“WEIGHT BASED” COURIER GOODS IN TRANSIT INSURANCE – BEWARE!!

Some cheap goods in transit policies may state a £10,000 limit but will actually have cover based on “£15 per kilo” or “£30 per tonne”. Be wary of these ‘weight’ rated policies as your cover is negligible.

Example – 4.5 kilo package valued at £10,000 

(for example: a television or computer)

 

Cheap GiT company using ‘weight’ rates at £15 per kilo

OUR Goods in Transit Direct Cover

Payout before excess

£67.50 (4.5 * £15)

£10,000

Shortfall YOU could be liable for…

£9,932.50

 

£0! 

Bad Sales Techniques

If someone quotes you a goods in transit policy and doesn’t inform you of the benefits, clauses or what you’re covered for then be wary.  First off, they’re not doing a good job from a ‘compliance’ point of view. To sell insurance you need to be authorised and regulated by the FSA (Financial Services Authority).  With this comes the quite obvious and compulsory expectation by the FSA that the policy has been sold matching your requirements and needs and that you inform the client of the any benefits or clauses.  It’s still worth pointing out that as a customer you need to check your documents yourself to see cover is relevant and correct but here at Goods in Transit Direct we don’t see the point in selling a policy which makes us your first point of call should anything go wrong. 

The Goods in Transit Direct Team

 

HOW TO PREVENT YOUR VAN FROM GETTING PINCHED

As a courier your van is your workhorse. If you were the Lone Ranger it would ‘Trigger’ the horse, if you were Michael Knight it would be ‘KITT’ the car, basically, without your van you would be lost. Sadly thousands of vans are stolen each year and couriers have to make claims through their insurance companies. With this in mind we’ve taken a sneak peek at van security and looked at methods you can adopt to prevent your van from getting nicked.

1) Fit an alarm: Even a basic alarm will sound when somebody is tampering with your van and it acts as an early warning device. Get an alarm fitted and if you hear the siren sounding in the middle of the night you can leap out of bed and send the van thieves packing.

2) Install an immobiliser: If you fit an alarm it’s worth installing an immobiliser at the same time that isolates the engine and prevents it from starting. Thieves might be able to get inside the vehicle but they won’t be driving it away if there’s an immobiliser armed and ready for action.

3) Use a tracker: Some thieves are better than others. They can bypass alarms and if they have enough time they might be able to work their way around an immobiliser as well. Hide a tracking device inside the vehicle and you’ll be able to monitor its movements via GPS technology and the police can nab the criminals behind the wheel.

4) Fit steering locks and handbrake locks: Make life as difficult as possible for thieves and slip metal locks over the steering wheel and the gearshift. It’ll slow them down if they try to pinch your van and there’s a good chance they’ll give up and look for another vehicle.

5) Park your van in a garage: Keep your van out of sight and secure it in a garage or lock-up fitted with an alarm overnight. If you have to park the van on the road make sure it’s under a streetlight so criminal are in the spotlight if they attempt to take your commercial.

The Goods in Transit Direct Team

COST-CUTTING ADVICE FOR COURIER DRIVERS

Work on a self-employed basis as a courier driver and you need to take out van insurance for your workhorse. There’s no getting around this but there is a way you can trim the cost of your annual policy by following our advice. We’re dedicated to lowering the cost of insurance at Goods in Transit Direct so we have given you a list of top five tips to slash the cost of your premium.

1) Watch your speed: The more points you have on your licence the dearer your renewal quote will be. We know it’s easy to put your foot down when you have time-conscious deliveries to make, or a van that’s busting at the seams with multi-drop parcels, but try to lower your speed if you can. Drive safely and you won’t ‘tot-up’ points for speeding or careless driving.

2) Secure your van: Thieves love vans. They like to nick them, use them in crimes, strip them down for parts or sell them with fake identities. Get your van pinched and that’s going to affect your premium so keep is as secure as you can. Use insurance-approved security measures and read one of our other blogs on ‘How to prevent your van from getting pinched’ for more practical advice.

3) Build up your no claims: The longer you can drive a van without making a claim the better it will be for your insurance. Drive carefully and avoid bumps and scrapes to keep your premium as low as possible. And when you build up a healthy no claims bonus think about protecting it so you won’t lose all your bonus if you have an accident.

4) Pick a smaller engine size: Opt for a diesel-guzzling V6 turbo van and expect to pay a premium when you come to insure the commercial. Take the more sensible route and choose a smaller van that has less engine capacity and you should see a few savings on insurance and running costs too.

5) Pay premiums annually: It’s nice to spread the cost of insurance on a monthly basis but if you can pay the premium in one lump sum that will save you a fair amount of cash. Pay for the year up front and you won’t pay any extra interest, it’s a simple but effective way to save money.

The Goods in Transit Direct Team

 

 

 

SHOULD YOU BUY OR LEASE A VAN?

Picking out a new van is pretty easy. You head to the garage, consider what you need it for and choose the one best suited to the job. The hard part is figuring out how you’re going to pay for it. Your old van is knackered, you need a new one.

So, the decision you have to make is should you buy it or lease.

What’s the difference?

You know buying. You do it every day – picking up a coffee, selecting a chocolate bar from the vending machine. To buy it you either need to dig deep into your bank or takeout a loan. But once you’ve handed over the money, the van is yours.

The other option is leasing. With leasing the big thing to know is that you’ll never own the van. You pay a monthly fee to make use of it. There are other schemes, like paying a certain amount upfront to use the vehicle for 2 years.

Why buy?

Here are the advantages of buying:

• As we said, once paid for the van belongs to you. It’s an asset and part of your business. Yours to do whatever you want with.

• More often than not, it’s the best value. When purchasing the van upfront you have room to haggle the price down to something within your budget.

• You can trade your old van for your new one to take that price even lower.

• You aren’t restricted to any sort of mileage limit, which is often a downfall of leasing.

Why lease?

And the advantages of leasing:

• For any smaller businesses that don’t want to shell out on regular maintenance costs as a van depreciates, leasing is a popular option.

• If you like the idea of regularly driving the latest and greatest van that’s on the road then leasing is ideal. At the end of your leasing contract you can return it and then choose a newer van.

• Lease companies often offer a choice of a straight lease or a lease purchase. The latter allows you to purchase the vehicle at the end of the contract.

• If the van breaks down, the company that owns it fixes it. Perfect for keeping costs down.

So which is best for you?

If you’re in a strong financial position then you’re best is to buy. Yes, you’ll have to pay for maintenance costs etc but the van will be in your possession and it could save you money in the long term.

Leasing is great if you don’t have the instant financial hit that a purchase requires. Remember though, it’ll work out more expensive in the long run. And if the leasing company you chose have a mileage restriction that you go over, you might be hit pretty hard with some added charges!

Happy van hunting!

The Goods in Transit Direct Team

 

COURIERS – WHAT THEY DON’T TELL YOU.

 

…or maybe we should title this article “what they SHOULD tell you”...or even “what they should SELL you”

Hard as it may seem getting a correct or worthwhile courier goods in transit insurance policy isn’t as easy as you think.  A few factors are involved in this and not all are down to you.

Firstly, let’s remind ourselves what goods in transit insurance is:

“…covers property and goods against loss or damage while in transit from one place to another or being stored during a journey.”

 

The average policy, particularly for couriers, has a value or limit of around £10,000.  This means you can carry up to £10,000 worth of items under your policy conditions and the maximum payout of goods carried will be £10,000 (minus the policy excess which is usually £250). 

The insurance policy you take out is your responsibility but more often than not, and here at Goods In Transit Direct, we come across this far too often, is that many companies are more than happy to insure you knowing that some policies, for want of a better phrase ‘aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on’. This does seem a strong statement but a good and reputable company will know that couriers can carry any and every type of package.

Plus, in our opinion, why sell a policy without mentioning any important clauses or exclusions that are completely relevant to your trade?  Surely the first thing any customer would do if a claim is declined due to one of these clauses is to go back and complain to the broker or company who sold it them???? 

So anyway, you’re in need of a goods in transit policy and are looking for, or have been told by the company/contract you are looking to work for, to get cover at a £10,000 limit.  Simple enough you think?  Not always the case.  You may phone round many companies and come across some very different prices.  This is where the differences occur:

* Theft attractive items- if a policy excludes theft attractive items then for 95% of couriers and delivery persons, forget it.  There are ‘economy’ policies out there and these are fine if they fit your requirements, for example the pick up and delivery of newspapers from depots to retailers but many items you’ll deliver could be classed as theft attractive i.e. electrical items and catalogue goods.

* Weight restriction policies e.g. “£15 per kilo“- possibly our biggest gripe with these type of sales.  Yes you’ve asked for £10,000 worth of goods in transit insurance but maybe you didn’t read the small print and we’re pretty sure the company/broker didn’t inform you that it’s based on £15 per kilo. The best example of this we can think of is the new iPhone.  These items don’t even weigh a kilo, fully boxed and packaged, yet can cost upwards of £500. Even at 1 kilo the most you’ll get paid out is £15! Well actually this is still incorrect as you forgot to take the excess off!

* Dual Manned Vehicle - exactly what it says on the tin.  For your items to be covered the vehicle needs to manned at all times by two people.  One to deliver and one to man the van.  If you hear of self-employed couriers who operate, or can afford to operate like this, then we’d love to know.

* Unwitting items cover - these days, with the massive increase in the delivery in internet bought goods (clothes, computer games, mobile phones) many items will be classed as theft attractive.  Your policy may cover you for theft attractive items on an ‘unwitting item’ basis but a description may be on the box, invoice or delivery note.  In some cases the retailer’s name may be on the packaging, for example Play.com (computer games, dvd’s), Next (clothing retailer). In fact many companies have the name of their company on the packaging and this will at least infer what’s inside….you can’t say you weren’t warned!

OUR RECOMMENDATIONS: As with all and any insurance policies, check your documents and also check with the company to make sure they understand your needs and requirements.

The Goods in Transit Direct Team