road risk INSURANCE

A Road Risk insurance policy is suited to motor traders working from home. It is the most basic level of cover for working on vehicles not owned by you required by law.

If you are a business owner who deals with car repairs, maintenance or sales, it is essential you are covered by a Road Risk Insurance policy.

Customers will leave their car in your care, or you may have a large number of your own stock vehicles. By law, the absolute minimum cover is for professional third party cover to be in place.

Going beyond that is a matter of choice. But if anything were to happen to these vehicles, whether caused by fire, flooding, theft or even an accident not caused by yourself, you could be held accountable.

Setting aside the damage to your reputation, could you afford to pay out for all of this as well as continue business as usual? If the answer is no, then a fully comprehensive Road Risk Insurance is necessary for your business.

A common mistake made by motor traders is the thought that they can drive any vehicle no matter what type or who owns the vehicle.

All road risk insurance policies allow the proposer and named drivers to drive any vehicle registered to or owned by the policy holder, and any vehicle in the custody or control of the policy holder’s business in connection with the motor trade. Friends and family member’s vehicles are not covered unless evidence can be provided that they are in your possession for the purpose of your business.

Your employees will only be covered for road risk use on your vehicles unless otherwise stated. Vehicles registered to the policyholder's spouse can be covered if needed but only on referral to the insurance company with full vehicle details.

Under no circumstances can a vehicle registered to or owned by an employee or named driver on the policy be covered under your road risk insurance policy.

All road risk insurance policies have limitations to the gross vehicle weight that they will cover you to deal with. Most basic policies will cover up to 7.5 tonnes. However, with our extensive panel of insurers we can offer cover up to a maximum of 44 tonnes if required.

Many factors affect the cost of your road risk insurance. They include your occupation within the trade, where you live, your age, your driving record, claims history, the number of named drivers on the road risk insurance and their individual driving and claim records. The amount of cover in £’s you require per vehicle, types of vehicle you trade and number of years no claims bonus you have also affect your premium.

Ensure you’re the lowest risk possible

To reduce your road risk insurance premium you need to present the minimum possible risk to the insurance companies.

Obviously some factors are out of your control, for example the insurance rating for your postcode and your occupation within the motor trade. However there are factors you can affect. They are as follows:

• Set the right indemnity level
• Think about your drivers
• Keep your vehicles and keys safe
• Select the most appropriate cover
• Select the most appropriate excess
• Shop around with Plan
• Admit what your best premium is

Set the right indemnity level

Don’t over or under insure the maximum value of any one vehicle and the total value of all your vehicles.

If you set too high an indemnity amount you are over insuring yourself and effectively are giving money away to your insurance company. If you under insure and have to make a claim for a vehicle whose value exceeded the indemnity level you set, you will be out of pocket for the amount that the vehicle’s value exceeded your indemnity level.

This could add up to thousands of pounds. So think carefully when setting your indemnity level. If you are unsure ask your broker for advice.

Drivers

• Ensure drivers are over the age of 25
• Ensure drivers are claim and conviction free
• Only offer road risk use for your employees

There are a couple of points that are worth considering that might save you money in the long term. Young drivers pay higher premiums as they are far more likely to be involved in accidents. If they are a named driver on a policy and they have an accident, the policy holder’s No Claims Bonus will be affected.

Select the most appropriate main driver

The policy holder of a road risk insurance policy must be the proprietor of the business. Therefore, it is not possible to have a proposer who presents a lower risk in order to reduce the road risk premium. If a claim occurs and the policy holder is proven to not be involved in the running of the road risk business, the claim can be repudiated.

Select the most appropriate excess amount

An excess is how much you have to pay towards a claim against your own insurance policy. The higher this excess, the less you’ll pay for the policy as some insurers will significantly reduce road risk premiums if you set an excess of £500 or more.

However, if you have an accident you will have to pay out more towards the claim. Though, if the claim is not your fault Plan Assist will act on your behalf to seek reimbursement of your policy excess.

Having a higher excess makes little odds to many people who tend to settle small claims themselves in order to avoid the loss of their no-claims bonus and increases in the future cost of their insurance.

Shop around

Fortunately, Plan Insurance Brokers will do the time-consuming work for you. It makes sense to deal with a road risk insurance specialist who will search the leading road risk insurers’ premiums to save you both time and money. Call 0800 542 2741 for your quick low-cost road risk insurance quote.

Introductory discounts

If you have been driving a company car claim free but don’t have no claims bonus in your own name we have special deals for you. Insurance underwriters will allow ‘introductory discounts’ equivalent to no claims bonus where a letter is provided from your previous or existing company confirming claim free driving.

Admit what your best premium is

When asked what their best premium is a lot of proposers either make up an unrealistically low figure or refuse to admit what their best premium is.

Unlike most brokers, at Plan, our quick quote computer gives us instant quotes from an extensive panel of leading trade insurers. We know what the market rate is. We appreciated people will shop around to obtain the best premium. That’s why we’ll always give you our best rate straight away.

However, if the premium we’re up against is ridiculously low we know that the person on the other end of the phone is either making the price up or that the company they’ve been dealing with have made a mistake.

If they have made a mistake it will only become a bigger problem and more hassle for you further down the line. So we’ll be able to advise you where they’ve gone wrong.

You must tell us as soon as possible if any of the following occur:

• You take possession of a high performance or high value vehicle which was not previously advised on your policy
• You want to use a vehicle for a purpose not included in your schedule
• You become aware of any medical condition of any driver named on the policy which may affect their ability to drive
• You or any other driver named on the policy are convicted of a motoring offence other than fixed-penalty parking offences
• You change the address where you live or trade from if different from your home address
• You or any other driver named on the policy change their occupation
• You are involved in a motor accident

We will then inform your insurers who will re-assess your cover. An additional premium, and likewise a return premium may be incurred as a result of notification of these changes. Failure to notify your insurers of any changes may invalidate your insurance, and leave you uninsured. We may charge you an administration fee for any changes you make to your policy details during the period of cover. This is shown in your policy schedule.

Most policies will at least include up to 30 days third party cover for driving within EU countries. However, it is essential you check your policy documentation to learn whether the cover you require is included as standard by your policy.

If you require full cover as per your policy, you will be required to pay a small additional premium dependent on the length of stay and the vehicle being driven.

Can my road risk policy cover me for imported vehicles?

Plan Insurance are experts at providing insurance for imported vehicles. Finding the best price on imported vehicles requires specialist knowledge. To avoid any confusion, we suggest you call Plan Insurance Brokers on 0800 542 2741 to speak to one of our expert staff.

This is a list of additional products that can be arranged to compliment your road risk cover:

• Tools Cover

To replace or repair any of your tools of equipment. It is important to not underestimate the value of your tools. They are the backbone of your business.
Could you afford to replace all of your tools in one go and carry on trading?

• Public Liability Insurance

Protection in the event of a member of the public or a customer having an accident on your premises.

• Employers Liability

A requirement by law if you have any employees, whether paid, part-time or volunteers.

• Professional Indemnity

In case someone suffers as a direct result of advice that you have given them.

The most common reasons we are unable to provide proposers with road risk insurance quotes are if they have not held a full UK driving licence for at least 12 months, they are not a permanent resident in the U.K. or if they do not believe that if requested they could provide documentary evidence of trading.

So long as you have informed your account handler at the outset of the policy then your personal vehicles should be covered. In certain circumstances, your account handler will need to have contacted your insurer to confirm that your vehicle meets the insurer’s acceptable criteria and that the vehicle is covered to the level you expect.

If you change your personal vehicle during the course of your policy to one that differs greatly in value then you will need to contact your insurer to confirm that the new vehicle is acceptable to them. You must also ensure the new vehicle is added to your record on the motor insurance database.