Hi, as a driver working direct with different hauliers could you tell me what type of public liability insurance I require to be a self employed HGV driver? Thanks. Kev
You dont, insurance is carried by the company you work for, you just need to register with national insurance and inland revenue as a company and pay your stamps and tax, i`m sure someone will correct me if i am wrong, make sure you apy the right stamp or you wont be entitled to any social security etc.
I was on the understanding that as I’m freelance an insurance was needed to cover accidents to the public caused buy falling loads and such. I think it’s a very gray area to be honest.
you would need public liability insurance being a self employed person probably better speaking to a broker and get expert advise
rebootuk:
I was on the understanding that as I’m freelance an insurance was needed to cover accidents to the public caused buy falling loads and such. I think it’s a very gray area to be honest.
That is what the vehicle insurance and well written terms of business are for.
Public liability for you would be to cover if you left your bag on the floor and some twonk tripped over it.
Hi all,
I work for a Public Liability Insurance broker. First up, I have not come here to spam, etc. just thought I’d offer some friendly advice if needed whilst gaining a bit of feedback on our liability product.
Kev, if you are a self employed haulier then it is advisable to have Public Liability Insurance cover but it isn’t a legal requirement. You may find that some people require you to have it to do a job so becomes a necessity anyway. Public liability will cover you for any injury you cause or any damage to third party property which happens while you are acting as a self employed courier. Obviously the motor insurance will pick up any claims in respect of you driving the vehicle but, as the previous post suggests, there may be a “twonk” who may trip over your work bag that you have left on the floor while clearing out your truck and they may sustain an injury that you would be liable for.
We had a haulier take out a policy the other day (which prompted me to do some research - hence being here) and it was £96 per year for £1,000,000 cover. To me this sounded quite good but obviously I’m not a haulier so just wanted to gauge some feedback from you guys. Also, are there many of you that are self employed and do actually have your own PL policy? I have friends and family who are HGV drivers and they all work for haulage companies (i.e. are covered by their employer’s insurance) so to me didn’t seem like it was the type of occupation that many people are self employed but I may be wrong?
Steve
Steve,
He’s not a haulier but a self employed driver driving vehicles owned by a haulier and covered by their insurance.
Thanks for posting the cost - it dispels the myth that it is expensive and your quote is “average” for a lot of sectors for small businesses.
Conor:
He’s not a haulier but a self employed driver driving vehicles owned by a haulier and covered by their insurance.
Okay. If he is a self employed driver and only drives for haulage companies then the policy I make reference to is still applicable.
Conor:
Thanks for posting the cost - it dispels the myth that it is expensive and your quote is “average” for a lot of sectors for small businesses.
Many thanks for the feedback on the cost. We cover 300+ trades and most of these are below £100 a year for £1,000,000 cover. Some of the trades we cover are even as cheap as £40 for the year and when we tell the customers the price they think we are giving them a monthly cost! It does seem a mojority of people think it is expensive until they actually get a quote.
As previously stated its not a requirement
But £100 for £1m PLI that’s way too expensive, and insufficient!
For £100+ you could get £5m of PLI. Any more than £5m is OTT & unnecessary unless its more specialist work
I’m self-employed driver, don’t have PL insurance, and have never been asked to provide it either. You are covered to drive the truck by the owner / operators policies, plus that covers the load etc etc.
I do however have £10m PL cover for another part of my business (totally unrelated to trucks) and that costs me £65pa
peirre:
But £100 for £1m PLI that’s way too expensive
Do you know what sort of price people pay for £1m cover on average? Our £96 may seem a bit high to you but it does cover fully self employed hauliers as well as just drivers.
Herongate:
I’m self-employed driver, don’t have PL insurance, and have never been asked to provide it either. You are covered to drive the truck by the owner / operators policies, plus that covers the load etc etc.I do however have £10m PL cover for another part of my business (totally unrelated to trucks) and that costs me £65pa
Having cover provided by the companies you are working for is certainly possible. I’m sure you all do this anyway, but if they claim to have insurance that covers your liabilities it may be worth checking it does exist or maybe asking for confirmation of it in writing just for piece of mind. Your £65pa policy sounds very good for £10m irrespective of what trade it is for - don’t think you’ll do too much better than that!
All S/E drivers who work for agencies should check the small print of any contract they signed with the agy. As some contracts I’ve seen limit the losses/liabilities of the agy to the 1st £50k of any claim by the haulier. Which may leave the driver liable to a huge bill if the buck gets passed down the line.
ashburnham:
Do you know what sort of price people pay for £1m cover on average? Our £96 may seem a bit high to you but it does cover fully self employed hauliers as well as just drivers.
It’s not my business to say what value £1m PLI should cost, as its down to indevidual circumstances.
However as a comparison £5m of PLi in this situation should cost around £108 the last time I looked
Hello All,
Just going back to the insurance question, how much would you be looking at if going self employed and has any one found a good broker top get with 
I asked once about insurance for driving my fathers car and was told that you cannot insure some one elses property.
alamcculloch:
I asked once about insurance for driving my fathers car and was told that you cannot insure some one elses property.
So how do you insure a car on hire purchase ?
The car on hp is in your name the truck is in the companies name
Back to the original question 
Who’s with who with PLI ?
I thought it was ‘Driver negligence insurance’ that was required for a self employed driver.?
Popcorn anyone?