Business vehicle insurance is an essential expense. There are over a quarter of a million road traffic accidents and 300,000 road related casualties in the UK every year and it is estimated that between 25 and 33 per cent of serious and fatal road accidents involved a victim that was 'at work' at the time.
Police surveys have shown light goods vehicles are a major target for thieves and tens of thousands are stolen each year from British businesses. This equates to over 100 million of lost assets each year, independent of any additional costs such as increased premiums, loss of earnings and alternative transport expenses. So ensuring your vehicles are covered is a major priority but unfortunately it’s one that doesn’t come cheap and premiums very rarely go down.
Buying insurance business vehicle insurance for a company car varies very little from purchasing it for standard vehicles. To get the best deal the key is to shop around. There are stacks of insurance companies as well as specialist services designed to find you the best quote so the facility is always available to make savings.
In the UK you must, by law, have third party insurance which covers your legal liability for injury to others and damage to their property. In addition to this basic level of cover policies typically include a fire and theft provision cover. Alternatively fully comprehensive cover will cover you against all damage to your vehicle. The cost of all this will be based on a number of factors, the history of the driver, the make of car, and the location where it usually resides being the most important.
However there are some extra points to bear in mind if you need business vehicle insurance. If you use your car for work, as well as for personal trips, then you need to make sure that your insurance certificate covers both types of usage. So, for example, if your policy only covers ‘social, domestic and pleasure’ use you will not be insured should when using your vehicle for work purposes.
If you want to be insured to drive your car for business use, you are going to need to make sure your policy is extended to Class One business vehicle insurance, which would normally mean your spouse would also be covered. If you plan on allow your staff to use the car then Class Two is required.
Class One and Two business vehicle insurance will cover you for most business use, with the exception of ‘commercial travelling’ This is defined as travelling from place to place in search of custom, but each insurance company will have its own exact definition. If you do need cover for commercial travelling your policy will have to be increased to Class Three. And as you’d probably expect the higher the classification, the higher the premium will be.
