If you are a self-employed chauffeur or you run a company owning private hire vehicles one of the significant overheads of your business can be chauffeur insurance.
Since expenditure on your overheads is likely to have a significant impact on the bottom line of your business profits, you probably have a keen interest in saving money on that chauffeur insurance.
How?
The principle
As with your choice on many different types of insurance, the key to getting a cost-effective deal is not so much the very cheapest price for the premiums you pay, but obtaining the level and scope of insurance that covers your particular, individual needs and circumstances.
In the final analysis, it can be about securing good value for money than a bargain-basement price.
Specialist brokers
Private hire chauffeur insurance is a specialist product – indeed, the regular motor insurance you use to drive your private car is likely to be invalidated the moment you take fare-paying passengers (the moment you use it for “hire or reward”, in the legal jargon);
Whenever buying such a specialist product, therefore, some of the best deals – money-saving/good value for money – are often to be found with specialist providers, such as ourselves here at Aston Scott;
Level of insurance
Even with a vehicle for private hire, you may still choose between three basic levels of cover – third party, third party fire and theft or comprehensive cover – provided, of course, that it is still specialist hire or reward insurance;
Although basic, third party cover might appear to offer the cheapest option, this is by no means always the case;
Besides, the age and value of your car (Transport for London, for example, only licenses private hire vehicles that are less than 5 years old) is likely to mean that more comprehensive cover can be in your own financial interests;
Short-term insurance cover
If you are only an occasional chauffeur, you might be tempted to take up the offer made by some insurers to arrange the necessary chauffeurs’ insurance for only three or six months, for example, rather than the standard 12 months – and so save money on the premiums you pay. But beware, however, that this might prove more expensive over time – and you may also forego the opportunity of accumulating a valuable no claims discount through such short-term policies.
Excesses
Any private hire insurance policy is likely to incorporate a compulsory excess (the first amount you need to pay in the event of any successful claim), but you may be able to reduce the cost of your premiums by accepting a further, voluntary excess. Although this is a simple way of reducing the cost of your premiums, if you need to make a claim and are then required to contribute the amount of the excesses, this may undo any of the savings you had made.
For such a specialist product as private hire insurance, you might want to consult a specialist insurance broker such as ourselves here at Aston Scott. To discover how we may help you obtain appropriate and cost-effective insurance for chauffeurs, why not give us a call today on 03300 085045.