Hire and Reward Insurance
Hire and Reward Insurance, also known as insurance for hire and reward, covers you for using your vehicle as a primary part of your business and against loss or damage caused by an accident. Hire and reward van insurance will give you peace of mind that you and your vehicle are covered. Get a cheap hire and reward insurance quote from 1st Choice today!
What is Hire and Reward Insurance?
Insurance for hire and reward allows you to legally deliver other people’s goods in exchange for payment. Whether you need this insurance as a courier for parcel delivery, or to deliver food for the likes of UberEats, perhaps you’re a furniture remover, or collect scrap from customers homes, you will need specialist coverage if you are receiving payment for these services. Hire and reward cover is to protect drivers and their vehicles. If your vehicle gets damaged or stolen, you could be faced with thousands of pounds’ worth of expenses, from the vehicle itself to the goods inside it.
It’s also important to note that although hire and reward van insurance covers your vehicle, it does not cover the goods that the vehicle carries. The goods inside the vehicle would need to be covered by a separate ‘goods in transit’ policy, 1st Choice can provide you a quote that includes goods in transit insurance along with your hire reward insurance. Combining the cover can often work out cheaper than separate policies.
What does Hire and Reward Insurance cover?
Hire reward insurance protects drivers and their vehicles in the event of an accident or theft. However, although it is legally required for people transporting goods, it doesn’t actually cover the goods themselves. If you want to safeguard the goods you are carrying on behalf of someone else, you will need goods in transit cover in addition to your insurance for hire and reward.
When you arrange cover through 1st Choice Insurance, we can create a tailor-made policy for you that includes hire and reward cover as well as goods in transit. The right policy for you will depend on the nature of the business or individual circumstances, but our team will ensure that we find you the most suitable coverage for your needs.
What Affects the Cost of a Hire Reward Insurance Policy?
The price of your cover will be determined by a few different factors, but primarily, the type of service offered by your business and the level of risk involved. For example, a courier is more likely to make a claim than a removals company because couriers tend to have time restrictions, delivery targets to meet, and they make numerous drop-offs each day within built up areas. Hauliers usually embark on longer distance journeys, that involve more motorway driving. Therefore, premiums have a tendency to be cheaper for hauliers, as claims are made less often, but higher in value.
Some other considerations that can affect the cost of your cover include:
- Experience: Younger drivers have less experience and tend to be involved in more accidents. You can demonstrate that you are a safer driver by building up a no claims bonus, this will help reduce policy costs over time.
- Mileage: High annual mileage will increase your cost, as you spend more time on the road, so the probability of being involved in an incident is higher too. Insurers will often ask for an expected annual mileage.
- Vehicle type: The type of vehicle you drive around will also affect the price of insurance. For example, a larger box van for furniture removals will be more expensive to insure than a smaller panel van. Larger vehicles are typically able to house more goods, also making them a bigger target for thieves.
- Goods carried: Although it’s your goods in transit insurance that covers the cost of actually replacing any damaged or stolen goods, what you’re carrying regularly can affect he price of your hire and reward van insurance too. Transporting expensive goods may be regarded higher risk because you’re more likely to be broken into and carrying hazardous or fragile goods present their own increased risks too. This can all result in a higher policy cost.
It’s recommended that you build up a no claims bonus and compare prices for your cover each year, to keep the cost of your insurance for hire and reward to a minimum. Checking the current rates available annually also helps to ensure that you are on the most competitive, your broker should make sure that all this is checked during your renewal process.
Who needs Hire and Reward Insurance?
Having this cover means you can carry and deliver other people’s goods, so if you don’t have this insurance when doing this kind of work, then your normal vehicle insurance will no longer be valid either. If something happens to you or your vehicle whilst you’re out delivering goods and you don’t have a hire and reward policy in place, any losses that you experience won’t be covered.
Sometimes hire and reward van insurance is referred to as courier insurance. While the two are related, it’s valuable to know the differences between them. While hire and reward insurance can be obtained by couriers, there are different forms of hire reward insurance that are determined by the customer’s profession. For example, there are varying policies for hauliers and furniture removal services.
Insurance for hire and reward is required for the following industries:
- Taxi Drivers
- Furniture Removers – Domestic & Commercial
- Refuse Collection
- Parcel Delivery
- Food Delivery
- Haulage and Freight
- Vehicle Transportation
… basically, if you’re hired to move any goods or people from point A to point B in a vehicle and get paid for it (reward), then you need Hire and Reward Van Insurance.
So, is hire reward insurance a legal requirement?
Insurance for hire and reward is a legal requirement if you are transporting goods, passengers or hiring out your vehicle in return for a fee.
Goods in transit insurance is NOT required by law, but realistically any businesses offering haulage or courier services, delivering their own stock to customers, or removal services would benefit considerably from making sure they have it. The cost of replacing any goods that are lost or damaged whilst in your care, could be devastating to your business. Not to mention that also, lots of clients will insist on you having suitable coverage in place for their goods, so it can become a difficult affair to win contracts if you don’t have goods in transit insurance in place too.
Why 1st Choice for Hire and Reward Insurance?
Our team will use their specialist expertise in the market to make sure you get the insurance for hire and reward that you need at the right price. We’ll ask you some quick questions about your business and the protection you require, then we’ll assess the options available and advise you which ones could be most suitable. We will also explain any optional or extra costs to you, to ensure you have the full facts before taking out the policy.
We work with some of the biggest insurance companies in the industry, we have access to a wide range of suitable cheap hire and reward insurance policies, we can offer quick quotations, documentation via email and in some cases immediate coverage. Why look anywhere else?
1st Choice are a trusted commercial insurance brokerage providing broker services across the UK for nearly 10 years. If you’re looking for Cheap Hire and Reward Insurance cover, we’re here to help. Call our friendly, experienced team on 01743 770 500 for a no-obligation insurance quote or use our Get a Quote Form to request a call back.