What is service and repair garage insurance?
Servicing and repairing vehicles is one of the most important areas of the motor trade. Your work keeps vehicles in a roadworthy condition, helping your customers to stay mobile and get to where they need to be.
Having adequate insurance to carry out your work is crucial. Our insurance for service and repair garages can cover driving customer vehicles, machinery, equipment, your business premises, your mechanics and employees, and the risk of injury to members of the public.
With ChoiceQuote, your commercial garage insurance policy provides all the cover you need for the risks you face, at highly competitive prices.
What does garage insurance cover?
When customers entrust their vehicles to you, you are responsible for looking after them. For that reason, all service and repair garages should have road risks insurance.
Road risks insurance protects customer vehicles in your care while you are driving them. It can be taken on a third-party, third party fire and theft, or comprehensive basis. This is important to test drive vehicles you have repaired or move them from one location to another.
Building on road risks cover, there are several other insurance covers for service and repair garages that you might consider for your motor trade policy:
- Employers’ liability insurance – A legal requirement for any business with employees. Protects against claims of alleged injury from members of staff, including mechanics.
- Public liability insurance – Protects against injury claims from members of the public (e.g. slips and trips while in your garage).
- Combined motor trade insurance – Including cover for the rebuild cost of your business premises.
- Product liability insurance – Helps to provide cover if a part is defective, or is fitted incorrectly, leading to injury.
- Diagnostic Equipment cover – Insuring the cost of replacing expensive equipment needed to do your job
- Tools and machinery cover – For tools and machinery stored onsite or off-site (in recovery vehicles, for example)
- Engineering inspection cover – A separate policy for equipment inspections by qualified engineers, in line with Health and Safety at Work legislation
- Demonstration cover – For any vehicles for sale to be test driven by members of the public.
- Business interruption cover – In case trading is affected by fire or flooding, for example.
- MOT loss licence cover – specifically designed to cover MOT stations in the event you should lose your licence.
These are just some of the benefits of service and repair garage insurance. Other covers are also available. Speak to us for advice and information on the right cover for your garage.
Does garage insurance cover contents too?
Yes, the contents of your service and repair garage can be covered by your policy. This is very important when you have expensive tools and machinery that you use to carry out your job, with everything from inspection ramps to diagnostic equipment to look after.
In addition to tools and machinery, you can also get cover for vehicle keys or money stored on-site in relation to your business.
To benefit from these content covers and to reduce your premium, make sure your business premises are secure:
- Fit approved alarms and security locks
- Install safe boxes for keys and money
- Make sure adequate perimeter barriers are installed
- Install CCTV and surveillance equipment
Not only will this reduce the chance of theft, it will lower the likelihood of insurance claims, which will often result in a lower insurance premium. Should the worst happen, you will be back up and running much more quickly with the protection on offer.
How much does garage insurance cost?
The price and availability of service and repair garage insurance varies depending on a number of factors:
- Where your garage premises are located
- The number of employees you have
- The age and experience of mechanics who might require road risks insurance
- The type of vehicles you are working on
- Whether you have an appropriate licence to carry out MOTs or vehicle recovery (if these form part of your business)
- If there is an element of vehicle sales to your business
- The security you have in place on your premises
- Your claims history
These are just some of the considerations made to work out your insurance premium. Every business is different, so the risks you face are unique. Work with us to make an honest assessment of everything you need insurance for, and we will offer the best price we can from our panel of trusted insurers.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get cover today?
Yes, if you need insurance today, you can buy immediate cover. You can make a payment by credit or debit card or if you choose to pay by Direct Debit, you can pay an initial deposit and then pay the remaining amount over monthly instalments.Do I need a business insurance policy for my vehicle?
Courier van insurance is required to protect your vehicle while you work as a courier. This, in effect, means it is a business insurance policy for your vehicle. Standard van or commercial van insurance won't normally cover you if you have an accident while working as a courier.How are my insurance premiums calculated?
Insurance prices depend on a large number of factors. Each insurer has its own underwriting criteria to calculate prices. Typically, this will include the type of vehicle(s) you want to insure, your driving experience, any claims or convictions you have, no claims discount etc. To get an accurate price, you must provide honest information, or you risk invalidating your policy.Will I receive a discount for insuring multiple vehicles?
If you have three or more courier vehicles to insure, you should consider a courier fleet policy. This normally makes it cheaper to cover each vehicle, and also means you can manage all your vehicles under one policy.What if I find a cheaper policy elsewhere?
Quotations provided are valid up until the date your policy commences. If you find a genuine like-for-like quotation with another provider that is cheaper than your renewal quote - and you can provide evidence of this - please speak to us to see what we can do. We don't like to be beaten on price, so will search the market for the best deal we can find for you.Who are ChoiceQuote and what kind of insurance do you offer?
ChoiceQuote is a leading insurance broker, looking after the needs of motor traders, taxi drivers and couriers for over 25 years. We offer motor trade road risks and combined insurance, single vehicle taxi and courier insurance, and taxi and courier fleet insurance. We search a panel of insurers to find the best products we can and offer them to you at competitive pricesWhat other policies do you offer?
We know that you rely on your vehicle to make a living. In an unfortunate case of a breakdown, you will want to get back on the road as soon as possible. We offer breakdown cover in addition to your existing policy or as a new policy. Legal expenses cover is also available.How do I know I’ve got the best deal for my needs?
Speak to our team of advisers! We will guide you through the right cover for your individual needs. Don't be fooled that buying the cheapest policy means it's the best policy - if you find yourself without cover, or unable to make a claim for the full amount following an accident, you will regret it!