Car Jockey - it’s one of the very first endeavours many people take up when beginning their career in the motor trade. Being a car jockey is the dream job for anyone who loves driving, but the high level of responsibility also means needing a special car jockey insurance policy tailor-made to an individuals’ needs.
As a vehicle jockey, you are responsible for moving cars around forecourts and parking areas and ensuring that vehicles are locked and secured at the end of each day.
You’ll be driving a lot of the time and so will be quite an expert at handling a wide range of cars allowing you to drive vehicles of different values, specifications and engines sizes legally.
Location is important too. Airports, hotels, ferry terminals, clubs and wedding venues all employ car jockeys as part of their added value service provision.
Insurance risks for car jockeys
So, if you are responsible for moving customers’ vehicles from one destination to the other, however short the distance may be, you will still need adequate insurance cover. Even though you might not be in any of your customers’ cars for any length of time, doesn’t mean that there isn’t the possibility for accidents to happen – all brief movements on UK roads still need cover.
If you have some very high value, vintage or performance vehicles in your care, albeit temporarily, you’ll probably need additional cover in place should disaster strike.
And it’s not all plain sailing as some holidaymakers discovered during a particularly unpleasant episode at Gatwick Airport in 2016. A bogus parking company promised holidaymakers to look after their cars in a secure compound, but instead left them in fields.
Operator Asad Malik was arrested after trading standards were informed that more than 1,000 vehicles were being parked in a nearby field with cars left unlocked, their windows open, keys on the windscreen and many damaged. Malik was jailed for 14 months and disqualified from being a director for four years.
It’s a sobering tale for anyone in the motor trade industry, but one which firmly places the emphasis on trust placed – or in this case misplaced – in a third-party provider.
Tailor-made insurance solutions
Car jockey insurance provides cover against the particular risks you and your business could face, allowing you to drive vehicles of different engines sizes, values and specifications legally.
Basic vehicle insurance just won’t do, because as a car jockey you’ll need to be able to be insured on all the cars you drive. A car jockey insurance policy can be tailored to meet your needs and can include flexible customers' vehicle indemnity limits, employers' liability and office, contents and equipment cover and business interruption.
At Tradex we have decades of expertise in providing solutions for those wanting to set up a car jockey business or providing advice to those who are already trading but are unsure of the coverage they need.
Give us a call on 01708 678 400.