Part Time Motor Trade Insurance Quotes

Compare Part-Time Motor Trade Insurance with Utility Saving Expert

Within the motor trade industry, there are many job roles, working environments and schedules that create unique business opportunities. From mechanics garages to sales showrooms to car restore services, various sub-categories within motor trade exist.

Because every motor trade business is different, your responsibilities, work patterns and schedule might not look the same someone else's, even if they work in the same industry as you.

Every business has specific needs and unique circumstances, and there is insurance coverage available for all sorts of scenarios, which can be combined into the right policy for you.

Whether you work full time at a commercial garage and manage a team, or are self-employed and work on cars alone from your home on a part-time basis, there's cover out there that can be tailored to suit your needs.

Part-time trader insurance is well suited to people who dabble in the motor trade industry outside of other work in another industry. For example, someone who purchases and sells vehicles as a side business or a hobby.

With a part-time role as a car dealer or mechanic, you won't need as extensive coverage compared with the likes of a large garage with complex business operations and many employees. However, even a small motor trade business that's managed by a single professional who works a few hours each week needs insurance.

You can find the best value part-time trader insurance by comparing policies with Utility Saving Expert to find the cheapest deals.

Why you need part-time trader's insurance

Part-time motor trade insurance is a type of business insurance for professionals who run or work for a motor trade business part-time.

It can protect you financially if there is an accident at work. For example, if you are driving a customer's car and there is a crash, your motor trade insurance could cover the damages.

If someone sues your business because they have been injured in an incident that involves you and your work, or if a liability claim is made against you, insurance can cover your legal fees and protect you from financial losses.

Part-time trader policies can include repair costs and compensation claims. Without insurance coverage, you'd need to pay for those yourself.

What part-time trade insurance covers

How extensive the cover is will depend on what you choose to include in your insurance. There are many features that you can combine to create a policy that reflects your needs.

You know your business better than anyone else, so you understand which risk factors your business faces. When you take out part-time trade policy, you should include insurance features to reflect this.

On-road risks

Road risk insurance is a legal requirement for most job roles within the motor trade industry. If you'll be operating vehicles that don't belong to you, even if that only involves driving a customer's car for a few metres on a public road, you'll need road risk insurance in place. Let's say you work as a part-time mechanic who fixes cars on Saturday afternoons and takes each vehicle for a short test drive before returning it to a customer. Even in these circumstances, with so little time spent driving vehicles, you need road risk cover, by law. However, if there is very little risk of getting into a road traffic accident, you can choose a basic level of insurance such as third-party cover to reduce costs.
Insurance for commercial and personal vehicles is an important consideration if you work part-time hours in the motor industry. Will you be using a business vehicle for personal use, outside of your working hours? If so, you can ask your insurance provider to include cover for social, pleasure and domestic driving. With this in place, you won't need to take out a separate policy.
Demonstration cover provides insurance for your customers to test-drive vehicles. If you are running a part-time car dealership out of your home and you want to offer a customer the chance to drive a car that is up for sale before they make a purchase, this cover will enable that to happen legally. It's worth noting that some policies will limit this to third party cover, meaning if there was a crash, only damages to other people's vehicles and property would be included, and not the car being driven.

Off-road cover

Storing SORN vehicles will need to be written into your insurance policy if your garage stores cars with a SORN, which stands for statutory off road notification. If you plan to have off-road cars in your care, make sure you have all the right insurance and documentation in place.
Refurb and restoration can protect vehicles that you are restoring, which will be appropriate for specialist car mechanics who work on classic vehicles. Usually, you can find insurance cover for fire, theft and accidental damage through this type of cover, but terms and conditions tend to vary between insurance providers. Check the small print to be sure you know what you're signing up for.

Insurance for stock, tools and equipment

Goods-in-transit cover is important if you will be transporting anything valuable in your vehicle as part of your part-time work. For example, if you're a mobile mechanic, you will probably keep all of your tools in your van. If you are transporting any type of goods, stock, or equipment, you'll want to take out cover for theft and damage while you are in transit.
Premises and storage cover is important for most businesses, even if you are self-employed and work part-time hours from the garage outside your home. This type of insurance would cover the cost of repairs if there was damage from a fire, flood or vandalism at your place of work. If you run an office with technology like computers, laptops and printers, you can take out contents insurance to cover that too.

Liability insurance

Employers' liability is necessary if you employ anyone, even part-time or casual staff. If you run your motor trade business part-time and employ staff to run the business for the rest of the week, you'll need to take employers' liability cover. This protects you and your business if a staff member gets unwell because of work or is injured at work, and is a legal requirement.
Public liability cover protects you if a member of the public is injured because of your business. This covers legal fees and compensation costs if a liability claim is made against you.
Product liability cover protects you financially if an accident happened because you fitted a faulty part whilst working on a car. This covers the cost of compensation if there is a claim made against you because the broken or defective part caused an accident

Taking out the right amount of cover

In addition to legal necessities, some motor trade policies require a minimum level of coverage. However, most features are presented as optional add-ons that you can build up to match your needs. The total amount of cover you take out should reflect the value of items you are insuring. This is known as the sum insured.

Your motor trade insurance must reflect your work and be suitably tailored to you. You need to be completely transparent with insurance firms and ensure all the information you provide is accurate. Make sure you choose an insurance policy designed specifically for part-time trade or emphasise that your work in the motor trade industry is part-time.

Some insurance provider will expect you to deliver a minimum amount of trade or services. For example, if you sell cars, an insurance firm might expect you to trade a minimum number of vehicles per year. These requirements will differ from provider to provider, and across different policies. Make sure you know approximately how many cars you trade, fix or service to ensure you give the correct information to your insurers.

Not only can this potentially reduce the price you pay, but it will ensure you won't have your policy invalidated. Whilst there may not seem much difference between insurance policies for full- or part-time traders from your point of view, your insurance provider sees it from a different perspective.

If a mistake with your policy means it is cancelled or invalidated, you will be liable to pay for any damages or compensation without financial support and you may find it more difficult to secure insurance cover in the future.

How to find cheaper part-time car trader insurance

If you are intending to take out a new insurance deal, or if you want to shop around because you are coming up for renewal with an existing policy, compare your options to find the best deal.

You're more likely to find a cheaper contract if you use Utility Saving Expert's online quotation tool than if you allow your existing policy to auto-renew. All you need to do is input some details about yourself and your driving history, as well as your work as a part-time motor trader.

Include details about where you store your vehicle and equipment. We'll use this context to help you find all the policies that are suited to you, and it will also help potential insurance providers to provide quotes based on the security of your vehicle and tools, and how safe or risky they deem this to be.

Browse through the insurance policies that are generated instantly by our quotation technology to find the best value deals. Decide how extensive the cover should be and filter results to make them even more specific. Add-on the optional extras that you need to feel comfortable your operational activities and business needs are sufficiently covered.

You may be able to lower your insurance premiums by opting to pay the full cost through a single annual insurance payment rather than taking out a monthly payment plan. You can also agree to a higher voluntary excess to encourage lower premiums. This means you are offering to pay more if you claim on your insurance, but pay less for your policy in the first place.

When you're satisfied you've found a new part-time trader insurance deal that offers you everything you need at a competitive price, you can by your quote directly from one of the many brokers we put you in touch with.

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