How To Get Cheaper Motor Trade Insurance

As with most types of insurance there are some proactive steps you can take to help lower the costs and while cheap may seem like a good option it does not necessarily give you sufficient cover.

Never assume that all types of vehicles, such as motor bikes or high performance cars are included on the policy. You need to make it very clear to insurance companies that you need a policy which covers all types of vehicles.

You could save money by applying online for motor trade insurance as a new customer. It is also worth considering using this method with your existing insurance company as many will offer discounts if they think they could lose your valued custom.

Consider offering to increase the amount of voluntary excess on your policy. This means that you will have to pay more if you have to make a claim before the insurance company pick up the rest, but if you rarely make a claim it is worth considering or discussing with insurance companies.

No claims discounts continue to give the largest savings. Some insurance companies will allow you to transfer no claims discounts earned on a private car policy to a motor trade policy.

Although paying one instalment for your policy may seem expensive, paying by monthly instalments will cost you more in the long run, so it is worth giving consideration to just one payment when you purchase the policy.

Having premises, equipment, public and employers liability cover all provided by the same motor trade insurance company can also help you save money as well as additional savings in your own administration costs.

Top Taxi Insurance Tips

To help keep the cost of your insurance premiums low there are some tips which may be worth considering.

* Think about the amount of excess you can afford to pay. Buy increasing the amount of excess you can reduce the annual premiums, this also indicates to insurance companies that you will only be making small claims which exceed your excess. If you live in high risk areas this may not be an ideal option.

* Having owner drivers only or named drivers only will also help to lower the costs. Taxi firms which have ‘any driver’ policies will pay far more for their insurance. The only exception to this is if you have a lot of young or inexperienced drivers on your team.

* Give careful consideration to the optional extras offered by the taxi insurance companies. Consider whether you really need them as tempting as they may seem they will add to the costs.

* If you have accumulated a no claims bonus it is well considering protecting it. This typically means that you can make a number of claims without losing your no claims bonuses. Although this may cost slightly more in the long run it can save you huge amounts of money.

* Keep your taxi in a garage or secure compound when not in use as this will significantly reduce the premiums costs.

* If you have an older vehicle with a low replacement value it will be cheaper to have taxi insurance which is third party only or third party, fire and theft rather than fully comprehensive. Speak with insurance companies as those who operate in high risk areas may not be legible for this lower type of insurance cover.

 

 

 

 

Ways To Help Lower Courier Insurance

Courier businesses should give serious consideration to having both their vehicle insurance and their courier business insurance, such as Goods in Transit, Public Liability insurance and Employer’s Liability, all provided by the same insurance company.

Not only will they be able to negotiate better and possibly lower insurance premiums, having one insurance company can save a lot of administration time and manpower as there will only be one company and renewal date to deal with.

Many insurers who specialise in courier insurance are offering some very competitive deals for new business ventures for the first year of a policy. The usual no claims discounts held by drivers and those over the ’age’ thresh hold set by the insurance companies can also help to lower the costs and save you money.

The ‘age’ thresh hold is generally 21yrs, but this can and does vary between insurers, some have an young driver age limit of 25yrs.

The courier insurance market is a competitive place, as such the insurers are offering to beat like-for-like quotes which you may receive from their competitors. The best advice is to shop around to find a great insurance deals which meets your courier business needs from companies who specialise in this type of insurance.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that cheap is best – read the small print, terms and conditions to ensure the quotes you receive meet your needs, if you are in doubt or have questions use the free phone numbers or ring back service to ask before you make a commitment and part with any money.

Having the Correct Motor Trade Insurance For Your Business

Public Liability insurance cover is needed if anyone in the motor trade business invites a member of the public onto their premises. This includes business such as:

* Buying and selling of any type of motor vehicle from showrooms or forecourts.
* Garages and workshops which repair vehicles for payment or reward, including business who restore vintage vehicles.
* Driving any kind of vehicle on a public road, this includes motor trade businesses who run on trade plates.
*Breakers or scrap yards.

Basically anyone who operates a motor trade business and allows members of the public onto their premises, forecourt or any part of their land or property needs to ensure they have appropriate public liability cover included on their insurance policy.

Additionally if you have employees you will also need to Employer’s Liability cover as this is a legal requirement in the UK irrespective of how many employees you have.

A recent TV advertising campaign featuring Sir Allen Sugar shows a motor trade business which has an ‘apprentice’ learning one of the many motor trade professions, as such businesses who have apprentices working on government training schemes will also have to ensure they have appropriate cover before they can take advantage of these schemes. If you are unsure of the type of insurance apprentices need you can find out either from the training company delivering the training or from the Learning Skills Council.

Check with companies who specialise in motor trade insurance to ensure your business is meeting legal requirements and that you don’t get caught out if an employee or member of the public harms or injurers themselves whilst they are on your premises.

Clarkson Fails Twice!

The recent TV showing of Jeremy Clarkson taking a scooter driving test in Vietnam has hilarious! Not only did he look extremely uncomfortable perched on the scooter he just couldn’t keep within the white lines on the figure of eight and failed the test! However, in Vietnam you are allowed to re-take the driving test straight away and yet again Clarkson managed to fail much to the amusement of his colleagues!

If only the motor bike driving test was that simple in the UK or maybe not? Although there are quite literally thousands of scooters driven by people from all walks of live in Vietnam their road conditions, rules and regulations are very different to the UK.

The number of mopeds being driven around UK towns has increased due to many fast food outlets offering home deliveries. The vast majority of the drivers are running on L plates and many have few or little driving skills or experience as anyone who has either followed or been subjected to their near side over taking will fully appreciate!

Business which offer home deliveries will however be able to take full advantage of low cost insurance premiums if they have numerous delivery mopeds. They only down side is that as many of the delivery personnel are very young their age may mean higher costs, so it can be a bit of a ’catch twenty-two situation.

The easiest way to find cheap courier or fleet insurance to go online and carry out some simple researches to find insurance companies who offer insurance to meet business needs at the most competitive prices.

Can Price Comparison Sites Save You Money?

The use of comparison web sites is becoming an increasingly popular way to obtain insurance quotes and while some insurance companies advertise on TV that they can’t be found on any comparison sites others say they do! So how do they work?

Comparison web sites do charge the insurance companies for their services, however, due to the advertising and the increased number of people who are asking for online quotes via a comparison site, the commissions are not necessarily passed onto the consumer or they are included in premiums whether you go to them direct or via a comparison site!

There are some basic key points that you need to check before choosing which insurance company to use. Some may seem very cheap and yet they often only include the very basic cover or have high excess. By the time you have added optional extras such as a courtesy vehicle or legal cover you may not be making the savings you first thought.

Whether you use a comparison site or not you should always spend time and shop around for the best deals and only buy the insurance and optional extras you need!

This is also advisable if you are looking for HGV insurance. However, in order to ensure you are getting the exact cover you require it is advisable to use an insurance company which specialises in HGV insurance.

This may sound very obvious, but with people trying to make big savings on their premiums cutting corners can be a very costly error. Choose an insurer who will offer you a quote that meets legal requirements and your business needs to ensure you have the correct type of cover.

President Obama’s New Cadillac-‘The Beast’

President Obama arrived in London yesterday with a cavalcade of vehicles so large that they were unable to all actually get inside Downing Strret!

Obama’s new Presidential Limousine has been custom-designed to protect the his life with updated security features which are kept securely under wraps. It of course has elements such as run flat tyres and the doors are as thick as a 747’s.

Inside luxury exudes from all quarters making this limousine truly ‘fit for purpose’. While the security of the Barrack and Michelle Obama is paramount during their visit to the UK one has to wonder just how many thousands of dollars it must have cost to bring the entire motorcade into the country?

With the one Cadillac costing $250K the entire fleet would run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many will argue that these are not the most fuel efficient vehicles to be driving around in with the current global economic situation, not to mention the affects this fleet will be making on the environment.

This new presidential Cadillac is nick named ‘The Beast’ by the US Secret Service, which seems very apt for a vehicle of this size.

You may not have a vehicle quite as high tech as ‘The Beast’ but if you own a fleet of luxury limousines probably the most cost effective way to insure them is with a fleet insurance policy. This can be tailored to meet the needs of each of the luxury cars you own and operate, with many optional extras such as European cover should your fleet operate on the continent as well as in the UK.

Government Propose Further Crackdowns On Uninsured Drivers

Yesterday the topic of cracking down on the estimated two million uninsured road users was discussed in Parliament.

However, the British Insurance Brokers Association, Biba, asked the government to ‘add teeth’ to the bill.

Biba’s technical services manager Graeme Trudgill said  that the bill ’does not provide enough of a deterrent to halt the scourge of uninsured drivers who are making our roads so unsafe’.

Britain has the worst record of uninsured drivers in Europe which cost law abiding citizens approximately £30 extra on their insurance premiums to meet the cost of those who choose to flout the law.

Biba has called on the government to raise the fixed penalty of £100 for uninsured drivers who are caught on the roads and to establish a visible and effective enforcement agency. They also ask for the enforcement agency to be given the power for clamping and vehicle disposal.

Those driving on the UK roads without insurance usually means they do not have any tax either and while insurance premiums are remaining pretty stable at the moment these are unlikely to ever be reduced unless every single vehicle had valid insurance and let’s be honest that it is not likely to happen, although the proposed new measures may be enough of a deterrent to make some people think twice before driving without appropriate car insurance.
Anyone who has two or more vehicles should try and take advantage of mini fleet insurance deals to help lower the cost of their annual insurance costs.

Fleet Insurance For Multiple Vehicles

If your company has multiple vehicles, it is nearly always cheaper to get a fleet policy to insure your company vehicles. It is a common misconception that a fleet must be made up of trucks and HGV’s, any business vehicle can be counted as a ‘fleet’ no matter its size.

Typically however you will always receive cheaper fleet premiums if most of your vehicles are of the same type. This means that if you insure 10 small vans it will nearly always cost less than insuring a mix of cars, vans and HGV’s under the same policy. The price change is not very large but it is worth considering for companies with a small amount of vehicles.

Generally the minimum number of vehicles needed to use a fleet policy is 5, although the number typically varies from insurer to insurer. As such it is worth shopping around if you have small number of vehicles, just because a couple of companies will not insure your 4 vehicles does not mean others won’t!

This type of policy does not normally include Goods in Transit insurance and Public Liability insurance, these must be purchased separately if needed. In essence fleet insurance covers all of your vehicles under a single policy that is far easier controlled and renewed than multiple individual policies for every vehicle. This saves you the time and hassle of having to renew each policy next year and shop around again for a whole number of different insurance deals. Instead you simply have one policy to renew.

AA meeting With Treasury

The AA are meeting with ministers from the Treasury to try and delay a fuel price increase. Next month the fuel duty is set to increase by 2p pet litre, and the Automobile Association feels that with recent financial difficulties now is not the right time.

Originally the 2p price increase was meant to take place this time last year, yet the oil price increases at that time meant that the price of fuel was already at record highs.

Even the experts are confused as to why prices remain so high. Petrol costs over 90p a litre and yet crude oil is $45 a barrel. The last time petrol was this price oil was over $68, so why hasn’t the price dropped significantly? Instead the government are seeking to raise prices even further.

The president of the AA warns the government that they should consider that drivers are under threat of serious financial difficulties due to the credit crunch already. With further increases small businesses that rely on a lot of petrol will be severely affected.

For a courier company the price of fuel can really make a large impact on expenditure. Even increases of 0.1p soon mount up to a company using hundreds of litres of fuel every day.

The problem faced by courier companies is that all of these expenditures soon add up, especially when combined with the cost of new vehicles, maintenance, and courier insurance. A small increase on each of these things, as we are seeing, really strains companies during the credit crunch.