Who Is Entitled to Drive on My Motor Trade Insurance Policy?

Exactly who is entitled to drive on your Motor Trade insurance policy will depend on a number of things, including the level and type of cover and drivers you have requested on your policy.

Some of the more expensive and comprehensive Motor Trade Combined insurance policies allow any driver to operate any of the vehicles on cover under the policy (subject to conditions), but most will require that you name the specific drivers you want to be included. 

Typically, you can add the following:

Spouse or Partner – You can add your spouse or partner to your Motor Trade insurance policy and they can be included for Social, Domestic and Pleasure use in addition to motor trade related use if they are involved in your business. If they are under the age of 25 though, be prepared to pay more as drivers under 25 might cost more to add to a policy, and there may be other criteria or restrictions applied to their activity on the policy.

Child – if you are looking to add your son or daughter on to your Motor Trade insurance policy, then they must either be a business partner or involved in the business as a genuine employee of the business. Never be tempted to front a policy by claiming anyone is an employee in order to get cover for them as this is illegal and when you are found out, it will cause your insurance to be cancelled and possibly even made void, meaning that no cover has ever been in place.

Business Partner – you can get your business partner(s) added on to the policy as Named Drivers, to be covered for motor trade use, Social, Domestic and Pleasure and they can also cover their own personal cars.

Employees – you can also add your employees to the policy as Named Drivers. Employees can get cover for motor trade use and possibly even Social, Domestic and Pleasure use too. In some circumstances, such as where the Proposer owns a separate, non-motor trade business and their employees work for them as part of both businesses, employees can be granted Additional Business use cover too – though you will need to discuss this in detail with one of our team for the specifics and to see if this is available and suitable for your policy. 

Any Driver – Any Driver use is available which means that, as the name suggests, any driver can drive the vehicles covered on the policy, however there may be restrictions on this, and if it is available, this cover will likely be a lot more expensive due to the amount of risk and possibilities for claims it poses to an insurer. Any driver policies are usually offered by insurers who specialise in motor trade Combined policies, and in most cases you will require motor trade no claims bonus in order to be accepted.

Don’t forget, each driver’s individual circumstances and driving and criminal conviction records will need to be considered before you decide whether or not to include them on your policy. 

Typically drivers under the age of 25 will be more expensive and there will be limitations as to what they can or can’t be covered for. Drivers, no matter what age, with excessive driving convictions will be difficult to insure, and the premium will be influenced by the amount and type of convictions each driver has received. Similarly, criminal convictions of all of the drivers included on the policy will impact your premium, and in some cases, such as fraud or insurance fraud, we will not be able to offer cover at all. 

Ultimately, you will be charged per person and per risk that person presents to the insurers. If you think about it, you are massively increasing the cover required for each additional driver, as each driver added to the policy means that there is another person who can be driving at the same time, and therefore the greater the chance of an accident incurring under the policy and so you will likely pay more for your cover. This means you could lose your No Claims Bonus if you didn't have protected no claims.

If you want to find out who you can cover on your policy, or you want to discuss the various options to find out how best to structure cover to suit your individual needs, then call our experts on 0800 221 8077.