Motor Trade insurance

Competitive, comprehensive, quick

After many decades of working closely with the motor trade, we know what you’re looking for from an insurance broker.  

Choosing a motor specialist means you can get coverage specced out to meet your needs without overpaying or, just as bad, overlooking anything important that could come back to bite you later.  

Plus you won’t have to waste your time over-explaining your business to us. All our brokers and claims handlers know a GTO from a GTE.  

Trusting us with your insurance leaves you free to look after the bits of your business you actually enjoy. (It’s ok, we get it!). Getting you great cover at competitive prices is what we’re here for - and we’re good at it. 

The largest independent specialist motor trade broker in the UK

102

dedicated motor trade insurance experts

25,000

clients

1 in 5

motor trade businesses come to us

Why choose us?

  • Talk decision-maker to decision-maker – we can accept and insure clients without needing to consult with insurers, speeding things up for you  
     
  • Fast - thanks to our in-house underwriting capabilities, we’ve been known to get insurance cover signed, sealed and delivered within one hour of an initial enquiry 
     
  • Independent - we work independently with the biggest insurers, which means we can negotiate very competitive premiums and terms
     
  • Adaptable - our policies and products move with the times. When the industry changes, so do our wordings, keeping them relevant and useful  
     
  • Tailored – our policies are bespoke to your business. We’ll never just hand you industry standard wording. 
motor trade insurance sme

Who do we work with?  

We work with all types of motor trade business: from sole traders to franchise main dealers and national car supermarkets, and everything in between.

If your business is quite unusual or specialist, get in touch. Over the years, we’ve helped some pretty niche businesses secure coverage. We love a challenge.

We currently work with: 

  • Car dealerships
  • Detailers
  • Mechanics and MOT specialists
  • Body shops
  • Commercial vehicle repairers
  • Breakdown and recovery services
  • Vehicle transport and delivery firms
  • Car valeting services
  • Car supermarkets 
  • Windscreen and tyre fitters
  • Classic car dealers and restorers
  • Vehicle scrap and recycling centres
  • Self-drive hire firms 

Associations we work with

We collaborate with many motor associations on risk management trend analysis and insurance solutions. We offer exclusive schemes and preferential rates for members.  

Independent Motor Dealers Association (IMDA)

Association of Vehicle Recovery Operators

Association of Heritage Engineers

Why do you need motor trade insurance? 

Motor trade insurance isn't just for when you’re driving other people's cars. If you have sole care of customers’ vehicles at any time - whether you’re repairing, spraying or delivering - their individual insurance policy won’t cut it. You need your own cover in place. 

As well as being a legal requirement, good insurance also protects your business against anything that could put a temporary spanner in the works or, worse, impact your bottom line.  

We’re not saying you’ll enjoy it next time something unexpected happens, but we’ll make sure it doesn’t take too long or hurt more than it has to. A bit like ripping off a plaster.

Give your business gold standard coverage with combined motor trade insurance

These policies are designed for traders with more complicated businesses such as car dealerships or body shops with their own premises.  

We listen to what you tell us about your business because nobody knows it better than you. So, although we draw on our years of industry experience to guide you towards the best coverage, our policies are always bespoke. And no request is too big or too small… or too unusual! 


Our combined policies include: 

Road risk cover
For vehicles owned by your business or for customers vehicles while  in your care for motor trade purposes. Comes with options including: named drivers or any driver; social domestic & pleasure use; directors' personally owned vehicles; loan and hire cover; accompanied and unaccompanied demonstrations; and protected 'no claims bonus'.

Specialist vehicle insurance 
Our road risk covers can be extended to include specialised insurance for specific types of vehicles, such as high-value cars, classic and vintage vehicles or commercial trucks. 

Motor trade premises and contents insurance 
You’ve worked hard to build up your stock, tools and equipment. Let’s make sure it’s protected – even in transit. 

Motor trade public liability insurance 
From slips and trips at your premises to accidental loss or damage to vehicles, safeguard yourself against claims by your customers and employees. This option also covers you against liabilities incurred through work done by you. 

Garage liability insurance 
Specifically designed for motor trade businesses operating from a garage or workshop. Protects you against third party claims, fake or justified.  

Business interruption insurance 
If unexpected events affect your ability to trade, you’re covered against a fall in income, and temporary increased costs of doing business, such as moving premises.  

Employer's liability insurance 
A legal requirement in the UK. Covers for claims made by employees who suffer work-related injuries, accidents, or illnesses.  

Wrongful conversion cover / Trade-in vehicles insurance 
If you’re a dealership or business involved in buying and selling second-hand and used vehicles, this one’s for you.  

Cyber insurance 
No business is immune to cyber-attack and, if it does happen, it can compromise everything from employee and customer data to internal systems. Our policies come with a number you can call and IT experts will arrive on the scene to fix the problem, to get you back up and running fast. Lawyers, PR/media support and ransom negotiators are all part of the package.  

The policy also covers third party claims for damages as a result of the cyber-attack, and a range of direct costs you may need to fork out for.

Management liability insurance
Directors are protected from the costs of claims made against them personally as a result of an alleged or actual wrongful act made while in their capacity as a director or officer of the company. These acts could include breach of duty, negligence, defamation or even pollution. 
 

Road Runner – our road risks only package 

Whether you take the wheel of your customers’ vehicles, drive your own or let customers demo yours, our road risk-only motor trade insurance scheme protects you and your employees.

It’s specifically designed to ensure you meet the insurance requirements when you’ve got a customer vehicle “in your care, custody or control” (to use the legal jargon). But it also covers any trade vehicles owned by you.  

We don’t charge you an additional premium per vehicle either. Just make sure any extra ones are the same type as those you’ve already told us you work with. 

It’s quick, simple and easy to get you set up with Road Runner. 

 And, just like ordering a brand new car and treating yourself to a heated steering wheel, you can add on optional extras: 

  • Additional named drivers or any driver 

  • Social, domestic and pleasure use 

  • Directors’ personally owned vehicles 

  • Demonstrations and test drives (accompanied and/or unaccompanied) 

  • Protected ‘no claims bonus’ (but make sure you mention this to us from the start) 

  • Cover for tools, stock or machinery left in your van 

  • Breakdown cover 

  • Trade licence plate cover (so you don’t have to register and tax every vehicle temporarily in your possession) 

  • Motoring legal costs and expenses  

handshake

Refer a friend to us and earn £100

Refer a friend to us and we'll give you £100* for every successful qualifying referral.

Find out more about our motor trade referral scheme and start spreading the word today.

*Terms and Conditions apply

Risk management support and advice

Risk management is a big part of what we do. It’s not just about understanding your risk management processes so that we can present you to insurers in the best light (although that’s an important part).  

Mitigating risks gives you the best chance of reducing claims, ultimately keeping your premiums as low as possible. 

Occupational road risk 

We’ll help you to audit, manage and reduce your occupational road risks to keep you compliant and hopefully improve the running of your fleet. We also offer driving training in various forms such as e-learning, workshops and on-road coaching. 

Health & safety 

We have a variety of solutions to help you reduce your health and safety risks and ensure legal compliance. These include audits and reviews, industry accredited training courses, and an online health and safety management portal to track information in one place.  

Business resilience  

We offer a range of business continuity consultancy and disaster recovery services, and management tools to help you prepare for the unexpected and bounce back if something does happen.  

Asset protection

Underinsurance can be a very real problem in motor trade. Services such as detailed site surveys (online, aerial or onsite) and accurate building valuations help make certain you’re sufficiently insured in the event of an incident.  

Talk to us today if you’d like to know more about risk management solutions for the motor trade.  

A finely-tuned claims process

To us, claims is the engine that powers the whole insurance vehicle. When something unfortunate happens, we’ll help you deal with it as quickly and painlessly as possible.

We have motor trade specialists on our claims team that works on your behalf from the very start of our relationship with you. As early as the policy design stage, we’re looking ahead to how quickly and efficiently we can get your claims paid. Plus, any learnings from other clients’ claims through the year are fed back into your renewal strategy, be that in the form of policy wording tweaks or risk management advice.

Larger clients get a dedicated claims broker, a single point of contact, who is on hand to act as your advocate, right from claims notification through negotiations to the pay-out.

Ready when you are

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