Courier Insurance Advice
Make sure your policy covers you for the correct usage; just having standard van insurance will only cover you for carriage of your own goods. You need to ensure that your policy states that courier use is permitted, ie carriage of goods for hire or reward; see use descriptions below:
Carriage of own goods – this is usually required for people involved in the building trade and will only carry their own tools and equipment that they need for their job.
Haulage – this is normally for hauliers that will make one or two drops over a long distance. The goods will be carried on behalf of another company perhaps and a fee will be charged for doing so.
Courier – not unlike haulage, but the courier would normally be making several drops in a local area, many of which would be time critical.
Ensure that you have windscreen cover on your policy if this is required, as not all policies will automatically include this.
If leaving your vehicle unattended, make sure it is secured and you have the keys on your person or the insurers may refuse to deal with the claim.
Goods In Transit / Freight Liability
You need to check that you have all risks cover so that breakages, damages and theft are included as insured perils. In addition, you could be asked to carry anything as a courier, including theft attractive items:
- Wines and/or spirits including but not limited to champagne
- Cigars, cigarettes and tobacco excluding raw leaf tobacco
- Non-ferrous metals in raw scrap bar or ingot or similar form
- Furs and ready made garments
- Mobile phones and / or similar and /or associated goods
- Precious stones or precious metals or articles made of or containing precious stones or metals
- Audio/visual equipment
- Computer equipment, software and accessories
- Photographic equipment and accessories
You are not automatically covered by all policies for the above, so it is very important that you get this covered, do not make the mistake of carrying the items on the basis that you were unwittingly carrying them as sometimes the items will be described on the box or delivery note without you being aware.
