if someone ended up having an accident or injuring themselves whilst on your work premises then you would be covered for claims that they make against you. Without this, you could be hit hard financially when that customer takes you to court over the fall they had in your workplace. A second part of this cover is sales and service – this covers you against defective workmanship that may later lead to a claim. An example could be a fitter claiming on his policy if his work has caused someone to blame him for the tyre coming off and causing an accident.
Combined Cover
As the name suggests, a combined policy can bring together the benefits of the other policies as well as adding extra areas of cover. Together with road risk and liability cover, you can also be covered for damage to buildings, stock of vehicles , your equipment, machinery , tools and much, much more.
These are just some simple distinctions between these commonly mentioned types of cover so you therefore need to make sure that you carefully consider what it is you require. Your particular business may have no need to take out a combined cover policy and so a cheaper, less complicated road risk one, might be more suitable. On the other hand, if your business would benefit from more cover and you choose not to take it out then you could suffer the consequences further down the line. We would therefore advise you to do sufficient research before you decide on what motor trade insurance policy you are going to take out. An obvious avenue for help should be your insurance broker who can help you decide what you need.
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