There are many things that you need to organize when you are opening a motor trade business of your own. Though you may think the recruitment process and finding a suitable location is the most important part of setting up your establishment, you also need to make sure that you look for the relevant insurance too. Without insurance, you won’t be able to operate as a fully functioning business.
If you are looking to start a car dealership or any other type of business where you will be working with cars, you will need to find the best motor trade insurance policies on the market. Luckily, there are many places that offer these plans, but before you should make this decision, you need to know what to avoid when buying motor trade insurance.
Documenting the Wrong Address
It doesn’t come as a surprise to learn that certain locations will have access to cheaper insurance plans than others. Because of this revelation, it can be tempting for the business owner to use a different address to that of their actual business location. It could be their own address, the address of a friend or family member, or even the address of an employee that has access to low-cost plans due to where they live. As well as the fact that this could be seen as insurance fraud, this is something you should avoid doing, especially if you want to claim any money from break-ins, and loss of stock, for example.
In most cases, when a claim has been made, the insurance company could visit your premises, and if you aren’t where you say you are, your claim could be rejected, which is something that you don’t want to happen.
Not Saying Who You Really Are
This may sound obvious, but when you are applying for motor trade insurance, you need to make sure that you document who you really are. For example, if you decide to say that you are an employee and not the owner, it is very likely that you will receive a cheaper premium. However, this will come at a cost as you won’t be able to receive the coverage that you could be entitled to if you say who you really are. The reduction in these benefits could include being able to use cars for social use, as well as having your own vehicle covered under the policy. Subsequently, you could be stopped from getting a No Claims Bonus too, so it is definitely in your best interest to state who you really are, even if it works out to be more expensive.
Not Declaring Changes Concerning Stock
If you don’t let your insurance company know about any changes that may have occurred to your business, including modifications and undervalued stock, this could increase the chances of your policy getting cancelled. This is because it can significantly alter your insurance premium. When it comes to your insurance plan, honesty is definitely the best policy. If you only carry certain stock and not others, then state that. If you have completed any modifications to any vehicles that are in your possession, then you should make your insurance company aware too. If you don’t declare any changes with your insurance company, this could negatively impact your insurance premium going forward.
Insuring the Wrong People
Deciding to insure vehicles for people to use privately and not for business purposes would mean that they won’t be insured under a motor trade policy. Though this doesn’t happen frequently, many business owners could decide to take the risk anyway, yet they may not realise that they won’t get any reward from this. This is because if you take out motor trade insurance policies, they only work to cover multiple cars that should only be used for business purposes. In some instances, a spouse can be insured under this type of policy to drive their own personal car.
Not Disclosing Convictions
Regardless of whether you are considered to be more of a safe driver than dangerous driver, there is still a possibility that you may have picked up driving convictions over the years. Whilst some people never need to be aware of this, the same can’t be said for insurance companies. Car insurance, as well as motor trade insurance, could be affected, especially if you leave this information disclosed. Worse still, it could even lead to your policy being canceled or voided. But don’t worry though, there is specialist Convicted Driver Motor Trade insurance available that can help to reduce the price of your insurance which would have otherwise seen a spike in cost.
Do you know of any other reasons that can be added to the list of what to avoid when buying motor trade insurance? If you do, we would love to hear about them. So, please get in touch.
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