Coach Builders Insurance
Specialist insurance for Coach Builders and Vehicle Body Builders
Coach Builders Insurance
If you are changing the design, providing commercial vehicle conversions, adding truck bodies to commercial vehicles, or completely modifying a vehicle into something specialist such as a refrigerated or specialist catering vehicle foe example, then you need specialist insurance covers. Trying to shoehorn the covers onto an insurance policy that is designed for the garage trade might not provide all the covers you need, this is where you need to be dealing with specialists insurance brokers and insurers that have the knowledge required for Commercial Bodybuilders and Coach Builders Insurance.
At one end of the spectrum, you might just be bolting a box to a chassis, at the other end it could be a complete fit-out of a mobile home with all the additional contents and modifications, and of course everything in between such as concrete mixers, recovery vehicles, and minibuses.
Why do you need a Coach Builders Insurance Policy
Bolting a box to a chassis isn’t either the most difficult or risky process, completely modifying a vehicle from what may start as a large van or commercial vehicle is a different story where many processes can be involved.
As a vehicle body builder insurance is something that you need to have in place, but your insurer needs to fully understand the processes you employ, modification of chassis to incorporate a specialist process will use cutting equipment and of course welding to reinstall specialist equipment. Other processes may involve the use of timber, fiberglass, plastics, and even carbon fiber, you may be manufacturing your own interiors, body trim, or fitting gas systems.
Having a coach builder’s insurance policy in place ensures that the vehicle bodybuilding you carry out, the processes it involves and the final movement of vehicles are correctly covered.
At Real Insurance Group we are specialist brokers to the automotive sector, we have hundreds of clients that fit this diverse sector, those that manufacture and recondition vehicle components, repair vehicles, and of course those that modify vehicles for other uses.
What type of cover is provided on a Coach Builders Insurance policy?
A Coach Builders Insurance policy is designed to cater for business in the automotive trade in general, a policy that will protect the business against allegations of negligence in the form of Public Liability Insurance, Product Liability as well as Defective Workmanship cover. Working from business premises, the property covers protect the business against costs associated with claims from, storm, fire, theft, and water damage.
Sometimes a loss can be quite substantial, this is where Business Interruption will keep your business in business should the worst happen. It will keep the business going whilst material loss damage at your premises or completed, with the intention of putting you back in the same position as you were directly before your loss occurred.
Any business that is involved with vehicles needs at some point to drive them on the road, an additional section allows you to do just that providing comprehensive cover whilst you are moving vehicles on the public highway.
These are just some of the key insurance covers for your business, wider protections can be built-in and an insurance program providing bespoke cover around your specific needs.
How does cover work on a Coach Builders Insurance policy?
It’s a well-known fact that one of the key areas of any business protection is Liability Insurance, it provides cover against allegations of negligence, Public Liability Insurance for instance will pay for the defense costs as well as any compensation that might have to be paid up to the limit of indemnity chosen.
An indemnity limit is an amount your insurer would pay in the event of a claim, whilst £2million is probably the minimum level that should be considered, £5million and £10million are currently the standards.
For businesses in the automotive sector, not just vehicle bodybuilders or coachbuilders insurance requirements can be wider, your customer, for instance, asks you to make modifications to their donor vehicle, the work carried out is complete but very quickly a fire occurs due to the faulty wiring that has been worked on or you have worked on safety-critical parts that have subsequently failed to cause damage to not only the vehicle injury too. This is defective workmanship insurance and is an essential cover to have.
Employing people, sub-contractors, work experience people, or even volunteers? You need to have Employers Liability Insurance in place by law, not only does it protect your business but will pay compensation to the employee should they have been injured whilst providing labour to you.
Being a coachbuilder and working on vehicles inevitably means that you are working from premises that need insurance protection.
Should you own the premises or have it on a mortgage then buildings cover is essential. As a tenant, you will have your own exposures to, these will be the amount of machinery plant and equipment you have, from vehicle lifting tables to spray booths and all the other equipment such as air receivers, welding plant and if you manufacture trims or other body parts then there are joinery and woodworking equipment as well as areas for fibreglassing fabrication.
Hand Tools are an essential part of the business and these are easily insured even when they belong to your employees. Computer equipment is an increasingly essential part of any business, these can be protected both at the premises and if anyone takes them home.
What type of business would a Commercial Vehicle Bodybuilding or Coach Building Policy suite?
Any business that modifies, changes or provides conversions to a commercial vehicle should consider an insurance policy for Commercial Vehicle Body Building, typical examples might be;
Adding Truck bodies
Minibus Conversions
Motorhome Conversions
Refrigerated Vehicle Conversions
Cement Mixers
Manufacture of Vehicle Bodies
Tipper Manufacturers
Recovery Vehicle Conversions
Any type of commercial vehicle modification or conversion that changes the vehicle from the manufacturers original speciifcations.
Does a Vehicle Convertors Insurance Policy cover my business for driving on the road?
One of the key parts of a policy for businesses that are involved in coach building or vehicle bodybuilding or vehicle conversions is the ability to drive both the vehicles owned by the business as well as customers’ vehicles.
A well put together Road Risk extension will provide a wide range of covers under this type of insurance. The ability for your employees to drive vehicles (not their own) both for business and pleasure in connection with the business, employees provided with company cars as an employment perk for instance.
Loan vehicles can be added to the policy for when you need to repair a customer’s vehicle, that essential added service that keeps your business coming back.
Buying vehicles directly from the manufacturer or dealer can mean at times you have potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds worth in your possession, along with customers vehicles can be protected at various locations your business operates from as well as storage locations.
What other insurance protections are available for a vehicle bodybuilding business?
Although the main covers have been approached above there are many protections available that can be combined together to build a bespoke package for your business, after all, your requirements are unique to your business.
Your business activities determine what additional optional covers are available.
Goods in Transit – getting goods or vehicles from one place to the next needs requires a cover, sometimes though a policy may automatically include this, standard limits on the goods, automatic cover under road risks with other insures.
Commercial Legal Expenses Insurance – sometimes an automatic inclusion on a policy this provides a wide spectrum of covers such as Employment Protection, HMRC disputes cover, Contract Disputes. A wide range of legal and business documents free to use as well as legal and employment helplines.
Cyber Insurance Cover – These days it’s not a matter of if but when you have an attack, even the basics of cover will provide protections such as response to a cyberattack, getting you back up and running as soon as possible.
Directors & Officers Liability Insurance – protecting the director’s assets, who can be made personally responsible should an action be brought against them. A ltd company has limited liability, a director has unlimited liability.
Employment Practices – Provides legal defense in the event of an action taken by an employee of the company.
Engineering Inspection – More of a service than an insurance policy, lifted, pressure equipment, as well as extraction plant, needs to have statutory inspections to ensure they are not dangerous. We can include this service with your insurer or with one of the many companies that we deal with.
Why insure your Coachbuilders business with Real Insurance Group?
The automotive team at Real has decades of insurance experience, the team is headed by Steve Taylor, who himself has over 30 years experience in this sector, over the years himself being involved with everything mechanical, from vehicle modification to bodywork to spraying.
When dealing with the team at Real Insurance you deal with people who have decades of experience and knowledge, importantly Real Insurance is a traditional specialist commercial broker, not a call center so you can deal with one person who does not base decisions on what the computer says, and above all, we are happy to give advice.
0330 058 0260
