Plan Insurance Blog

Motor trade premises – answers to common questions

Arranging motor trade premises insurance requires expertise and a great deal of care.

It is vital that your motor trade combined policy fully protects your business. At the same time you want to know that you are getting great value for your premium.

At Plan Insurance our staff utilise over 25 years worth of experience and a fantastic attention to detail. Your motor trade combined policy will be selected from an extensive panel of insurers to ensure an incredibly competitive quotation. Your cover will be crafted to meet your exact needs.
For garage owners and car traders, premises cover can be fairly confusing. This is due to the fact that motor trade premises policies often contain several different types of cover.
A single policy can include such covers as; employers liability, public liability, defective workmanship, tools cover, contents cover, buildings cover, loss of earnings etc. All of these covers require significant consideration. Most are deemed sufficiently important that they are made available as stand alone products.
We have compiled the information below to assist insurance proposers looking for premises cover. Our answers to commonly asked questions should avoid the need to pick up the phone. However if you wish to speak to one of our experts regarding any point please do not hesitate to get in touch.
 

Can I cover drivers under 25 on a motor trade premises insurance policy?

Most insurers will cover drivers under 25 for motor trade use without any problem. In regards to SD&P use, most insurers will apply an increased excess and restrict what vehicles can be driven.
If you do wish to cover a young driver we would suggest you contact us for more guidance. There will be several options none of which may be ideal. Insurers are often wary to provide cover due to historically high claim costs and volumes.
Arranging social, domestic and pleasure use for young drivers on motor trade combined insurance policies remains problematic. Often it is not cost effective especially if cover is being requested mid policy. However with a large panel to select from and extensive experience to draw upon finding a workable solution should be achievable.

Do I have to disclose all claims?

Most insurers require information relating to claims occurring on the road within 3 years of the date of the incident. Sometimes this may be up to 4 years.
For any other type of claim that might have occurred on a motor trade combined policy, i.e relating to fire/flood/theft/liability etc these claim types should always be declared no matter how long ago they occurred. They are deemed to be material facts and non-disclosure of them could affect your policy.

I use self employed workers, do I still need to include cover for Employer’s Liability on my premises insurance policy?

If these workers are given instructions by you and will be using your tools and equipment to carry out a job, they would still deemed to be “in employment”. For your protection and that of your potential employees we would always recommend taking liability cover if there’s ever a doubt that you may require it.

Do I have to disclose all driving convictions?

All driving convictions that still fall inside the rehabilitation act should be declared as per the guidelines imposed. As per the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 you will be considered a proposer of a commercial insurance risk and will have a duty to disclose any material facts. If you are in any doubt you should disclose everything.
Your  insurance broker or your insurers can then decide if it is relevant. Please note any undisclosed convictions, not considered spent, could affect your policy.

How do I add my vehicles insured on my motor trade premises to the MID?

Depending on which insurance company your premises insurance is placed with you will either be able to notify the MID of updates via our online MID update form or directly on the website of your motor trade combined insurer.
You will receive login details for the applicable website portal post inception. Updates can also be done via e-mail to our office. However we try to avoid updates over the telephone to avoid communication errors as accuracy is absolutely vital.

 

 
Should you wish to discuss your premises insurance renewal please do not hesitate to call us. If you would like advice or a quotation our friendly, efficient new business team will be very willing to assist. We are able to provide great value motor trade quotes with very quick turn around times.