For any business, it’s vital to have the right insurance policy in place to ensure you’re covered in the event of any accidental damage, theft, or injury. This is just as important for car dealerships, mechanics, and valet services, who are responsible for the care and repair of vehicles.

Although many car insurance policies do cover third-party drivers, this is never guaranteed. It’s never worth taking the risk when it comes to your insurance policy! As an auto trade business, you must ensure you have adequate traders insurance to protect yourself, your staff, and your business. But don’t you worry, our expert guide to trading insurance covers everything you need to know.

What is Traders Insurance? 

Traders insurance is available to any auto trade business, no matter how big or small. Whether you’re self-employed, repairing and selling vehicles from your garage, or you own a thriving multi-national car dealership, you must have an adequate traders insurance policy in place to ensure the cars are insured for your use.

Even if a customer’s personal car insurance policy extends to third-party drivers, you will not be covered as an auto trade business if their vehicle is damaged whilst you are using it for commercial purposes, including repairs, valet services, or mobile mechanics. 

What does trading insurance cover? 

Most trader insurance companies offer three different types of cover:

• Road risk only
• Liability auto traders insurance
• Combined auto traders insurance

Road risk only auto traders insurance

Road risk insurance is very similar to personal car insurance policies, but the key difference is that the trader is only covered when driving the vehicle for business use.

Of the three auto traders’ insurance options available, road risk is the minimum legal requirement. As a business that drives customer-owned or trade vehicles on public roads, you must (at the very least) have road risk insurance to be covered for commercial driving. It will also cover the business against injury, death, or damage inflicted by your vehicle use. 

Liability auto traders insurance

As an auto trade business that has employees or welcomes customers into its premises, there are additional trading insurance requirements. Liability traders insurance offers indemnity cover against any issues caused by your services, whether that be a faulty part or poor repair work.

This also includes general liability insurance, protecting your business against claims made by customers who are injured at your premises, or employees hurt at work. 

Combined auto traders insurance

A combined policy is much more extensive, enabling auto trade companies to combine a wide range of different insurance types. This includes road risk and liability cover, along with additional insurance protection such as:

• Business premises cover – this protects against damage for both owners and renters
• Stock and money cover for protection against theft – this is especially important if valuable assets are being left at your business overnight
• Business interruption insurance – in the event of a fire, flooding, or another unprecedented natural disaster, business interruption cover could save your business! 

There are many more forms of protection offered by combined traders’ insurance policies. The main aim is to protect motoring businesses against all risks that their business may face.

Contact Traders Insurance today for expert advice

When it comes to choosing a trading insurance company, it’s important to choose one that you can trust. Here at Traders Insurance, we’re here to help you find customized trading insurance quotes to find the best policy for your business.

Interested in joining the industry? We also offer an advanced traders insurance qualification program to help you become an auto insurance professional.