Van Insurance Advice

Legal stuff
This is just an introduction to van insurance and is not intended to be representative of the covers or restrictions offered by any particular insurance or that all insurance provide the protection described. You can get a recommendation for a particular insurance to suit your own circumstances by talking to the skilled staff at Goods in Transit Direct on freephone 0800 308 1093.

Why buy Van Insurance?
It is the law in this country that every motor vehicle must be insured to a minimum standard defined by the Road Traffic Act of 1988. This says that you must have insurance to cover you at least for injuries that you might cause to other people and damage to their property. Insurance companies treat vans with a gross vehicle weight of less than about 3.5 tons as small commercial vehicles. Heavier vehicles than this are insured as trucks, and may have specific licensing requirements. For instance the need for drivers to be properly qualified and hold a large goods vehicles licence, and for the operator to have a haulage operator’s licence.

What is covered?
Most “third party” insurances cover you for little more than the legal requirements. “Third party fire and theft” insurances will also cover you for damage caused to your vehicle during a theft or an attempted theft, or if your vehicle is involved in a fire. If your vehicle is not recovered following a theft, or is a total loss in a fire, the insurance company will pay you the value of your vehicle at the time of the incident. If you have a valuable vehicle, you may want to purchase “comprehensive” insurance. This also covers damage to your own vehicle in an accident, even if the accident is your fault, and malicious damage.

What is not covered?
“Third party” type insurances do not cover you for damage to your own vehicle or property. “Comprehensive” policies usually have an “excess”. This is an amount of money that you are responsible for if you make a claim. Suppose you make a claim for £1000 of damage. If you have an excess of £250, you will be required to pay for the first £250 of the claim and the insurer will pay the rest. There will also be restrictions on what you can use your vehicle for and who may drive it. For instance, the insurance may only cover the vehicle whilst being driven by certain named drivers. Commercial vehicles need to be insured for the particular type of activity that they are being used for.

There are three common types:
“Carriage of own goods” insurance is appropriate for trades people such as builders, plumbers, electricians, window cleaners and so on where the van’s contents belong to the owner and are being used for the work being carried out. The van’s contents will be tools and materials typically.

Haulage insurance is for people using their vans typically for a single drop load carried over a long distance. You will be carrying the goods on behalf of a third party who will be paying you specifically for this. Your insurance certificate will include a phrase saying that you are allowed to use the vehicle “for business purposes including the carriage of goods for hire or reward”. A couple of drops would be acceptable, but having several drops in a small area is regarded by insurance companies as a higher risk which will require courier insurance.

Courier insurance is similar to haulage, in that you are carrying other people’s goods for hire or reward, but it is expected that you will be using your van in a small area in a town or city to make many drops. You might be carrying parcels to local businesses or homes for instance.

The goods and tools being carried are typically not covered by the insurance. You need to take out a “goods in transit” insurance separately to cover the goods. Tradesmen can sometimes get tools cover as an optional extra on their public liability insurance. If you allow your vehicle to be driven by someone else, or used for some other purpose, it will not be insured and in fact it will be being driven illegally.

VAN INSURANCE:

Correct Useage:
When obtaining quotes for your commercial vehicle insurance make sure that you have the correct useage. Your policy will need to state courier useage, hire and reward and/or haulage.

Just because you have a van doesn't mean you need basic van insurance. Without the correct useage on the policy, you will not be insured correctly and any claim may be classed as void.

The police now pull over van drivers to check that they are insured correctly under the useage. If you are a courier and don’t have the correct useage cover, you may end up with an IN10 (i.e. driving without the correct insurance PLUS six points on your licence)

What to watch out for?
Sometimes broken windscreens are not covered. It is normal now for your vehicle to not be covered for theft if you leave your keys in the vehicle.

Why do you need insurance?

Insurance is a way of managing risks. When you buy insurance, you transfer the cost of a potential loss to the insurance company in exchange for a fee, known as the premium. Insurance companies invest the funds securely, so it can grow, and pay out when there’s a claim.

Insurance helps you:

• Own a home, because mortgage lenders need to know your home is protected
• Drive vehicles, because few people could afford the repairs, health care costs and legal expenses associated with collisions and injuries without coverage
• Maintain your current standard of living if you become disabled or have a critical illness
• Cover health care costs like prescription drugs, dental care, vision care and other health-related items
• Provide for your family in the event of a death
• Run a small business or family farm by managing the risks of ownership
• Take holidays without worrying about flight cancellations or other potential issues

What is Liability Cover?

Subjects covered in this “What is Liability Insurance” guide:

* Introduction
* How liability insurance works
* Employers’ liability insurance
* Public liability insurance
* Professional indemnity insurance
* Directors’ and officers’ liability

Liability insurance
As a business owner or employer, you have a legal responsibility towards your employees, customers and the public. You could be held legally liable and risk being sued if an employee or a member of the public is injured as a result of your negligence or breach of duty.

Liability insurance is designed to pay any compensation and legal costs that occur if an employer is found to be at fault. If you employ anyone it is most likely that you will need to have employers’ liability insurance. This guide explains what cover each type of liability insurance offers and how liability insurance is sold and priced.

How liability insurance works
The cost of insurance – known as the premium – is typically worked out using a book rating. A book rating is calculated using a base rate, which includes the insurer’s costs and reflects their appetite for your particular type of business – if they want your type of business the rate will be less than if they don’t.

The premium is also calculated on the insurer’s estimate of the level of risk attached to a particular business or industry area. The premium will be affected by factors such as your claims history, the size of the perceived risk and your approach to risk management. The safer your working environment and the fewer claims you have made, the cheaper your premium should be.

Premiums are also calculated on the records of other similar businesses by lumping good and bad together – small businesses with a good record may be adversely affected by this. Your own safety record and approach to risk management can minimise the effect of this.

Employers’ liability insurance
Employers’ liability (EL) cover enables businesses to meet the costs of compensation and legal fees for employees who are injured or made ill at work through the fault of the employer. Employees injured due to an employer’s negligence can seek compensation even if the business goes into liquidation or receivership.

By law, an employer must have EL insurance and be insured for at least £5 million. Most insurers automatically provide cover of at least £10 million. EL insurance must cover all your employees in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

If your business is not a limited company, and you are the only employee or you only employ close family members, you do not need compulsory employers’ liability insurance. Since February 2005, limited companies with only one employee, where that employee also owns 50 per cent or more of the issued share capital in the company, have also been exempt from compulsory EL insurance.

The HSE is responsible for enforcing the law on EL insurance. You can be fined up to £2,500 for each day that you do not have appropriate insurance.
Generally, someone is defined as your employee if:
· you deduct National Insurance contributions and income tax from the salary you pay them
· you control when, where and how they work
· they cannot employ a substitute when they are unable to work

When you take out a policy you will receive a certificate of employers’ liability insurance. You must display a copy of this where employees can easily read it and keep copies for at least 40 years or risk a fine of up to £1,000. You need to make these certificates available to health and safety inspectors on request.

Public liability insurance
If members of the public or customers come to your premises or you go to theirs, you should think about taking out public liability insurance.

What the insurance covers
This type of insurance covers any awards of damages given to a member of the public because of an injury or damage to their property caused by you or your business. It also covers any related legal fees, costs and expenses.
Premiums depend on the type of business you run, your turnover and the number of employees you have.

Talk to a professional
There are many conditions, exclusions and warranties that can be applied to public liability policies. It is therefore important that you discuss with your insurance adviser any that are applicable to your policy.
If you work from home, and customers or members of the public visit you there, you may also want to think about taking out public liability insurance.

Businesses which must take out the insurance
Some businesses, e.g. horse riding establishments, are to have public liability cover. You will also find that many of your customers or potential customers require proof of adequate insurance before they will allow you to work for them.

Professional indemnity insurance
If you are in the business of selling your knowledge or skills, you may want to consider taking out professional indemnity insurance.

What you will be covered for
This protects your business against compensation sought by a client if you have made mistakes or are found to have been negligent. Professional indemnity insurance will also cover any legal costs.
Most professionals carry professional indemnity cover. If you are a lawyer, accountant or financial adviser, then you must have professional indemnity insurance. Professionals such as architects, consultants and designers often opt for such cover as well.

Ensure you are properly covered
One important aspect to bear in mind when considering professional indemnity insurance is that, because there can often be a long delay between an event and a subsequent claim, you need to be covered both at the time of the event and when the claim is made.

This means that if you plan to cancel your policy when you close your business or retire you may need to arrange “run off” cover for a period of time afterwards.

Also, if you plan to change insurers, you will either need to arrange run off cover or get agreement from your new insurer to accept new claims for prior incidents.

Keep everything well documented
One way to minimise such claims is to make sure projects are well documented. Ensure that you set out specific responsibilities in your contracts with clients beforehand and deal with complaints promptly.
As this is a specialist area of insurance you should take advice from a suitably experienced insurance broker.

Directors’ and officers’ liability
Directors and officers of companies and other organisations have various duties, responsibilities and powers in connection with their position. In most cases these are set out in a job description or terms of reference. As a result they can be held responsible for a range of issues including:

· health and safety
· data protection
· maintaining satisfactory accounts
· fraud
· negligence

If your company’s directors or officers are found to have inadvertently acted outside their terms of reference and this gives rise to a claim, then any compensation and legal fees will be covered by directors’ and officers’ liability insurance. If the act was deliberate, then it may not be covered by the policy.

Christmas is approaching....

Christmas is fast approaching.. Make sure you're covered by taking out one of our policies today.
0121 448 6914

Clocks Go Back: Burglars Spring Forward

10 ways to keep your home safe when the clocks go back

On Sunday 25th October everyone in the UK will turn their clocks back by just 1 hour. For some this means lighter mornings, for drivers it means more dangerous road conditions as we approach winter, and for children it means getting home after school before it gets dark. For burglars, however, the clocks going back means Christmas has come early. According to a recent survey the numbers of burglaries rockets in the five months following the clocks going back as opportunistic burglars seize the cover of early darkness to break into our homes.

To help you protect your home from this menace, here are Coversure Insurance’s top 10 ways to keep yourself home and valuables safe when the clocks go back:

1. Set Timers

There is no easier way to tell if a house is empty than there being no signs of life during the early evening. By setting timers on your plug-in lamps, TV or radio, you can easily make it look like you’re at home – even if you’re not.

2. Hide your valuables

Burglars are often opportunists and nothing is more likely to prompt a break-in than seeing a nice shiny valuable left unguarded. So before you go out make sure valuables that your valuables are put away and are out of sight. This includes things that you would otherwise have about your person – such as your tablet, mobile phone or your car keys.

3. Fit and Set your Burglar Alarm

Having an alarm and, more importantly, setting it when you go out is an important factor in keeping your home safe. Burglar alarms are inexpensive these days, with Wi-Fi kits available from around £100, and having one fitted can make a big difference to your home insurance premiums. If nothing else, seeing an alarm box on your wall is likely to deter would-be thieves from gaining entry to your property.

4. Lock Up

It (should!) go without saying that you should make sure you lock your windows and doors before you go out, but around 33 percent of intruders enter a home through the front door so it’s always wise to lock your door when you’re not around.

5. Talk to the Police

Local police forces are often happy to talk to homeowners and advise them on home security measures. Some forces may be willing to visit your property and provide you with a home security inspection. To find out more call 101 to talk to your local force.

6. Neighbourhood Watch

It’s a good idea to sign up to your local neighbourhood watch scheme if you have one. This means that your neighbours can help keep an eye on each other’s property and report anything suspicions. Coversure Top Tip: Displaying a ‘Neighbourhood Watch Scheme’ sticker in your window could make thieves think twice about targeting your property. Studies have shown a reduction in crime of up to 16% in areas with an active neighbourhood watch in place.

7. Improve your boundaries

Are your fences and hedges secure? Are there any gaps that a burglar could squeeze through undetected? It’s a good idea to keep your hedges trimmed regularly as they can sometimes provide cover and easy access for burglars.

8. Install security lights

A security light that detects movement and turns on when it does is often a really good way of deterring burglars. It’ll both light them up and alert you to their movement around your property.

9. Don’t post your location on social media

How better to see who’s not at home than to check social media? If you’ve ‘Checked-in’ at your local coffee shop with a few of your friends then the burglars know exactly where you are and can easily target your home.

10. Have comprehensive cover in place

We all hope the worst won’t happen but in case it does, make sure you have comprehensive home insurance in place. It won’t turn back time, and it certainly won’t lock your doors for you, but it will help to make sure that you don’t lose out financially should the worst come to the worst.

If you’d like to discuss your home or car insurance needs then contact yourlocal Coversure office today.

Refer A Friend

Here at Coversure Bromsgrove we regard the personal and friendly service we give to our customers as of paramount importance.

If you have received a good service from us then pass this onto your friends and family and we’ll give you £25 for each referral.

The more referrals you give us then the more money we can send you!

Our Refer A Friend scheme is easy to do:
– Contact Us with the details of your friend/family member and we’ll call them for a quote.

– Your friend/family member can call us direct and give us your details so we know the referral has come from you (please note we may check with you just to make sure this is the case).

– If they take out an insurance policy then we’ll pay you £25 once they've made their first payment.

Liability

If you have your own business, be it a large company with many employees or if you’re a sole trader, you’ll understand the need to insure and protect your business against problems and incidents that might happen to your customers or your employees. For this reason, liability insurance should be a top priority.

Liability insurance is needed for ALL business types so whether you’re a roofer and scaffolder or a children’s party entertainer then you’ll need liability insurance. We have some fantastic rates for liability insurance policies so get in touch today to start saving money!

Types of Liability Insurance:

Public Liability Insurance

Employers Liability Insurance

Products Liability Insurance