Car Dealer Insurance

What is car dealer insurance?

What can car dealer insurance cover?

While every new car and used car dealer’s insurance needs will be different, there are some common risks – such as road risks insurance, public liability insurance, and stock insurance – that you’ll want to include.  Jensten Motor Trade’s car dealer policies allow you to pick and 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
• Goods in transit insurance – is particularly useful if you’re a mobile auto electrician, as it will insure you should any parts or equipment be damaged, lost, or stolen while you go from job to job
• 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. Power probes, multimetres, soldering irons, and test jumper kits are things you’ll need to use 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
• 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