Courier insurance
Keep courier clients moving: motor cover with ERS and DCL, with goods in transit and liability alongside.
For a courier, the van is the business. One accident or theft can take it off the road, stop the income and put a delivery contract at risk, so the cover behind it has to be right.
Ratcliffes for Brokers puts two courier motor markets, ERS and DCL, within reach of your agency. Place hire and reward cover for a single owner driver or a growing fleet, then add goods in transit and liability for the work itself, all under one roof.
The ERS policy behind it brings high third party limits, a claims line that never closes and a repair network set up to get vans back on the road. For a courier, every day off the road is a day without earnings.
Couriers it suits
Couriers work to tight delivery windows and thin margins, and their insurance has to keep up. This cover suits:
- Owner drivers working for themselves or for a delivery network
- Courier firms running several vans
Choose the right level of cover
Not every courier needs the same protection. ERS offers four levels of cover, so you can match the policy to the van and to what your client wants to spend:
- Comprehensive cover
- Accidental damage and third party only
- Third party, fire and theft
- Third party only
What the ERS policy gives your client
A courier van spends all day on busy roads, at the kerbside and in loading bays. Highlights of the ERS policy include:
- Third party property damage up to £5,000,000 for any one incident, plus up to £5,000,000 for costs and expenses: high limits for when a collision damages someone else’s property
- Cover during loading and unloading, a routine part of every courier’s day
- Cover for the principal your client works for, where a contract asks for it, useful when a delivery network or customer makes it a condition of work
- Windscreen and window cover on comprehensive policies, with glass-only claims leaving the no claims bonus untouched, so a cracked screen does not cost your client their bonus
- Recovery after a claim and delivery back once the repairs finish, so your client is not left arranging transport for a damaged van
- Approved repairs on vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes with a five-year guarantee, plus a courtesy car or small van on comprehensive cover, subject to availability, to keep your client mobile during repairs
- Up to £300 for lost or stolen keys and replacement locks on comprehensive cover, because lost keys can stop a working day
- The legal minimum cover across the European Union (EU), with full cover abroad available on request, for clients whose work takes them overseas
- A 24-hour claims and windscreen line, open 365 days a year, because couriers do not only work office hours
Motor, transit and liability under one roof
A courier’s risks do not stop at the van. A damaged consignment, a lost parcel or an injury on a customer’s premises can be as costly as a collision. Through us you can place:
- Hire and reward motor insurance, from single vehicles to fleets
- Goods in transit on all-risks, Road Haulage Association (RHA) or CMR (international road haulage) conditions, to match what your client’s contracts ask for
- Public liability and employers’ liability alongside the transit cover, so the whole account sits in one place
- Breakdown cover for vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes, when we place the motor policy
Delivery networks and larger customers may ask for a set goods in transit limit, or public liability, before they hand over work. Placing motor and transit with us keeps both sides of the account together.
Worth knowing before you quote
Clear terms mean fewer surprises when your client needs to claim. Talk these points through with them before you quote:
- Excesses apply, with extra amounts for drivers under 25 or with less than 12 months on a full licence
- Loss of use, including the cost of hiring another vehicle, is not covered
- Wear and tear, mechanical or electrical breakdown, and tyre damage not caused by an accident are excluded
- Theft is not covered if the driver leaves the vehicle unlocked, with the keys in or on it, or without reasonable precautions
- Agency drivers are excluded
- Declare new drivers, extra vehicles and changes of use straight away
Two courier markets through one agency
We place courier motor risks with ERS or DCL, giving you two markets for each client and a second option when one is not the right fit. The cover details above are from the ERS policy; we confirm DCL terms at quote. Goods in transit and liability go through our exclusive AXA package, Truckcover Transit, set out on the goods in transit page.
Cover is subject to the insurer’s underwriting and the policy wording.
What we need from you to quote
A complete submission gets you to terms sooner. To quote, we need:
- Number and type of vehicles, and the work they do
- The level of cover wanted, and the drivers’ ages and licence history
- The goods in transit limit and conditions your client’s contracts ask for: all-risks, RHA or CMR
- Whether goods go abroad on the same vehicle (CMR)
- The public liability limit customers require
- Number of employees, or the wage roll for larger firms, including self-employed drivers who mainly work in vehicles your client provides
Got a risk to place? Email brokers@ratcliffes.co.uk or call 01242 544 514 and talk it through with the team.