Is Road Risk Insurance Enough For A Motor Trade Business?
A common question we receive as a commercial insurance broker is whether road risk insurance is sufficient to cover a motor trade business in its entirety.
In short, the answer is likely no. However, the longer answer is that this depends entirely on the nature of your business, and the risks you face within it.
To give a more specific answer, let’s take a closer look at road risk insurance, what it is, and how it relates to motor trade insurance.
What is road risk insurance?
Road risk insurance is the minimum cover you will need as a motor trade professional – it is the legal minimum, meaning this is the least amount of cover you will require to be complying with the law.
Road risk insurance can potentially cover you as a professional in the motor trade industry against multiple outcomes, including:
- Damage to vehicles in your care
- Windscreen and window damage
- Replacement lock cover
- Third party legal liability
- In-vehicle equipment cover
It covers the trader, as opposed to individual vehicles like a personal car insurance policy would.
What does road risk insurance not cover?
While some businesses may only need a single road risk insurance policy and be covered for most eventualities, it’s likely that you will need extra cover for aspects not covered by this policy. Some examples of things not covered by road risk insurance are:
- Trade or employee vehicles (only customer vehicles are covered)
- Your business premises – such as a garage or showroom
- Loss, theft, or damage to vehicles caused by incorrect fuel, or leaving a vehicle unlocked
- Employer and public liability
So, is road risk insurance enough for a motor trade business?
Overall, if you are a sole trader and don’t have a business premises, road risk insurance could be sufficient cover for your business. However, if you have a bigger team, a garage, showroom or similar, or would just like to protect yourself further against the unexpected, a full motor trade insurance policy is likely the way forward.
Motor Trade Insurance
Bespoke motor trade insurance, as an alternative, is a type of combined commercial insurance that can be tailored to your specific business’ needs. This will include road risk insurance, as well as other types of cover that you may need, such as:
- Property damage
- Business interruption
- Buildings & contents insurance
- Trade car cover
- Legal liabilities
- And more.
Looking for expert motor trade insurance brokers to help decide on which type of cover you need? At Higos, we’re specialist insurance brokers with the knowledge and experience to find the right cover for your business, at the right price.
For more information on this type of cover, call us on 01458 270323 or Request a Call Back. One of our experts will get back to you as soon as possible. After all, for commercial insurance, it has to be Higos.