Motor Trade Insurance Policies

Why take risks with your business?

As a motor trader, you'll know the importance of staying ahead of the ever-changing market. Whether you’re buying, selling, or working on vehicles of any kind, get motor trade insurance to help protect your business.

What is motor trade insurance?

Motor trade insurance, also known as “trader’s insurance” is a policy that covers someone running a business that involves the buying, selling, repair or maintenance of vehicles.

If you generate profit from a business within the motor trade, you can arrange specific insurance to protect yourself. Unlike personal vehicle insurance policies aimed solely at individual use, motor traders’ insurance can cover many scenarios unique to motor trade businesses. These include driving customers’ cars and liability issues when dealing with the public.

If you are a vehicle recovery agent, valet, mechanic or trader, motor trade cover will enable you to clean vehicles, move unlicensed cars with trade plates, test cars on the road and much more.

Our motor trade insurance offering includes road risk only or a combined motor trade insurance package offering peace of mind. You may decide a combined policy is the right level of cover for you that can insure a range of risks from road risk to buildings, liability issues, tools, and equipment.

We can even offer a young motor trader’s insurance package designed for professionals under 25 in the trade.

What does a motor trade policy cover?

Certain insurances relating to vehicles and running a business are a legal requirement, which a motor trade policy should encompass. As well as this, other features and benefits can be beneficial to a motor trade business owner. However, the cover you take out depends on what your trade involves and what level of risk it presents.

Motor trade policies can usually cover:

Road risk insurance – protects you against risks while driving your own vehicles, as well as customer vehicles in your possession. This can be on a third party basis, third party fire and theft, or fully comprehensive.
Public liability – protects you against claims from the public, caused by your work activity, e.g. defective workmanship or faulty parts.
Employers’ liability – protects you against claims from your employees if they are injured at work.
Stock of vehicles – protects you if vehicles in your possession are stolen.
Business premises – protects the building or garage you work from.
Tools, equipment and money cover – protects tools, equipment and business cash stored on your business premises.

As a broker, we will help you find suitable insurance cover to mitigate risk and keep your business safe. This could include cover against theft, employee injuries, or road risks.

These are brief product descriptions only. Please refer to the policy documentation paying particular attention to the terms and conditions, exclusions, warranties, subjectivities, excesses, and any endorsements.

Who needs motor trade insurance?

Anyone who works in the trade or runs a motor trade business can benefit from motor trade insurance – from single-site businesses acting as sole traders to large-scale vehicle companies with forecourts and garages.

Whether you’re buying and selling cars, a valet business, mechanic, or scrap yard, we can help find a motor trade insurance policy for you. If you’re a sole trader or a limited company, you’ll need to consider specific types of insurance to help protect you on a personal and professional level. Our cover is for anyone in roles such as:

Motor dealers
Commercial vehicle repairers
Mechanics working from home or mobile
Part-time traders
Body shops including Panel Beaters & Paint Sprayers
Valeting businesses
Service, repair, and MOT garages
Vehicle breakdown and recovery agents
Vehicle collection and delivery agents

You will need to provide evidence that you are running a genuine motor trade business to be eligible for motor trade insurance.

Additional cover for motor traders

Motor trade insurance focuses on the day-in and day-out of your job, protecting you and your business from risks you may face. However, a range of additional insurances may be beneficial, especially if you work with the public or have a team of employees. For instance, legal expenses cover can offer reimbursement and support if compensation claims arise. Here’s a list of our additional cover:

Public liability insurance, will help keep your business protected against claims made by third parties. That means you’ll have protection against customer claims as well as members of the public.

Breakdown and recovery insurance can be crucial if you’re involved in recovering a customer’s vehicle, whether that’s collecting a scrapped car to refurbish and sell, or if your business is an active vehicle recovery service. This cover is designed to protect you when performing any loading and transportation of vehicles not registered in your name.

Unaccompanied and accompanied demonstration cover protects vehicles that are taken out for test drives.

Why choose Gallagher for motor trade insurance?

Why take risks with your business? Work with our experienced team to build a policy that suits your requirements and keeps your business safe. Our specialists are always ready to offer a high-quality service.

Benefits of working with Gallagher

Specific motor trade insurance cover built for your unique needs.
We have motor trade sector expertise and can provide updated information and insights as the industry changes.
Quotations offered over the phone.
Online quotations in a matter of minutes.
Cover can often be taken out immediately.
Documentation is always issued quickly and accessible.
Our team is always ready to help over the phone.
Exclusive rates subject to acceptance criteria*

Whatever the nature of your motor trade business, our team of experienced industry specialists can help find an insurance solution for you. Call us on 0800 062 2312.

*customers must meet acceptance criteria for exclusive rates.

Benefits of motor trade insurance

Road risk cover for all motor trader businesses.
Traders combined cover for your premises and business.
Insurance brokered from a wide range of insurers to remove the manual hassle for you.
Specialist support and assistance from our dedicated motor trade team whenever you need it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need motor traders’ insurance if I just buy and sell cars?

You must have Public Liability Insurance by law, which a motor trade policy can encompass. As well as this, you should consider features and benefits that can be beneficial to a motor trade business owner to help protect against unforeseen circumstances and financial losses. Standard driving insurance policies are not sufficient. Even if you sell a small volume of cars each year, you may need cover that includes storing customer vehicles at your home and driving customer vehicles.

If you are still uncertain on what cover is relevant to meet your requirements, a chat with our team will help you decide what policies and premiums meet your needs.

How much does traders’ insurance cost?

Motor traders’ insurance varies in price depending on your business and requirements. Unfortunately, cheap motor trade insurance is rarely built to meet your needs and will likely leave you exposed to some risk.

Like all insurances, traders’ insurance costs are based on factors such as business type, premises, nature of work, etc. The most basic policies are road risk cover for third party only or third party fire and theft.

Other factors include the number of named drivers on your policy. The fewer drivers, the cheaper the cover can be —so limit how many employees can drive customer vehicles to reduce your premium.

You may also choose to increase your voluntary excess, which will lower your overall premium cost.

What’s the difference between private car insurance and motor trade insurance?

Private car insurance does not cover you if you’re involved in an accident when driving a customer’s vehicle or when driving a car you’ve purchased for resale. You need specific road risk insurance to drive vehicles as part of your motor trader activities. You could benefit from traders’ combined cover if you operate from business premises.