In common with certain specialist classes of goods in transit insurance – such as hire and reward insurance or haulage freight insurance, for example – car transporter insurance is a financial product designed to provide coverage for professionals who move items around for commercial gain. In the case of car transporter cover, the sort of policy that you might expect to take out will be highly focussed on the sort of professional services that are offered by individuals and firms that – very specifically – move vehicles around. Indeed, car transporter insurance is also frequently referred to as vehicle transporter insurance by insurers because it often covers more than just cars.
Typically – although not uniformly – such policies will cover the transportation of vans and motorbikes on the UK road network as well as cars. As such, this sort of insurance is highly recommended for a number of professionals operating in different parts of the vehicle transportation sector and the motor trade. Indeed, given the particular nature of the business involved, it may also be a legal requirement to have such insurance in order to be able to conduct such work. Read on to find out more about vehicle transporter insurance, why you might need it and what sort of eventualities it is designed to cover.
What Is Car Transporter Insurance?
To begin with, it will be worth defining what constitutes car or vehicle transporter insurance. The exact sort of cover that will be provided by such an insurance policy will, of course, differ depending on the sort of policy that is taken out, just like courier insurance, for instance, which may be for an individual courier or an entire fleet of vans. That said, car transporter insurance is a specialist form of cover for people who move other people’s vehicles on the open road for reward. In other words, this is a form of goods in transit insurance – just like courier insurance or marine cargo insurance, for example – but one that provides cover for vehicles that are being moved from A to B.
Some car insurance policies, especially comprehensive ones, will allow drivers to get behind the wheel of anyone else’s car so long as the owner has given them permission to drive it. Under such circumstances, you might wonder why you would also need car transporter insurance. The answer is that conventional car insurance will not necessarily provide you with cover if you were to have an accident driving someone else’s vehicle for commercial gain. In other words, you can borrow a friend’s van to take something large you own to the tip but not use it to operate as a man-and-van driver collecting items for disposal and charge customers for it.
Equally, if you have a recovery vehicle that you use to pick up cars to take them to repair centres, then you would need car transporter insurance to do this work commercially. However, if you borrowed such a vehicle for your own personal use, perhaps to collect your own broken-down car, then it is possible that your current policy would provide enough cover. In both these examples, the key thing to take note of is that vehicle transporter insurance provides professional cover. Therefore, it is designed for anyone who moves vehicles professionally rather than for personal use. Importantly, such insurance should cover the vehicle you are driving as well as the vehicle you are transporting at the time of an incident for which a claim might be made. In this regard, vehicle transporter insurance is much like goods in transit insurance only for when the goods in question are vehicles themselves.
Why Is Car Transporter Insurance Needed?
Without vehicle transporter insurance, you will not be covered in all eventualities. Let’s say, for example, that you drive a recovery truck for a living. If so, insurance for a recovery truck should provide cover not just for the truck itself and any third-party you might run into on the road but for the goods you will be transporting, as well. Under such circumstances, your recovery truck might be valued at £10,000, for example, so you will need sufficient insurance to cover it if you were to write it off in a serious accident. Now, consider that at the time of such an incident you were transporting a car worth £50,000. If both vehicles were to be completely wrecked, then you would require additional insurance to cover the total value of £60,000 let alone damages caused to third-party vehicles.
Of course, you might simply say that you need a policy that covers you for £60,000 and be done but consider the possibility of transporting a higher-value car or more than one. What about the times when you are driving your recovery truck for professional reasons but don’t have a vehicle on board yet, for example when you are on the way to pick a car up? If so, merely upping the value of the policy would mean you were over-insured. That’s why insurance firms offer car transporter coverage instead. Such insurance covers all of these possibilities – and many more – to ensure that people who transport cars for a living are adequately covered without being over-insured either.
Bear in mind that it is often a legal requirement to have this sort of insurance to operate within the law. In fairness, this will depend on the exact nature of your work, whether you drive the vehicles in question or merely pick them up. However, without the right sort of vehicle transporter insurance, relying on personal car insurance or even standard motor trade insurance may be insufficient to meet all of your legal obligations on the road.
Who Needs Vehicle Transporter Insurance?
If you are towing a friend or family member to help them recover their vehicle – and not doing so for any financial gain – then it is highly unlikely that you will need vehicle transporter insurance cover. However, if you drive a recovery truck professionally, then you – or your employer – will need to have some form of recovery vehicle insurance that covers the transportation of cars and other vehicles. There again, if you get behind the wheel of a new car to take it to a customer following a sale, then you should make sure that you are adequately covered as the driver with appropriate car transporter insurance. Without it, not only would an accident on the road not be covered but you would probably find that accidental damage to the interior upholstery or infotainment system, for example, would not be covered.
In other words, vehicle transporter insurance doesn’t just cover people who pick up and transport cars to and from car dealerships for incidents on the road but everyone who moves vehicles for a living – whether this is their main occupation or not. As such, operators of the large transporter rigs that are used to move multiple cars at a time will need this form of insurance. However, so too will anyone who loads or unloads these vehicles. Car transporter insurance should provide protection whether this work is conducted on the road or on private land – such as a car dealership’s forecourt, for example. Indeed, it is not just the transportation brand new cars off the production line that need this form of cover, either. Second-hand cars that are being transported should be properly insured, as well.
Moreover, all vehicles in transit, whether they’re loaded onto another vehicle or being driven under their own steam, should be protected by vehicle transporter insurance if they are to be considered a form of goods in the commercial sense of the word. Therefore, this is a form of insurance that second-hand car dealers, car and van dealerships, recovery vehicle operators, mechanics and other professionals in the motor trade all need to consider if they are to be fully protected. Anyone who works as a car jockey – someone who moves vehicles around on a forecourt – should also seek out a suitable policy. In many cases, people who repossess vehicles professionally on behalf of their lawful owners – such as finance companies or lessors, for instance – will often benefit from vehicle transporter insurance. The same goes for both amateur and professional motorsport teams when a racing vehicle is being transported to an event on a trailer, rig or another method of conveyance.
How Much Is Car Transporter Insurance?
Like all forms of insurance, including most classes of goods in transit insurance – the price you will need to pay for car transporter insurance will vary according to the specific coverage provided by the policy. Many insurers now operate in this increasingly competitive marketplace so it is possible to find vehicle transporter insurance without needing to spend a great deal. In fact, doing so can be worth it economically in the event of a claim. Typically, annual insurance is the cheapest way to procure car transporter insurance although paying monthly by direct debit is more affordable for many operators, especially self-employed vehicle recovery professionals who need to budget from one month to the next.
Some car transporter insurance policies are designed for the motor trade, such as new and used car dealers, and these policies tend to include other aspects of insurance that such operators can benefit from. In other words, as well as providing coverage for vehicles in transit, they will also sometimes include public liability insurance, too. This can make them seem less affordable than standard car transporter insurance but not always when you also take into consideration the additional requirements such businesses have on top of car delivery firms, for example. Indeed, such policies can combine other important aspects of standard motor trade insurance, such as covering the theft of as-yet unregistered cars, with losses incurred from accidental damage when cars are in transit.
Typically, insurers will price policies based on the sort of cover that is offered as well as how much can be claimed for in the event of a substantial loss. The more cover and the higher the maximum claim value, the greater the insurance premiums are likely to be. However, most insurance firms also offer excess sums nowadays. In monetary terms, this is the level a claim must reach before it can be processed. Therefore, the higher you set your excess, the lower your premiums should be.
When Is Vehicle Transporter Insurance Not Needed?
Not all vehicles in transit require specialist insurance policies to cover them. Nonetheless, if there is any doubt, it would be worth speaking to your current insurer to confirm whether or not a claim could be made in the given circumstances. Typically, the personal movement of vehicles would not be needed. For example, if you were asked to move a guest’s car on your own driveway so that someone else could get out, then you wouldn’t need this sort of commercial coverage. Equally, if a family member asked you to tow them to a local garage because they couldn’t get their car to start, then you would not need vehicle transporter insurance.
Standard insurance for a recovery truck might also be adequate in the event of an accident if you were transporting a friend’s car for them without charge. However, this is a grey area and recovery vehicle insurance would be needed in any case unless you never used your recovery truck for work, something that would be highly unusual, of course. Equally, you will not need this sort of cover if you are transporting automotive parts, even partially assembled vehicles. Given that this sort of work is typically conducted by hauliers, adequate provision should be included within your road haulage freight insurance. Nevertheless, it is worth checking whether any specific clauses in your policy may mean that further cover is required.
Does Truck HGV Insurance Include Recovery Truck Insurance?
Many HGVs are quite capable of transporting cars and other vehicles. Low loaders are often used to transport backhoe loaders – among other types of construction vehicles – to building sites and so on, for instance. However, typical HGV insurance will not cover losses incurred from the transportation of vehicles. Therefore, just because you have HGV insurance for your truck, you cannot simply use it to perform vehicle recovery work. In short, you will need an additional policy for this, namely car transporter insurance. Of course, the insurance market changes all the time and some HGV insurance providers may include this form of cover at some point down the line. The main thing to take on board is that this is not currently the norm. Therefore, like many things to do with commercial vehicle insurance, it is better to check with your insurer before engaging in any commercial activities for which you are not 100 per cent sure you are covered.
Can Goods in Transit Insurance Function as Car Transporter Insurance?
It is important to understand that from the insurance industry’s point of view, vehicle transporter insurance is a type of goods in transit insurance. The main differential between standard goods in transit policies and vehicle transportation coverage is that the goods in question are vehicles. Not only do vehicles tend to have a higher value than other classes of goods – and so, tend to need more cover – but they also present certain risks that general cargoes do not. Firstly, vehicles contain fuel which makes them a riskier proposition. Secondly, they can be driven in their own right even if the mainstay of vehicle transporter insurance policies is to cover them in transit when they’re not being driven.
For example, providing goods in transit cover for electrical appliances in transit would mean covering them when they’re being loaded into deliveries trucks, while they’re on the road and when they’re being unloaded, too. Compare that to vehicle transporter insurance which may involve driving a car, for example, onto the back of a recovery vehicle or jockeying it around the forecourt of a car dealership after it has been delivered. Such activities can cause accidents not just to the vehicle concerned but to other cars and even the public. Therefore, standard goods in transit insurance – however beneficial it may be – isn’t adequate for people who move vehicles, hence the need for a more specialist policy type.
Car Transporter Insurance in Summary
Also known as vehicle transporter insurance, car transporter policies provide specific coverage for firms and individuals that move motorised vehicles professionally. Transporting vehicles for commercial gain without the proper insurance could be illegal. Vehicle transporter insurance typically includes:
– Cover for delivery workers who transport cars, motorbikes and vans by road in the UK.
– Goods in transit and liability insurance for firms that pick up vehicles on behalf of their clients.
– Protection against losses to recovery trucks and the vehicle(s) they are conveying.
– Cover against damages to vehicles being moved on forecourts and other private land off the public road.
– Damage protection to the interiors and exteriors of vehicles that are in transit.
– Protection for vehicle transporters that convey multiple cars or vans at the same time.
– Cover against risks that will be encountered on the public highway.
– Policy clauses that deal with the loading and unloading of vehicles prior to and after transit.