Haulier insurance
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For 80% of settled claims
Why is haulage insurance important?
If you’re in the goods-in-transport trade, haulier insurance can provide a reassurance backstop. For example, if your business causes an accident and someone gets injured, or you’re served with an expensive damages claim, would you have the funds ready to pay out and move on? Start with our hauliers’ liability insurance options – public and employers’ liability – and add any optional protection you need.
- hauliers’ liability insurance, public liability covered from £1 million to £10 million
- optional personal accident cover, in case an incident stops you working
- UK-based claims team, award-winning and available 24/7
What does hauliers liability insurance cover?
We’ll start with public liability insurance, for injuries or property damage blamed on your business – for example, if a heavy item falls from your vehicle and injures a passer-by. From there, you can add insurance for your employees – employers’ liability cover – plus personal accident cover in case you or someone you’ve covered gets signed off work.
Public liability insurance for hauliers'
In case someone is injured or their property gets damaged, because of your haulage business.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured because of working for you.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case things like your laptop or phone are lost, stolen, or damaged.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs connected with your haulage business.
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or away from work.
Public liability insurance for hauliers'
In case someone is injured or their property gets damaged, because of your haulage business.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- damage to someone’s property, caused by your haulage business
- injuries caused by your business activities
- accidental damage or injury caused by your employees, if you have any
For example:
- a pedestrian trips over a box of goods your employee has left on the ground next to your vehicle, and breaks their wrist
- you damage a client’s laptop by knocking it off a desk while carrying a delivery through their premises
- one of your employees drops a heavy item on a customer’s foot, breaking three toes
What you’ll need additional cover for
- road accidents, and claims related to your van or vehicle – a separate motor contingent liability policy is available
- goods in transit – jump to our insurance for transport and logistics to find out more about how to get cover for your business if you are transporting goods
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured because of working for you.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- an employee, including a contractor or casual labourer, suing you after falling ill because of working for your haulage business, or
- making a claim for an injury they’ve had while working for you
**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**
For example:
- your employee trips down the steps of your van and breaks their elbow
- a contractor working for you traps their foot under the tail lift, causing a serious injury
Business and office equipment insurance
In case things like your laptop or phone are lost, stolen, or damaged.
What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?
- theft, flood, fire, or accidental damage to the equipment you use to run your haulage business
- operational equipment like your laptop, rather than the trade tools you take out and about
For example:
- there’s a break-in at your site office and your work laptops, printers, and phones are stolen
- while getting out of your vehicle you drop your laptop from a height, causing extensive damage
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re faced with legal costs connected with your haulage business.
What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal costs attributed to your haulage business
- property damage, nuisance, or trespass – specifically, the associated legal claims and compensation payouts
- tax and compliance disputes and investigations you need help with
- includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline, and crisis support to help you protect your reputation as a trusted trade professional
For example:
- a client disputes the contract you have in place, for an order they’d placed to be delivered by a specific date, but which arrived late – you need to pay for legal representation
- you need support with the legal costs when an employee sues you for unfair dismissal
Read more about legal expenses insurance
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or away from work.
What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
- accidental injury or death at work or elsewhere, for anyone covered on the policy
- lost income, medical costs, and hospitalisation benefit
For example:
- while on holiday with your family you trip and fall on some rocks, spraining your wrist and preventing you from working the following week
- an employee who you’ve covered is playing squash at the weekend and hits their head on the wall, causing concussion and a brief stay in hospital
Read more about personal accident insurance
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of business insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions
How much does hauliers insurance cost?
Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.
Prices start from £3.19 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes
10% of our customers paid up to £38.32 a year for a public liability insurance policy between 1st April 2023 - 30th June 2023. Equivalent to £3.19 per month based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Example haulier insurance quotes, real prices
£32.09 /month
£285.28 /month
A medium-sized haulage business working across mainland UK with some employees only doing office work
- 3-4 years' experience
- Limited company
- 2 employees
- Based in Belfast
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Contents & business equipment
Not included
£62.94 /month
£559.47 /month
A small haulage business operating in the local area
- 5+ years' experience
- Limited company
- 4 employees
- Based in Bristol
Public liability
£5,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Contents & business equipment
£15,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 19/01/2021). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.
What kind of excess should I expect?
An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.
Insurance cover | Lowest excess | Highest excess |
|---|---|---|
Public liability | £100 | £2500 |
Employers' liability | No excess | No excess |
Tools | £60 | £500 |
Stock | £100 | £500 |
Business and office equipment | £50 | £750 |
The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.
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How do I choose insurance?
Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Does haulier insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.
If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.
Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.
Does haulier insurance cover my work correctly?
Make sure you're picking the right cover to protect you properly. It's important to know that if you have another trade or job, you'll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider driver - heavy goods vehicle or furniture removal insurance?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:
Other types of insurance
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.
Talk to an expert
Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am - 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am - 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am - 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm
Call our team
How do claims work?
Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.
The figure above is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.
£39 million in claims paid out in 2022
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2022
Chosen by 900,000 small businesses and landlords
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 900,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.
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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,717 reviews
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Commercial haulage insurance FAQs
Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about haulage contractor insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
A Simply Business hauliers insurance policy is built for commercial goods in transit operators. It usually includes public liability cover for third party accidents, injuries, and property damage, plus employers’ liability cover for businesses with employees. This includes casual labourers, contractors, and apprentices. Our cover doesn’t currently apply to freight forwarding, as this trade carries its own specific risk profile.
Insurance for haulage contractors usually starts with public liability insurance, but this depends on your business, your clients, and what kind of contracts you take on or have in place. Many sites, associations, and clients, for example, will only work with your business if you have a certain level of cover in place, particularly for public liability.
Employers’ liability insurance is likely to be a legal requirement if your haulier business employs any staff. It can pay compensation claims if an employee or former employee claims for injury or illness that’s been caused by their work.
Yes. It’s important to make sure you have the right type and level of insurance for the different types of work you do. For example, if you work in haulage, you may also do consulting work on certain jobs – you’ll need additional cover for this, but you can have it all on the one policy. When you start your quote, you’ll have the option to add another trade or profession to your policy. If you need to add a third trade, give us a call on 0333 0146 683 and one of our insurance experts will help you set up your policy in minutes.
Each insurer looks at CCJs and IVAs differently – some apply stricter rules than others, but having a CCJ or IVA doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to buy insurance.
This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.
If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.
There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.
We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions
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