Do I Need To Notify You Of Any Change To My Motor Trade Business?

It is vital that you always keep your Motor Trade insurance policy up-to-date and let us know of any changes to your business, or to anything that the policy may cover, as soon as possible, to prevent any potential issues with cover arising.

Here are details of some of the things you should always update us on, if they change:

• Drivers – if the drivers included on your policy change then you need to let us know. This could be as a result of employees leaving your business, or taking new employees on that will need to be added. It could also be if you want a spouse, partner or child adding to or removing from your policy too. 

• Location – if you decide to change the location of your home or your motor trade business premises, then you need to keep us informed. Similarly, if you start to use a new additional location for business purposes, such as storing stock or carrying out your work, then we need to know asap to ensure nothing affects your policy or cover.

• Type of Vehicles – different insurers and different policies may have different restrictions around the vehicles that can or can’t be covered by their Motor Trade insurance. As such, if you change the type of vehicles that are included on the policy, whether that be the vehicles in your stock, the vehicles used for business purposes such as a recovery truck, or even your own personal vehicles, we need to be aware so we can update your policy. We need to make sure that none of the vehicles you add, for whatever reason, make your policy invalid or affect the cover you have, so please keep us updated.

• Value of Equipment – if your policy covers your tools and equipment up to a certain value and you purchase new or additional equipment worth more than this amount, it will have an impact on your policy if you do not tell us, and may result in a claim not being paid out if something happens to this equipment and we were not aware of it.

• Additional Cover/ Higher Value of Cover – if you need a different type of cover adding to your policy then you need to let us know. For example, if you start up a second business outside of the motor trade, such as a builders, and you want to use your vehicles for this non motor business too, then you need to let us know otherwise, if you use it as part of the other business and anything happens before you make us aware, it may result in your claim not being covered, and will have an impact on your policy. Likewise, if you need to increase the value of the cover because the value of your stock has increased or you need a greater level of indemnity, then we need to know straight away.

• Accidents/ Claims – if you or any of the drivers covered on your policy are involved in an accident or need to make a claim then we need to know straight away as this can impact your Motor Trade insurance policy.

• Convictions – If you or any of the drivers covered on your policy receive any driving convictions or criminal convictions then we need to be made aware. Motoring and non-motoring convictions can have an impact on your insurance premium at the point of renewal, and in the case of some of the more serious convictions such as fraud or insurance fraud, we may no longer be able to offer cover for those people on the policy.

• Contact Details - You should also always let us know if your contact details change as these are what we use to communicate with you and get hold of you if we need to, to discuss your policy. Failure to let us know of a change of address or contact details could delay something regarding the administration of your policy which could cause other issues down the line.

There may be other things that we need to be aware of, the above are just a few examples. If something changes in relation to your business and you are not sure whether you need to notify us or not, it is always better to err on the side of caution and give us a call. It’s better to call and find out you didn’t need to, than not to call and find out you should have after it’s too late and you’ve had an accident which might not be covered as a result. Our award winning Motor Trade sales and customer service teams are here to help you out, both when getting a quote and setting the policy up, as well as throughout the time you are on cover with us. Don’t forget, if you’re not sure, give us a call on 0800 221 8077.