Looking for Courier Insurance?
Courier insurance is essential if you’re transporting goods to eagerly-awaiting customers. Whether you’re a one-man band or have a fleet of vehicles and drivers, protecting yourself and those around you is so important.
If you spend your days making multiple deliveries to different customers, then your vehicle is your livelihood. If something should happen to it, you could be facing expensive downtime and additional legal costs. This quick guide looks at courier insurance to minimise losses and get back you on the road as quickly as possible.
What types of courier insurance will I need?
Rain or shine, day or night, or wherever you are in the country, as a courier people and businesses are relying on you to deliver. Having the peace of mind your business is covered and that you can get back on the road quickly is crucial. Types of courier insurance you might be interested in include:
Courier van insurance:
As with your everyday, run-of-the-mill car insurance, there are also different levels of cover available for your courier van:
This is the minimum level of van cover you are legally required to have. It covers damage done by you to 3rd parties, but doesn’t cover you, your van or your business.
This offers 3rd party cover and includes protection for your vehicle in the event of theft (actual or attempted), as well as damage by fire, lightning, explosion or self-ignition.
Includes 3rd party, fire and theft, and also protects your courier van too, whether the damage is caused by yourself or another driver.
Goods in transit insurance:
Whilst courier insurance can cover your vehicle and damage caused to other vehicles, goods in transit insurance protects the goods you’re transporting. Many organisations may insist on goods in transit insurance before they will do business with you, since it covers their goods whilst in your possession, for example should they be lost, stolen or damaged in transit. There are various levels of goods in transit insurance available depending on the nature of your business and the type of goods you carry. Some insurers will have a maximum cover value of goods, so it’s wise to read the policy carefully to check that you’re fully covered.
Liability and courier insurance
Depending on the scale of your business, you’ll need to consider different levels of policy, and if you’ve got drivers working for you, then legally you’ll need to have employers’ liability insurance.
Whether you have a fleet or it’s just yourself, you might want to protect yourself with public liability insurance. This type of policy can help if you cause injury or damage to a member of the public or their property whilst you are working. Making a claim can not only help with legal costs, but compensation too.
If you have a team of drivers that are employed to help you with deliveries, then by law you’ll need to have employers’ liability insurance. This covers you in case an employee wants to claim compensation if they have become ill or injured whilst at work. You can also receive money for your legal costs too, which could be handy if the claim goes to court.
Keeping your courier insurance premiums down
If you’re frequently on the road, you won’t want the hassle of constantly thinking about courier insurance. However, with some initial investment both in time and financially, you could end up with great cover in case something goes wrong with your van or cargo. There are also some things you can do to keep your courier insurance cheaper.
It pays to do a bit of research and compare different insurers. But remember, you want to find a good price for the right cover, and the cheapest might work out to be more expensive if something goes wrong down the line.
Some insurers will allow you to create a bundle policy if you need to take out more than one type of courier insurance.
When setting up your policy you’ll need to provide information such as the cost of goods and miles you think you’ll travel etc. Always try to be as close as you can to the right answer as you could end up with the wrong level of cover or paying for too much.
If you’ve got an old van that’s seen better days, it might be worth totting up whether it would work out better in the long-run to get a new van. Some insurers place a higher-risk on outdated vehicles and it could affect your premiums.
Not only is it best practice to make sure you’re not leaving goods or cargo in the van overnight, but it could also help by fitting alarms and extra security measures like an immobiliser to your van if it doesn’t already have one.
Courier Insurance – Useful FAQs
If you’ve got regular vehicle insurance but haven’t declared that the van could be used in a courier context then you could face consequences as well as your insurance becoming void. There’s a fixed penalty of £300, you’ll receive six points on your licence, and your van could even be confiscated.
In most cases, your courier van will be larger, have a more powerful engine, spend more time on the road and cover more miles than a standard van. These factors all make the van seem higher risk to insurers who will allocate the premium based on the information you give.
Whether you’ve genuinely underestimated or you were tempted to shave some miles off your initial estimate, it could leave your policy void if you are going over your mileage significantly. As soon as you notice that you’re covering more ground, get in touch with your insurer to see if they can amend your cover.
Some insurers won’t offer cover for goods that are poor quality or damaged through human error such as poor packing. Also, in some cases, once they have left the van, they’re no longer covered. When taking out the policy, make sure you’re giving the insurer the right information so that they can determine whether the goods can be covered.