Tyre, exhaust and accessory fitting covers a wide range of different activities which all have their own individual associated risks whether you operate from business premises or a mobile van undertaking work at a person’s house or roadside.

Exhaust and tyre fitter Insurance or accessory fitter insurance can apply to many diverse types of businesses from mobile fitters to individuals working from home, small workshops or large national dealerships.

Who Will Need Insurance Cover?

• Part-time or full-time motor traders
• Tyre & exhaust fitters
• Accessory fitters
• Mobile fitters
• Static business premises
• Fitters operating from home

Choosing the Right Fitter Insurance Policy

It is crucial for anyone working in the motor trade industry to be adequately covered by the correct type and level of insurance. When choosing which type of tyre and exhaust fitter insurance or accessory fitter insurance to choose, it can feel like a daunting list.

Tradex can help you to select the right insurance for your business to ensure you are fully protected against potential future claims or loss in the long-term operation of your company.

Asking the Right Insurance Questions

In most cases, a standard ‘one-size-fits all’ motor trade insurance policy will not provide you with the cover you really require, so it is essential to be selective and shop around.

Before embarking on getting quotes for your exhaust and tyre fitter insurance, you will need to have a think about the following questions so you can select the fitter insurance that is going to keep you adequately covered:

• Do you need to move any of your customers’ vehicles around the yard, take them for test drives or deliver them? Or will you be working on them roadside or at a person’s residence?
• If you have business premises, is it likely that a member of the public will be visiting? If so, you will need insurance protection in case they have an accident whilst at your building.
• Will you need protection against alleged faulty workmanship either by yourself or from your employees?
• Will you be operating from a business premises? In which case, you may need a motor trade combined policy covering things like buildings and contents insurance, business interruption, goods in transit, machinery, stock and money on site cover.
• Are you a mobile fitter working from your van or your home? In which case you may need specialist cover for your tools, equipment and stock such as goods in transit.
• Are you looking at working full- or part-time?

What to Include in Your Exhaust & Tyre Fitter Insurance?

You will want to consider the level of cover you think you might need for each aspect of your business as they will need their own specific type of motor trade, contents or liability insurance cover. Here are just some areas to look at in greater depth.

• Road risks insurance to cover you for driving other people’s vehicles whilst under your control and care for business purposes. If you collect and return vehicles, a comprehensive road risks policy can be extended to provide cover for those vehicles you are driving.
• Liability insurance to protect you against any third-party claims including alleged faulty workmanship. Liability comes in many forms namely public, product and employee.
• Cover for your premises if you have one including contents and buildings insurance, as well as money that may be held on the premises.

Why Do You Need Exhaust & Tyre Fitter Insurance?

• Motor coverage is required by law
• To protect your business from third party claims
• To protect your business from employee injury claims

Like all operators in the motor trade, a fault in workmanship or poor-quality parts can be extremely expensive if a claim is made. Tyres, exhausts and other accessories can also lead to serious accidents if something were to fail.

With exhaust and tyre fitter insurance you will be covered for any third-party claims that could be made from a customer or even employee if they have suffered an accident because of your negligence or that of your supplier.

An exhaust and tyre fitters’ insurance policy can cover you whether full- or part-time and if your business is mobile, at premises, a franchise or a workshop.

Motor trade or road risks insurance is required by law, but you can decide what level of cover suits your needs the best. Similar to private motoring, to be legally covered you will need to take out the most basic level of third-party road risks insurance. This is there to protect the public to ensure they do not lose out for an accident or damage that was not their fault.

When choosing a policy, you need to check all of your documents carefully to ensure you know exactly what is covered and any possible exclusions. A standard motor trade policy is just that and may not include the personal activities and risks of your business. On the flip side of this, you also do not want to be paying for cover that you do not need, so a tailored policy is vital.

As a legal requirement, you will also need to take out employers’ liability insurance if you employ any staff.

Types of Exhaust & Tyre Fitter Insurance We Can Offer

If you are working from a business premises, a combined exhaust and tyre fitter insurance policy will cater for everything you would need as part of your profession.

Whilst having exhaust and tyre fitter insurance is compulsory by law, what level you choose is up to you and, of course, your budget. The legal necessity for third-party road risks insurance is just that, third party and will only cover you for other people’s vehicle damage but not your own (if you are at fault). Third party, fire & theft or fully comprehensive are recommended if your own vehicles are an essential part of your business.

Third party fire and theft – with this level of cover you receive fire and theft protection in the event the car you are working on or driving catches fire, is stolen or vandalised on your property or public roads. This is in addition to the third-party cover mentioned above.

Comprehensive cover – a full road risk package that includes the vehicle in your possession as well as third party and fire or theft damage. For tyre and exhaust fitters, the full cover is always a safer choice, especially when driving or moving customer’s vehicles as part of your daily work.

Road risks insurance cover allows you to drive any of your own business vehicles and customer vehicles for business purposes. You can also include cover for trade plates and demonstration cover if necessary.

Combined Exhaust & Tyre Fitter Insurance

Combined exhaust & tyre fitter insurance does what it says. This is road risks insurance cover discussed previously, combined with a tailored range of additional insurances to fully protect your business against future claims or liabilities.

This type of tyre fitter insurance is very much dependent on the size and type of individual business but some of the additional cover you may want to consider includes:

• Buildings and contents cover (including on-premises stock, office contents, machinery, tools, buildings)
• Business interruption cover
• Employers’ liability cover
• Product liability cover
• Public liability cover
• Protection for portable tools
• Protected no claims bonus
• Goods in transit cover

Buildings & Contents Cover

Premises, plant and tool cover or buildings and contents insurance, will ensure that any damage to your business building, machinery and other tools or equipment is covered, all of which are essential to keeping your business running smoothly. Some policies also include cash that is kept at your business premises.

If you have business premises then you are more than likely to have a lot of expensive plant equipment including specialised wheel balancing machinery, car pits and tyre fitting automated rigs. As experienced motor trade insurance brokers, Tradex can guide you through the right content’s insurance for your tyre and exhaust equipment.

Any type of fitter business also needs to keep a certain amount of stock on premises to serve customers more efficiently. Content cover will protect your stock against theft or damage, so you are never out of pocket and you will not need to let your clients down.

Business Interruption Cover

Having business interruption insurance will help to compensate you for lost revenue during a period of downtime due to, most often. fire or a flooded building. However, business interruption insurance can also protect you from any property related incident that affects your ability to operate your company, so could also include burst pipes, storms, theft and vandalism and possibly even machinery failure.

Unlike buildings insurance, which will only cover the physical damage, business interruption is designed to cover the income a business would have received if the incident had not occurred. It can ensure that your business remains afloat should the worse happen.

Business interruption insurance is not a legal requirement and therefore it is up to you to decide whether substantial damage to your business property or physical assets would affect your ability to trade long-term. If you keep a fair amount of stock or machinery, then you could be exposing your business to considerable loss if they were to become severely damaged or even destroyed.

If you are still unsure, it is best to discuss this with your motor trade insurance broker who can give impartial advice as to which would be the most beneficial and cost-effective for the size of your business.

Employers’ Liability Cover

If you have any employees working for you, whether they be fitting the exhausts, tyres or other accessories or working in the office or any other administrative role or even cleaning work, you are required by law to take out employers’ liability insurance, even if they are part-time.

The motor accessories fitter employers’ liability insurance policy protects the policyholder against claims made against them by employees for a workplace injury, falling ill or even dying during the course of their employment.

Employers are required under the terms of the Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance Act 1969 to ensure they have a policy with a minimum limit of indemnity of £5 million, though generally insurers will issue a policy with a minimum limit of £10 million.

Public Liability Cover

If you have your own business premises, you will have many customers that visit to drop off their vehicle for a new tyre or exhaust to be fitted. Should a customer be injured whilst at your premises, may be due to tripping over some equipment that was left lying around, falling and banging their head, they may sue you for such things as loss of earnings or long-term health damage.

Public liability insurance would provide cover for such an occurrence including any legal fees incurred. It is worth also noting here that an experienced insurance broker like Tradex will negotiate between both parties to try and prevent legal proceedings going ahead, preferring to settle with a claimant should the business owner be at fault.

Public liability is also not required by law, but if your business has any contact with members of the public, it is advised that you have this cover.

Having public liability insurance can also reassure any potential customers that you are able to compensate for any accidents that may happen whilst they are on your premises, showing that you take the responsibility and commitment seriously.

Product Liability Cover

Due to the very nature of the work you may conduct as an exhaust, tyre or accessories fitter, you would be advised to include product liability insurance as part of your insurance policy.

This will cover the work you do to a customer’s vehicle in the event that something should go wrong, and the customer incurs damages as a result of the product you have provided them with. For example, if you were fitting a new tyre and the wheel was not put back on correctly which resulted in the client having an accident and their car being written off, they would be compensated through the insurance.

Similarly, if you were to fit a brand-new tyre that was faulty and the customer had a blowout on the motorway, causing an accident, you may be sued due to the product being faulty. With product liability insurance cover, you would then be able to sue the tyre manufacturer for full costs and may be even reputational damage.

Product liability insurance will cover compensatory costs, legal fees and any other expenses associated with the case.

With liability cover, you will want to take out a policy that supports you through practically any eventuality. The initial outlay may appear costly but thinking ahead can help minimise any expensive events you may have to face in the future. It could also be the difference as to whether your business survives or fails long-term.

Correctly arranged tyre and exhaust fitter’s liability insurance can help to protect your business against high legal costs and any awards that may be made against you.

No Claims Bonus Protection

You can choose to pay an additional premium to keep the number of years of No Claim Bonus you have earned in the event of a claim. This can be a significant long-term saving and worth paying a little extra to protect your bonus. It is, however, limited to a certain number of claims per calendar year, so make sure you have safe drivers and keep the accidents to a minimum.

Whether you choose to protect your no claims may depend on the company’s accident record, how many less experienced drivers you have on board and how much driving is done as part of your daily business. If your company is primarily mobile, you are more likely to be at a higher risk of accidents than a tyre and exhaust fitting business operated from a building or workshop.

Note, this is only available on the road risk section, not liability or property.

Goods in Transit Cover

Goods in transit cover may, or may not, be relevant to your business. It tends to be especially important for mobile operating exhaust, tyre or accessory fitters who are transporting their equipment and stock with them in their van on a daily basis.

As you are travelling on the road more frequently, and with expensive equipment, tools and stock, you will be exposed to greater risks from theft.

Goods in transit insurance cover is generally thought relevant for courier drivers, but it is also popular with trades people

Four main risks that could affect your goods while in transit include:

• Damage or destruction
• Loss
• Theft
• Delayed delivery

The insurance policy can easily be customised to cover the specific items you are transporting, and cover can be purchased for all items in transit.

Goods in transit cover will protect your own work-related goods, tools and equipment from theft, loss or damage while they are being transported by your vehicle from one place to another in the course of business.

While there is no law to say you must take out goods in transit insurance, as a mobile operator, it can give you peace of mind to know your equipment and any items purchased for your customers will be compensated for should anything go wrong.

Mobile Exhaust and Tyre Fitter Insurance

Even if you do not work from a commercial building, you can opt instead for a mobile exhaust and tyre fitter insurance or accessories fitter insurance policy for businesses that operate from a van and drive to customer’s houses or fix vehicles roadside.

Being a mobile fitter can present a diverse set of risks from those who operate from a building. You may have to drive to more remote or difficult locations or fix vehicles along motorway hard shoulders, all presenting more opportunity for accidents.

Driving a van with tools also makes you more prone to thieves whilst out and about. Keeping your valuable tools and equipment safe will be a priority but it is also good to know they are covered should they be stolen with a mobile tyre fitter insurance policy in place.

How Much Does Exhaust & Tyre Fitter Insurance Cost?

Exhaust and tyre fitter insurance will not be cheap, but this does not mean you have to pay exorbitant premiums. At Tradex we work with a select number of highly experienced underwriters for the motor trade and make sure that you only pay for exactly the insurance you need for your specific business.

Costs can also be kept down by paying your premium annually, only employing more mature and experienced drivers with a clean licence and keeping all vehicles and equipment well-maintained to help prevent the risk of accidents.

General Motor Trade Insurance Criteria

When taking out any motor trade insurance policy, it is worth keeping in mind some of the following criteria which will need to be declared to your insurance broker. Employees with any of the issues below may increase your premiums or, in some cases, prevent you from getting the policy you want. All insurance brokers are different, so you may find some more lenient on issues such as age or minor traffic violations.

• You and all drivers are aged 23 to 69 years old, though this will vary from different insurance brokers so if you cannot find one that accepts the age group of you or your employees, search around for one more sympathetic and reasonably priced.
• You are actively operating a motor trade business for profit or income.
• You have a business that is solely based in the UK.
• You and all drivers have held a full licence in the EU for at least one year.
• You and all drivers have not been disqualified from driving
• You and all drivers have no criminal convictions or any pending.

Experienced Brokers Are Key

At Tradex it is our priority to understand your business and take the time to really learn about the services you offer. Experience means that there is rarely a type of business that we have not worked with to provide a comprehensive motor trade insurance policy that supports your business.

Our knowledgeable sales team will ensure you make an informed choice on your exhaust and tyre fitter insurance by exploring all the options available, including a combined motor trade policy if this if right for your business.