Premier Insurance

Whilst I don't post often in this forum, just as a point of reference, if you are insured with Axa, Allianz, Aviva - (not Tradex, Granite, Arch or NIG) and paying less than £10k last year, I can help you. If you have a combined policy, are claim free and can pass a survey, (you do what you are legally required to, first aid box, fire extinguishers, etc), I can guarantee 10% off last year’s premium. We have a price match and discount facility, this is for customers that represent good risks. Many moons ago, I worked as an auto electrician, and given my time in garages a small panel of insurers have said to me, 'if it's right and you endorse it', we can discount last year’s premium. I have to select the right garages, flood areas are a big concern from some of the insurers, but having done the job, I am not looking for shinny floors - I want people who know what they are doing and don’t 'play at it'. The market trend for increases is coming off the back of increased claims costs, as everyone on here knows, cars can spend weeks parked up waiting for more expensive parts, hire cars are needed for longer periods and as they are not readily available - the cost of claims has been hit. The bodyshop guys will be upset that vehicles can be laid up for extended periods with insurers stating they will not pay beyond a couple of weeks 'that being a reasonable period' - but in truth, it's no longer reasonable. The balance is, insurers take the premiums paid and invest this income, with increasing interest rates a greater return on investment income takes a little bit of the sting out of the increased cost of claims - this is however only just beginning to happen and a concern exists about a recession. If insurers can't make more money out of the premiums paid, premiums will be set to increase, hopefully not as much as a barrel of oil, but it could happen. I am not looking to advertise or pull clients away from brokers that do the job through this forum, if you are claim free the best course of action, is to highlight that claim free position. In truth the motor trade insurance market is made up of several specialist brokers and most of these brokers have specialisms within the motor trade. If you have a road risks only policy it is one set of brokers, if your spending £200k plus on insurance it's another set, and if you operate a garage it's another set (apart from Gallaghers previously known as Bollington’s, who look to cover everything). To get the best price and to be honest the best advice you need to find the right adviser, if you feel you have the right adviser tell them to sharpen the pencil and see what comes back. At a level, the brokers know who is best at certain types of risk, but most will not turn any clients away. Unless you know enough about your insurance it is exceedingly difficult to test those who know a little more than you, so the key is getting someone you can trust to protect your livelihood. This is really important, no two insurance policies are the same, it can be as close as a Skoda to a VW or Audi, but some differences exist, and if you have the right adviser, they should tell you what the differences are. The massive brokers tend to have large teams dealing with commercial clients and this in my opinion, makes the job hard work. The smaller brokers often struggle to get the rates required from the insurers and are not always as competitive. The process is not helped by Google, many of the companies listed in the first few pages are agents or have a limited panel, so you are calling a representative who is only going to provide options from a small number of insurers. Quotezone, who pay to be near the top of Google sell the information they collect to several of the highest paying brokers, I have tried this and it is expensive, we do not charge enough for this to work for us. You should also be aware that insurer do not react well to receiving enquiries through several different brokers, so, if you go on a mission and call three or more, chances are the premium will go up not down. We get favours off mates at insurers for clients we suggest are worth a favour, if the client has asked others to quote our argument dissolves and the rate gets pushed back to standard rating. (That's wrong, but it's the way it works and nobody is admitting to it, apart from me just now). So, if you don't have a decent relationship with the existing broker, research an alternative broker if you want an alternative quote, and then take the best option for you. Dont just phone a couple to test the water, it seldom works and if it does you still may not get the best deal. If you want any of the above clarifying let me know, I hope it is informative and helps you. John.

I hope the following list helps, it's not complete but it covers the insurers that we have asked the question of at the moment. Some insurers issue wordings that list the named drivers allowed to use trade plates (they may just say "the policyholder or any employee", which does not work for unaccompanied demo), these wordings would need to be changed; easy enough on a most motor certificates but much more difficult in the policy wording. It sounds like NIG have queried the recent change in stance by the DVLA in regard to trade plates and are currently slow to respond to market needs, but they have advised they will provide an update soon. We are a motor trade broker, some brokers may not get as much flexibility but the following would be a good rule of thumb in regard to what to expect: Insurer Un-accompanied Demo? Caveats? Allianz (Q-Underwriting) Yes on request Case by case and subsequent premium charge Sales t/o of at least £500k but Allianz have been approached for thoughts on risks with sales t/o less than £500k Full Risk Management Checks need to be adhered to. Arch Yes on request Case by case and subsequent premium charge Full Risk Management Checks need to be adhered to. Aviva Yes on request Case by case and subsequent premium charge Full Risk Management Checks need to be adhered to. Axa Yes on request Case by case and subsequent premium charge Full Risk Management Checks need to be adhered to. NIG Yes on request Case by case and subsequent premium charge DVLA communication still under review. Update to follow. QBE Yes on request Case by case and subsequent premium charge Full Risk Management Checks need to be adhered to Roadrunner No Capacity provider AXA have been approached for review. SEIB Yes on request 35% Road Risks premium load for duration of extension Separate Trade Plate Certificate issued Full Risk Management Checks need to be adhered to. Travelers Yes on request Case by case and subsequent premium charge Full Risk Management Checks need to be adhered to. Unicorn Yes and No Case by case Capacity providers have been approached for review. A personal suggestion for test drives would be to get a basic camera and stick it in the car prior to the test drive, tell the customer it's an insurance requirement. I know some will disconnect it, but if they do, tell them they will not get another test drive in any of your vehicles. (It's only an idea).

Apart from the vehicles that will be taken off the road over the next six months all those that needed an MOT this year will still need one, MOT stations with enough staff will need to ensure everyone takes holidays in the summer of 2021 and they work through the winter. MOT stations will have one long peak trading period for a few years, following the government extension and in any industry peaks and troughs a hard to manage. It will be difficult for some and like any of these problems will suit those with the deepest pockets best.

It's all about how you set your business up, if you speak to a good broker before you set the business up, you may be able to save a fortune. The statement about having a second driver is true, but to have any great success the driver needs to be an older driver with an existing motor trade policy and bonus. Insurance brokers generally will not be blunt about the differences between insurers because at the end of the day we all sell policies from various different insurers, in the same way you may sell an Audi, VW or a Seat, the difference can be vast for a similar product. A combined motor trade policy normally provides a better road risks policy than a stand alone road risks policy, road risks policies tend to have a maximum single vehicle value, many exclude sports and performance vehicles, vintage or three wheeled. Some road risks policies not only exclude cover for vehicles parked at motor trade premises they exclude cover for vehicles parked at drivers homes. We have clients paying less than £1,000 for motor trade road risk policies because they want a cheap way to trade, but like every other cheap road risks policy the cover is limited; insurers offering these cheap policies only want certain clients and they will not cover young drivers without motor trade bonus. Advice to speak to a specialist provided by others on this forum is good, dont phone lots if you want a combined policy it's like a mortgage the more people you have involved the less likely you are to get a good deal.

Hi Dave, it's difficult to protect those that come into contact with the public, as an insurance broker we are advising clients who do and have more than one person involved in the business to have dedicated point(s) of contact for customers, that is if its possible to isolates these people from the rest of your team. It's impractical in smaller garages, but if you allocate the youngest member of the team to meet and great customers and deal with the general public face to face, and the older members of the team can then look to deal with telephone calls and emails, you may be able to avoid or stagger any impact. Given most businesses are likely to suffer from a greatly reduced foot fall, even if the garage premises that does not facilitate the seperation of teams they could look to rotate the face to face part of the role with individuals working from home or elsewhere. The idea is not to have everyone sat in one room passing the disease between themselves, one falling, all falling ill. It's really important to sanitize the controls of vehicles when you get in them, Coronavirus can survive on metal, glass and plastic for up to nine days!

No need for a H & S sign, they would not be able to read it anyway. The professional answer is if they hurt themselves stumbling around in the dark you would have to prove you had not intentionally trapped anyone, simply protected your property. (You could record an automated message asking they stay still until you can, "help" them out)! Whilst many will not care if a theif hurt themselves, if you have told your insurer you have a smoke cloak they should pay any injury claim. We give discounts to clients with smoke cloaks, they work and I have never had an injury claim yet.

In a garage with high value portable items smoke cloaks are hard to beat. Generally one smoke cloak will fill an average sized garage unit in 12 seconds and normally keep the garage full of smoke for up to 40 minutes even with an open door. Theives struggle to get out, particularly if you add a strobe light and they certainly will not be looking through a Snap on Box in the fog. https://www.smokecloak.co.uk/videos/