Haulage or courier insurance?

Recently found out that i could save a bundle if i went for haulage insurance instead of courier and since most of the jobs i have seen on this site would not enable me to do more than 2-3 drops a day , isn't it better to go for haulage insurance? My insurance broker said because i would be getting work from this site i may not be covered if i went for haulage. Any advice?

From what i understand haulage ins allows you up to 3 drops a day and if you don't go over that threshhold you are fine to carry out any work from any site

Simple! Are you a haulier or are you a courier?

Answer that question and you have the answer to the question which you pose!

[name].

Definition of courier noun 1a company or employee of a company that transports commercial packages and documents: the cheque was dispatched by courier [as modifier]: a courier service a messenger for an underground or espionage organization: a courier disguised as a commercial traveller 2chiefly British a person employed to guide and assist a group of tourists: he worked as a courier on a package holiday to Majorca

Definition of haulier noun British a person or company employed in the transport of goods or materials by road: a major haulier between Europe and Asia

It doesn't make a blind bit of difference what the dictionary says the definition of a courier is, its what your insurance company says it is!

Ask them what their definition is and go from there

Cooper Transport said:

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From what i understand haulage ins allows you up to 3 drops a day and if you don't go over that threshhold you are fine to carry out any work from any site

Some artic drivers do many more than 3 drops a day!

If you do a dedicated van run from Yorkshire to Inverness you may well only have 1 drop.

How much would you have saved?

Yep, Mr Bikes is right, i did exactly that. I told my insurers i intended to do fewer than 3 drops a day and insisted on purchasing haulage insurance.A haulier by their definition "hauls goods long distances, not locally, so does fewer drops and under no circumstance associates with clients offering courier services". They said they would be glad to take my money and put the haulier tag on me but shouldn't expect them to pay out if things go wrong so I CHOSE THE COURIER TAG. I need that bone if things go wrong. The last thing you want to worry about on the road is your insurance.

I was told by an insurance broker some years ago, their definition of a courier is someone who has a regular day upon day run from a specific location. For example, if you have a regular daily run at a parcel delivery company then you are a courier. If you 'occasionally' work for said parcel company but also do other work, then you are haulage. Hope this helps...

I could have saved a significant amount, more than 30%.

What they do now is go to the website of your clients and make a decision.

Edoec on the 2nd march you made this post claiming you cant get insurance now 12 days later you CAN ...im confused

Hi guys, I am new to courier work. Recently made arrangements to rent a van from Northgate to try out courier work for a few weeks before leasing or buying a van and diving into the deep end. I found out that i could not even get a courier insurance quote because i have only had a full UK driver's license for less than a year.

Sorry, i guess i need to give you a bit of background. I am from London. Got my UK provisional license about 20 years ago but moved to Japan. Got my full Japanese driver's license 11 years ago and did some temp courier work in Japan for 4 years. Because the UK and Japan have identical driving rules and regulations you can change a UK license for a Japanese one and vice versa which i did early last year when i relocated.

Now I am in a bit of a pickle. I have been offered courier work (self employed) but I can't get insurance. It is really doing my head in. Any ADVICE? Really desperate to get off the dole.you posted this stating you couldn't get insurance

You are right Mr G. I could not give up though.It meant too much . I have spent almost every waking moment on the internet in the past 2 weeks looking for courier insurance. Then the quotes started coming in 1st quote £12,000 then got a £4300 from one insurance brokers who convinced an insurer to take my past courier work abroad into consideration. Then i saw an old post on this site about [business] being cheap. I called them and stumbled on the fact that DVLA had actually backdated my UK license to 11 years ago which is when i got my Japanese license. I have the new photocard license which shows at the front (4a) the new photocard license issue date but column 10 on the back shows when i was first entitled to drive in the UK,license issue date. I had been getting quotes on the photocard issue date.I called DVLA and they confirmed that according to the rules i have held my UK license as long as i have my Japanese. [business] gave me a good quote for Courier insurance,GIT , Public liability and more importantly a £106 deposit quotation.I know i can still get a better deal but i have saved almost £9000 without a NCB . I got to say thanx to [business] who posted the [business] post on 28th January 2013 .

Guys your posts can make a difference.It steers us,the inexperienced ,away from the potholes in this trade.Thanks

[name] its all very well you putting the insurance in place but have you done any business plan? Do you know where your work is coming from? Have you done any marketing?

Good ?s .I have a bit of experience (abroad)in this field but still have a lot to learn.Used to be a book keeper so i should be OK with that aspect of the business.I have just the one van and so low overheads. Registering for VAT on Monday to reduce my expenses. Networking now to build my customer base and also working on my profile soon but yeah flying totally blind now. Any advice? I need all the help i can get especially pricing and bidding.

By the definition given by many brokers I could be a Haulier on a motorbike

[name] you have no expenses yet so why are you registering for vat?

You need to go back to basics and find out 1ST if there is any work, then worry about vat and insurance.

Use this general rule which applies to most businesses

Give the customer what they want rather than what you want to give them

At the moment you seem to be assuming that because you do the legal stuff the customers will be flocking to use you

[business] said:

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[name] you have no expenses yet so why are you registering for vat?

You need to go back to basics and find out 1ST if there is any work, then worry about vat and insurance.

Use this general rule which applies to most businesses

Give the customer what they want rather than what you want to give them

At the moment you seem to be assuming that because you do the legal stuff the customers will be flocking to use you

Absolutely agree with you Mr G.

I see where you are coming from. I thought i could get work through mtvan.I have been receiving the alerts but I have not started bidding yet .I also thought no one would give me work if i did not have insurance, especially GIT.I have been offered local muiltidrop work by a few of the big guys but i prefer the long hauls.I plan on doing the multidrops then take on the mtvan jobs when they come along.In london local muiltidrop jobs are not so difficult to come by. Most of the mtvan alerts i have received pickup destinations are in my backyard. Isn't there any work on mtvan?

[name] walk before you run. Take on the jobs offered by the big guys, which will give you a flavour of what the job entails.

Then a few months down the line take stock and see whether you still feel the same.

At the moment you don't seem to know what you want or what to do or where to get it ,unfortunately this naivety wont generate any trust from current mtvan members.

You are 100% right mate.Actually i am doing exactly that. I have done 4 years of multidrop courier work (abroad) in the past.Currently registered with royal mail and working with RICO from next week.

RICO? Lol At least you'll then appreciate the threads about bad rates and low pricing

If its not so difficult to get multi drop in London what would that tell you?

Why are all the multi drop companies changing over from employed to self employed?

Williams Transport said:

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Some artic drivers do many more than 3 drops a day!

If you do a dedicated van run from Yorkshire to Inverness you may well only have 1 drop.

When i spoke to my ins company they said they classed haulage ins as 3 drops or less per day as i do newspaper work where i have 2 drops max i took the haulage ins 3k cheaper

It doesn't really have anything to do with what you are driving from what i was told

3k cheaper!. Definitely worth the clarification.

DEPRESSING and embarrassing !. Had to turn down 1st job from a big customer 20 mins ago. My insurance set to start from tomorrow.

Why did you turn it down thats the purpose of this site to help each other out to cover work when you cant do it your self for what ever reason. That big customer now has to go find someone else and maywell stick with them

Sorry mate,I offered the customer that choice but he turned it down .It was a choice between myself and a local competitor the customer usually used. He wanted to give me a chance.

Obviously i don't want him to go elsewhere because he may never return. Will always pass the job to one of the guys here to keep the customer.

Wasnt having a pop was just pointing out a way you could have got a new customer but if he didnt want to use that option nothing you could do better luck next tiime he maywell come back

Thanks mate.Hurts to turn down business especially if you want to build your reputation not to mention that the lost income could have taken care of all my fixed costs for next month.

couriers move packages and hauliers move freight!

Chandler & Sons said:

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couriers move packages and hauliers move freight!

No couriers move anything from Post to Freight, Hauliers move anything from Post to frieght but on a larger scale, Insurances dont go on packages, they go on number of drops hence the more risk. I too could have saved £3k by going haulage insurance but stuck with courier as at the time i was doing multidrop work

Be very careful with Haulage Insurance. A lot have Courier Hire and Reward usage in their exclusion section

When I was sho[[ing around for renewal the information i was given was for genral courier work as we know it than hire & reward is the way to go with GIT & PL. If you are doing multidrop for the likes of hermes TNT etc then you would require what the underwriters call courier ins. Big difference in price. Think it came down to if there were more than 4/5 drops from the same customer/depot.

From this you can deduce that all the people using their cars assuming they are covered under business ins are in fact not insured!

Speaking to my broaker today he said he can put me on light haulage for upto 15 drops aday

Smith Direct said:

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Speaking to my broaker today he said he can put me on light haulage for upto 15 drops aday

Who is that, because thats just plain silly