Many of us need to drive for work as well as for everyday use, but the average car insurance policy only covers you for commuting. That’s travelling to and from a single workplace. Commuting also covers the journey to a train station, or park and ride station, before completing your journey on public transport.
If your work requires you to drive beyond your daily commute, standard insurance may not provide enough coverage. The good news is that tailored personal business use car insurance is easy to find and flexible to your needs.
Business car insurance provides cover for people who use their car for work-related purposes beyond commuting, such as visiting clients or travelling between work sites.
Hopefully you won’t have any issues on the road, but if something happens, you need to know what you’re covered for.
What does business use car insurance cover?
Business car insurance is primarily for drivers who need to use their car for work-related purposes other than commuting to a single location. It’s also important for anyone who clocks up a lot of miles on the road while working.
Whether you’re driving to visit customers, travelling between different work-related locations or transporting employees, business use car insurance is the perfect solution.
Many insurance providers will insist on a separate policy for business use due to the number of miles these drivers accrue. This means higher premiums and more inconvenience setting it up. Additional miles and locations are seen as additional risks, even though that might not always be the case.
In order to avoid paying a higher premium by adding business car insurance to your cover, it could be tempting to stick to standard cover and hope for the best. This could cause you problems in the future e.g. if it made your policy invalid then it’s essentially the same as not having any insurance for those journeys.
How much does it cost to add business use to car insurance?
Much like with standard car insurance, there are two kinds of business car insurance: annual and short-term cover.
If you want to purchase an annual policy, you need to look very closely at the different options and the price, to check you’re buying the right one and getting the best deal. It’s very likely to be more expensive than your standard policy due to the increased level of risk involved.
If you only use your car for business-related purposes on an occasional basis, short-term insurance could be a better option. Whether it’s for a specific business-related trip or project, the price can vary and you can apply the policy only to the times you need.
What is the difference between the classes of business car insurance?
At Tempcover we work with a panel of insurers, each with slightly different acceptance criteria, to find short-term cover for the widest possible range of people. This applies to our business car insurance.
Short-term business car insurance from Tempcover will cover you for what’s generally referred to as Class 1 business use.
What is class 1 business use car insurance?
It’s the lowest level of business cover, but could provide sufficient cover for a number of personal business uses – allowing you to drive between multiple places of work throughout the policy’s duration.
Whether you’re attending meetings or courses, conducting sales calls or performing house visits, you can rest assured you have the cover you need. This kind of flexibility makes it easy to share the drive with one of your colleagues. It’s ideal if you want to drive their car and avoid the hassle of changing their existing policy.
It’s also the perfect solution if you have your own business and are taking on a new employee. Temporary car insurance makes it quick and simple to get them going in a company vehicle, so they can stay busy while you sort out an appropriate annual policy.
Please note Tempcover’s business insurance policy won’t cover you for certain specific work duties including courier purposes, commercial travel (when you are permanently on the road for business) selling goods, services on the road and taxi driving (hire or reward).
It also doesn’t cover you for transporting hazardous goods or driving in hazardous locations. If you want cover for any of these activities, you’ll need to look to a specialist insurer.
What is class 2 business use car insurance?
Class 2 business car insurance has all the benefits of class 1 but also includes the option to add named drivers. This means you can add co-workers without any fuss, making it easier to share the driving on any long journey. The named driver must use the vehicle for the same business as the policy holder.
There’s also class 3 business car insurance. This provides cover for long-distance driving and light goods transportation. All Tempcover policies are generally class 1 business use.
Why should I choose short-term cover for business use?
If you need to borrow a car for work or have recently bought a new vehicle that you plan to use for business as well as social and everyday trips, temporary car insurance could save you both time and money.
We include personal business use in all our temporary car insurance policies, so there’s no need to take out a separate policy or even give further details on your mileage or the number of locations you’ll be taking in for business use.
You can select short-term cover for less than a day (from one hour up to 12 hours), cover for an entire day or even just one month at a time. Whatever you select, you’ll get comprehensive cover for your journeys as standard, and you won’t be restricted in terms of where or when you can make them.
Am I eligible for personal business car insurance?
If you think you might need business car insurance, you still need to check if you are eligible.
Different insurers have different rules on who they will cover. On the whole you should be able to find personal business car insurance as long as you tick the following boxes. You need to:
- Be aged 17-78
- Hold a full UK or EU driving licence
- Have been a permanent UK resident for the past 12 months or be a British expatriate
- Have no more than 7 licence points in the past 3 years
- Have not been disqualified from driving in the past 2 years
- Have had no more than 2 claims for which you were at fault in the past 3 years
- Have no criminal convictions
- Not have had a previous policy of insurance declared void by an insurer
If you can answer yes for all of those, you should be able to find temporary business car insurance that suits you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I drive any car with business insurance?
The car you are driving must be covered by the policy and be used for business purposes. All drivers on the policy must be working for the same business.
Can I use my car for business without declaring it on my insurance?
As long as you’re insured, you can drive your car on any public road. If you’re doing more than commuting to one workplace e.g. visiting clients, making home visits or travelling between work sites, you should have business car insurance. A standard policy may not cover the extra miles you need to perform your duties while working.
Does business car insurance cover commuting?
No, driving to and from a singular workplace counts as commuting and is most likely included in your general annual insurance policy. Add business insurance if you drive to multiple locations for work-related purposes.
