Regardless of whether you buy, sell, or valet vehicles for a living, there are so many things that you need to take into consideration before becoming the successful business you know you can be. From hiring experienced staff to finding a location and looking for the relevant insurance, all these factors will play a part in the successful operating of your business.
When it comes to looking for motor trade insurance, you need a policy for selling your cars, as otherwise, it will be hard for you to provide all the services you want to offer as a business. Whilst this may sound like a lot of information to take in, the following steps can help to make your life easier when it comes to purchasing the best motor trade insurance policy for your business.
What Type of Policies Are There?
Trade insurance policies tend to offer you coverage for Public Liability and Employers’ Liability. The former means that your business will be protected should a client or member of the public states that they have been injured or their property has been damaged due to a service that your business offers. It helps to protect the business owner against these claims if they endure legal proceedings. On the other hand, Employers’ Liability Insurance safeguards businesses against legal and compensation expenses made by claims from their employees. Again, this is an important thing to look for when shopping for motor trade insurance.
On the other hand, you will also need to look for a motor trade insurance plan that includes a Road Risk Policy. Put simply, this helps to protect you on the road if you are required to drive cars that belong to customers or unsold stock. However, it is important to note that this will only cover vehicles that are kept at a business address, so you will need to make sure this policy includes coverage for your premises. If it does, then you are good to go.
Which Vehicles Can Be Driven and Who Is Authorised?
There are many things that you need to think about when hiring staff for your car-related business. In many cases, the most important factors to look for are whether they have the skills and experience needed to perform their tasks to the highest quality. That being said, you also need to make sure that you designate a few employees to the task of moving the vehicles that are in your care. Whilst it may be important to only name approved drivers on this list, it may be in your best interest to speak with your insurance broker to make sure that only the right people are insured to do this task, particularly if you employ people under a certain age or apprentices.
Don’t forget that some policies could include restrictions based on the type of vehicles they can cover. For example, if you work on something that you know to have extra value, or it being out of the ordinary, you need to let your broker know. This could include servicing performance cars, commercial vehicles, agricultural vehicles, and motorbikes. The more information you can tell your broker, the better position you will be in.
Amount of Coverage Needed
Before deciding to purchase an insurance policy, you need to make sure that you look over how much you will receive in the event of a claim. This is called the Indemnity Level. If the value of the claim exceeds this amount, you could be expected to make up the rest of this cost, so you may need to make sure that you keep your finances in check to ensure you can pay this amount if you are required. Again, if you’re unsure or worried about how to proceed with this area of your insurance policy, it will be in your best interest to listen to the advice of your broker who will be able to assess the types of risks your business faces, as well as ensuring that your limit is not too low.
Buying a motor trade insurance policy can be complicated, but if you follow the steps from this guide, as well as taking in all the information that your broker will give you, this process will be significantly easier to handle. Once done, you will be able to operate your business to the highest standard, as you will know that you have the relevant insurance in place should anything occur.
