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What is car body shop insurance?
Body shop insurance offers specialist protection to motor traders that undertake body repair work such as spraying, fitting parts, panel beating and replacing windscreens. It can insure part-time and full-time traders and cover a wide range of risks, including:
- Road risks
- Premises
- Public and employers’ liability
- Machinery and testing equipment
- Stock of parts/spares
- Portable hand tools
- Loss of MOT licence
- Service indemnity
- Engineering inspection
- Business interruption

For body shop insurance, call 0208 298 2100
What can body shop insurance cover?
While every body shop and auto repair insurance policy owner’s needs will be different, there are some common risks – such as public liability insurance, tools and equipment, road risks insurance, stock and parts, and premises insurance – that you’ll want to include. Jensten Motor Trade’s body shop insurance allows you to choose from a range of policy elements, including:
- Road risks insurance – so you can drive customers’ vehicles and any you own in connection with your business on public roads. As with car insurance, you can choose from third-party, third-party fire and theft, or comprehensive cover
- Public liability insurance – garages can be hazardous places, and if a member of the public is injured or their property damaged, you can be held liable. Public liability insurance will protect you financially should you be sued for damages
- Employers’ liability insurance (EL insurance) – is a legal requirement if you have any staff, full-time, part-time, or contracted. EL insurance protects motor traders from compensation claims from their employees should a claim be made against them for loss or injury at work. Your policy must have a minimum of £5m cover, with £10m being the industry standard
- Business premises cover – if you’re trading from premises, you’ll want to have them protected. If your premises were damaged or destroyed, business premises insurance would cover the cost of repairs or a rebuild
- Tools and machinery cover – without your tools and machinery, you can’t operate. Air compressors, sanders, slide hammers and dent pullers are all things you need daily. With tool thefts on the rise in the UK*, you’d be wise to insure them. This covers tools and expensive pieces of machinery, such as diagnostic equipment. It can also provide Mac and Snap-On tools insurance, plus employees’ tools and toolbox options
- Service indemnity insurance – also known as defective workmanship cover, protects you against claims for faulty parts or for accidentally fitting parts incorrectly
- Money and keys – if money or keys are stolen from your premises, this is designed to cover the cost of their replacement. Most policies will stipulate that money needs to be left in a safe, locked cashbox, or a cabinet
- Business interruption insurance – should disaster strike – a fire, a flood, or an explosion – and you can’t trade, business interruption insurance will provide an income until you can get to your previous trading level
- Engineering inspection service – if, as part of your trading, you use testing equipment or machinery, an engineering inspection service element to your policy will cover the cost of a safety assessment of it. Having your equipment assessed is a legal requirement as it’s part of 1998’s Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) and Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER). It can help satisfy your health and safety at work requirements, and it also means you’re less likely to have downtime owing to essential equipment such as vehicle lifting tables, jacks, and pressure systems failing
- Business contents – including your stock, computers, phones, and other business equipment
- Products liability insurance – should a product you use or recommend cause damage or harm, you can be liable for compensation should action be brought against you
- Sales and service indemnity – protects you against claims of damage or injury after selling or repairing a vehicle. It can include cover for faulty parts or repair work that’s contributed to the problem
* Data collected from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the England, Wales and Northern Ireland Police forces.

Which motor trade businesses can car body shop insurance cover?
Car body shop insurance through Jensten Motor Trade is a flexible policy that can protect traders, including:
- Body shops and repair garages
- Motor traders and garages that offer SMART repairs
- Motor traders that undertake body shop repairs
- Traders that work from premises
- Traders that work from home
Why get body shop insurance through Jensten Motor Trade?
As well as flexible, quality cover, body shop and auto repair insurance through Jensten Motor Trade offers you the following benefits:
- Dedicated in-house claims service
- Service from quote to claim
- Legal liability insurance
- Road risk-only options
- The option of comprehensive, third-party fire and theft or third-party only cover

‘Polite professional advice and service, quick and easy cover, completely hassle-free and renewed my cover very quickly at a very competitive rate – the overall experience was totally refreshing’
Mr. E. March 2023

How much does body shop insurance cost?
As we’ll create your cover around your business, that’s not an easy question to answer. What we can say is that your car body shop insurance quote will be based on factors such as:
- The value of your stock
- The size and value of your premises – if you have any
- The value of your equipment
- Whether you need road risk cover and how many people you need it for
- The turnover of your business
- Your claims history
- Whether you want to pay monthly or annually – annually will usually be cheaper
- Your business’s postcode
For some tailored insurance help, please contact the Jensten Motor Trade team today or call them on 0208 298 2100.
Body shop insurance FAQs
It’s important for motor traders to get the right body shop insurance. To help you do that, here is our body shop and auto repair insurance frequently asked questions. We hope they are of use, but if you’d like some independent advice, please call us on 0208 298 2100, and the team will be happy to help.
Elements are compulsory. If you are going to drive vehicles on the road, you will need a road risks element to your policy. You’ll also need employers’ liability insurance (EL insurance) if you employ staff within your business and engineering inspection service if you service or repair vehicles
Yes, but only in connection with the business if it is owned by the business or is in custody or control of your motor trade business. It may be more cost-effective to limit the covers to keep your premium down
While these policies may look the same, road risks only covers driving vehicles on the road. Traders combined insurance, on the other hand, can offer a much wider range of essential protections, such as premises, material damage cover and liabilities amongst others.
That will depend on things like the size of your business, its postcode, your claims history, the value of your equipment and tools, if you have any employees and whether you need road risk cover. For a personalised car body shop insurance quote, please call us on 0208 298 2100, and the team will be happy to help
There are several ways of cutting body shop insurance costs, including:
- Limit the number of employees on your road risks policy
- Building up your no-claims bonus
- Employing drivers with low or no motoring convictions or claims
- Making sure your premises (if you have any) are secure and have CCTV/a web-based security system
- Always use an independent broker such as Jensen Motor Trade. A specialist independent motor trade insurance broker will have the knowledge to ensure you get the body shop insurance quote you need and can do the shopping around for you
At Jensten Motor Trade, we are more than happy to discuss the different ways we can help you save on your motor trade premium. All it takes is a call to our specialist motor trade insurance team to start the quote process. Alternatively, you are welcome to complete our online quote form, and we call you to discuss your requirements
Getting a quote is easy. You can call us on 0208 298 2100, and the team will be happy to help you find the protection you need. We work with a panel of different insurance companies and can help find the appropriate cover to suit your individual needs.
Speak to Jensten Motor Trade about car body shop insurance today
If you’d like some assistance with your auto repair insurance or a car body shop insurance quote, contact the Jensten Motor Trade team by calling 0208 298 2100.