Hello All
New to the forum and just recently got C with C+E booked for April. I have registered with a couple of agencies and applied for a few jobs but with not too much success so far. The issue seems to be that as a new driver on this class I am a high risk for a lot of companies as well as agencies. I totally understand the risk involved with an inexperienced driver but was wondering if there is any way I can help to reduce the insurance risk etc.
I have seen a number of jobs that will take self employed drivers and wondered if by being self employed I could get insurance of my own to offset this stumbling block that I have reached.
Any advice would be welcomed. I hope this is not a stupid question that has been covered elsewhere.
Regards
Truckist
Some Agencies do have drivers neg which will state that it does not cover drivers under 25 and who have not had their licence for more than 2 years. It is very difficult to claim on this insurance and most claims are paid out of the agents profit margin just to keep the customer happy.
Most companies will not have this insurance so if you are good enough you will get your break which you can then build upon.
There is no such thing as a self employed driver as it would be very hard to prove to hmrc that a truck driver is self employed. What you do have is umbrella companies who effectively employ you and sorts all your expenses etc. you could set up as a ltd company like some do.
I would say keep going at it and put yourself in the shop window and when the opportunity comes up grab it with both hands and work as hard as you can. If you do this you will always be in a job.
Thanks for the speedy reply Burnie 1
I am still pressing on and it, has only been a short while. I will be grabbing any opportunity when it presents itself.
Looks like I need to be patient and wait until something comes along.
Got some cpc booked in the meantime
Regards
Truckist
Hi mate
When i signed with Acorn agency they asked if i had any public liability insurance ? so I took some out it cost me £158 but im a Ltd co driver so it is worth it as i claim the tax Back I Passed CE on the 4th feb and was on an artic tonight 1st time .
So it can be done 
Hi yambola57
That is interesting, did your form a ltd company to undertake driving work and if so what was the public liability you took out based on? I used to run my own business as a plumber and had public liability as a matter of course, I am assuming that the liability you have just based on you being a professional driver and that this was sufficient for the agency to be able to assure clients that you would be in a position to make good any misshap.
I will consider becoming a ltd company if this is a way to get around the reluctance of companies to let me drive for them. Do you negotiate a better rate or do you work on the rate that the agency set and then claim back all you can against your business?
Thanks for the reply and well done on the C+E and getting some work with it.
Regards
Truckist