The Do's and Dont's of Becoming a Motor Trader

Deciding to become a motor trader and open your own business takes a lot of time and consideration, there are certain things you need to ensure are done before you open the doors and there are plenty mistakes you can make a long the way.

What You Must Do

One of the first things you will want to do once you have found and signed for a suitable property is to get your insurance in place. Opening the doors to any business without adequate insurance is a disaster waiting to happen.

Firstly ensure that it covers your building and tools along with your ability to drive customer vehicles. In the event of an accident in a customers vehicle you want the repairs or replacement to be carried out as quickly as possible.

The next thing after insurance is to ensure you have a good website. These days the website is an essential asset, people don't search the telephone directory any more, they go online, learn as much as they can about the business before even considering to book their vehicle in.

Lastly you must offer exceptional customer service, you want repeat and referral business, this is the business that keeps your company's doors open, you cannot rely on marketing alone.

What You Must Never Do

While there are so many things you can do right, there are mistakes you can make along the way, mistakes that can cost you dearly in the long run.

The first mistake is when hiring staff you forget or don't bother getting employer's liability insurance. Now what you may not realise is this is a legal requirement in the UK which protects you when a staff member injures themselves at work. It can amount to thousands in claims and can leave you in serious financial trouble.

Another thing you must never do is allow potential buyers to drive a vehicle you have for sale without having the right cover in place. Demonstration cover enables you to allow customers to try before they buy. This also increases your chances of making a sale.

Lastly what you must never do under any circumstances is to lie to your customers. Your customers are what keeps the business going and you want to enjoy the benefit of repeat and referral business. While marketing online can increase brand awareness, as a motor trader you need your customers to make profits and rise to success.

Save Yourself and Business by Having Fleet Insurance

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Fleet Insurance can save both you and your business money on an annual basis.  The ability to place all your company vehicles under one policy not only offers convenience, but affordability too.

Would you can expect from this level of cover is the convenience of being able to add and remove vehicles as and when needed with only one phone number to call.  As you can imagine place in all vehicles whether they are cars, motorcycles, vans or trucks is a huge benefit to any business that keeps a large number of vehicles at any given time.

When you think of a private auto policy and you purchase a second vehicle, you know it is cheaper to add the new vehicle to your current policy rather than taking out a separate policy for it. The same applies for business vehicles, placing them all under one policy is a cost effective way to ensure all your vehicles are safe on the roads at all time.

Another big benefit to this type of cover is the convenience of only having one premium to pay. Having a number of premiums due can get confusing and sometimes can result in you forgetting to pay one, leaving it to lapse and leaving your vehicle illegally on the road. While you probably didn’t mean to do so, you will then be in a situation where in the event of an accident you don’t have any cover and if stopped by the traffic policy, you will have a hefty sign to pay, the vehicle may even be impounded.

There are other benefits to this policy. Imagine in the event of an accident you now have to phone the broker, but if you have all your vehicles covered by different companies you will be digging through paperwork and wasting valuable time. Having one policy means one phone number to call and one claims process to go through.

Flexibility

It is very important when looking for this type of cover to ensure that the broker you choose offers you flexibility, the ability to add and remove vehicles throughout the year as and when needed.

As a business you may change your vehicles on a regular basis, selling off those that have worked hard for you for a couple of years and replacing them with new ones. You don’t want to end up in a situation where your broker is unwilling to make changes to the policy leaving you paying for vehicles you no longer own.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to review your fleet insurance policy on a regular basis, this way you are saving both you and your business from paying for vehicles unnecessarily and it gives you the ability to ensure the policy is updated with any new vehicles you have acquired.

Trading cars as a second job? Where to find the right insurance

Do you have a passion for cars? You have an eye for cars that are good
purchases, which can be sold on at a profit? If you are thinking of trading cars
in your spare time, then you need to find the right insurance that will cover you
in the event of an accident. It is likely that your best solution will be to consider a part time motor trade policy.

With technology offering us so many ways of searching for information, finding
insurance cover on the internet is the easiest and quickest solution, but is this
the correct choice for your second job?

When considering a policy, you need to take the following into account:

- Are you going to allow customers to drive your vehicles

- Are you going to work from home or are you going to rent a garage
- Are you going to be hiring any staff members to help you
- Are staff members also going to be driving the vehicles you have for sale

Once you have considered all these factors, you will be able to determine
your cover requirements.

Over and above internet searches, it is advisable to talk to other dealers in the
area and see who their policy is with. Also find out if they are happy with their
cover and have they had any problems with the company.

When covering your second business you need to ensure that you are dealing
with a reputable and reliable company, it is your profits you are going to be
using to pay for this cover and you need to be assured that they are going to
work with you when you need them the most.

Always get more than one quote, contact a couple of companies and see if
they can tailor the policy to meet your business needs. Ensure that the policy
they offer you includes roads risks and you can add multiple drivers when
you hire new staff, this way both you and staff can drive the vehicles you are
considering purchasing.

Ensure that along with the road risks they will include demonstration cover
into the policy, enabling customers to drive the vehicles you have for
sale. Spending your company profits on buying cars for sale only to have
them involved in an accident without the right cover can leave your business
in ruins.

Does the company protect your no claims bonus? Can you use your personal
no claims to reduce your business premiums? And lastly, do they offer
employee and public liability cover?

Finding the right insurance is not difficult; it’s knowing what you need for your
business and finding the company who is willing to tailor your policy to suit
those needs. Investigate thoroughly into which motor trade insurance policy is
likely to suit your business best.
 

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How Many Vehicles Will Fleet Insurance Cover?

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When you are in a business where you have a number of vehicles, fleet insurance may be the answer you are looking for to save money, cover all your vehicles in one policy making it easier to manage.

This type of cover is designed for all vehicles, so you don't have to have a number of cars or a number of vans, you can put all your vehicles into one policy from motor cycles to trucks. This is one of the many reasons this type of policy is so advantageous to so many businesses.

Is This Cover Right For Me

This type of policy is designed for all businesses that have a number of vehicles, some brokers cover from three or more vehicles while others do five or more vehicles, there is no maximum amount, you can have thirty or forty vehicles owned by your business all safe guarded by one handy policy.

The advantage is that there is only one policy. This means one premium and one phone number to call in the event of an accident, what's more there is only one renewal to worry about.

The biggest mistake companies make it shopping around every time they purchase a new vehicle, leaving a number of vehicles all on different policies. This is when the problems start. It becomes a nightmare for bookkeepers that need to try and take note of when premiums are due and when renewals are due, which can often leave you in a situation where you have one or more vehicles uninsured, not legal or safe when driving on the UK roads.

The best thing about this type of cover is that because you can place all your vehicles on one policy in the event of an accident there is only one phone number to call and one claims process to go through. This can save a lot of time and energy and doesn't leave you digging through paperwork trying to determine what car is covered by what company.

Add your own private vehicles to the policy, remember you can add anything from motor cycles to cars and vans to trucks, there is no limit to the number of vehicles you can add and it works out cheaper in the long run. If you were to have a separate policy for each vehicle you will end up paying a much higher amount in premiums than having all your vehicles under one easy to manage policy.

So to answer the question on how many vehicles you can cover by fleet insurance, the answer is that there is no limit, put all your vehicles into one easy to manage policy and enjoy the peace of mind that they are protected every time they pull out onto the road.

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Will Couriers Insurance Cover My Car or Van?

UPS 128314 (Photo credit: kenjonbro)

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When running a transportation business you want to know that all aspects of your business is covered. Being in the transport industry you want to know your building, staff and vans are covered by your couriers insurance, but what about your personal vehicle?

Chances are on a very busy day you get a call to collect a package in a nearby area, all your vans are already on the road so you hop into your own personal car or van to pick up the parcel. Now you may not know this but if you have private cover in the event of an accident while driving for work you are not covered, the safest thing you can do is include your own personal vehicles to your business cover, this way you can collect packages in your local area with ease whenever you want to.

The ability to cover your own vehicle under the business policy can save you money in the long run. You don't have a private cover that you need to pay for any more, you can even add your spouse to your list of drivers, enabling you to completely cancel your private policy and only have one premium to pay.

Of course this type of cover protects so much more than your own personal vehicle, there is your building which you can protect against fire, storm damage and theft. There are the parcels which while in your possession are your responsibility and there are your vans.

Over and above all of this you need to have good liability cover. Public liability is essential, a delivery person walking through your doors and injuring themselves can see you slapped with a hefty fine. Remember that when someone lays a public liability claim against you, you are legally responsible. This can be for loss of income, mental distress and medical expenses.

You also need to ensure that all your staff members are covered by employer's liability cover which is a legal requirement here in the UK. A staff member that is injured on the job can claim for loss of income, so besides abiding by the law it is in your financial interest to ensure you have adequate employer's liability cover in place.

When selecting your drivers always choose drivers with clean driving licenses, combine that with the ability to add your private vehicle to your couriers insurance and you can save yourself some money in the long run.

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