Why Does a HGV Owner Need to Have HGV Insurance?

By Stanley Headley

Accidents involving HGVs are becoming more and more common. There is no shortage of HGV accidents on the rainy and fogged UK roads. Some slide off the road before turning upside down. Others hit or get hit by other vehicles on the road, causing severe damage. The impact of HGV accidents have got serious financial and business implications as these vehicles are employed to transport heavy goods and other objects to faraway destinations

These factors necessitate HGV insurance. In fact, these factors make insurance a necessity. HGV insurance means "peace of mind" for both the HGV owner and their client. It is an insurance policy where the owner, i.e., the insurer pays a certain amount of money that he usually does not get back. This amount of money is paid to cover for damages caused by certain unforeseen happenings. The nature of these happenings and the nature of the damages covered vary greatly, according to the category of coverage that has been opted for.

Insurance is one of the most important financial umbrellas that help us to sail smoothly through life. A business involving HGVs is no exception. Yet, there are many HGV users and owners who tend to overlook and underestimate the importance of HGV insurance.

HGV insurance can be confusing, expensive and can involve quite a few technicalities. But it is imperative to be adequately educated about the basics, so that you do not find yourself caught in the middle of an unpleasant situation.

Be clear about how much you need

A HGV owner often tends to overlook some factors that are essential. If you have the money to get a particular cover that will protect you against a potential menace, it is better to purchase the protection. The money you spend today could come to your aid tomorrow. Unnecessarily underinsuring your HGV would mean abnormally high expenses in future, in the event of some severe unforeseen incidents. Generally a HGV needs more insurance than what its owner thinks, both in terms of coverage levels and nature of insurance.

What insurance does your HGV need?

The type of insurance and the amount of insurance your HGV needs will depend on the nature of the HGV's operations, the types of goods the HGV hauls and the nature of your business.

Is HGV insurance worth it?

HGV owners often think that insurance is a waste of time and money, as they would never make a claim. Never claiming on your insurance is an excellent achievement. But can you really guarantee it?

How do you know what is going to happen to your HGV the very next moment?

You must have a reliable HGV insurance policy, as it will protect the business tool that you value the most. Moreover, it can protect the goods that your client has entrusted you to transport. If any incident should happen to the HGV or to the goods being hauled, adequate compensation will be provided to cover all damages.

You can understand the real worth of and the need for HGV insurance only when an unwanted situation arrives.

Staveley Head are a fast growing independently owned insurance broker based in the UK and offers HGV Insurance with huge savings being passed onto the customer.

Is Cheap HGV Insurance Possible?

By Stanley Headley

HGV owners often get apprehensive about purchasing HGV insurance. This apprehension rises from the notion that HGV insurance is extremely expensive. But that is not always true! It is not essential for a HGV owner to purchase an expensive HGV insurance that calls for a hefty premium. HGV insurance can be cheap as well. One only needs to search for the right kind of HGV insurance keeping the budget, the requirements and the nature of business in mind.

HGV owners today have the advantage of having the Internet at their disposal. The Internet contains the websites for a large number of insurance companies that spell out their terms, conditions, services and rates explicitly. These websites enable the potential customers to make an extensive and thorough search on the different HGV insurance providers. The potential customers can decide on the services they need to protect their vehicles and the rates they find cheaper. The Internet enables them to make a quick and objective comparison between the various HGV insurance providers and thus find the cheapest one. Before deciding on a cheap HGV insurance, the insurance seeker must educate themselves about the pros and cons of that policy.

The HGV insurance market offers two important choices to the HGV insurance seeker. These are Employer Liability and Public Liability.

Employer Liability protects against damages caused by an accident on site or off site. This insurance does not cover any injury-causing road accident. Those accidents are covered by the motor insurance policy of the employer.

Public Liability provides protection against damages caused to the business by the general public. This insurance only covers the employers. It has nothing to do with the protection of the employees.

Haulage Exchange is another kind of HGV insurance. It provides coverage to the goods or parts being carried by a HGV to a particular destination. It protects against damages caused by accidents, damages caused by fire, vandalism and theft. Haulage Exchange also provides coverage when an employer sub-contracts the haul of goods to other transporters.

The different types of HGV insurance policies and their various features often become confusing for HGV owners. They find the task of choosing suitable and inexpensive insurance quite tricky.

Insurance brokers play a valuable role at this point, as they have knowledge about the terms, conditions and other nuances of various insurance companies.

These brokers know where and how to contact these companies. A company, advertising itself on the Internet, will project itself as the best and the cheapest. But insurance brokers provide insurance seekers with true and impartial information. Thus brokers are often the best and the most dependable advisers when one needs to choose a suitable and inexpensive HGV insurance policy for their haulage vehicle. They help one find an appropriate insurance policy, keeping the budget, the requirements and the nature of business in mind.

Other ways of ensuring that your HGV insurance policy does not make a hole in your pocket are by possessing a flawless driving record and providing your HGV with precautionary measures like tracking devices and alarms.

Thus, cheap HGV insurance is more than possible if you know how to look for and ensure it.

Staveley Head are a fast growing independently owned insurance broker based in the UK and offers HGV Insurance with huge savings being passed onto the customer.

Price Right For PPI?

By Michael Challiner

If you're taking out any sort of loan, be it a mortgage, personal loan, credit card or an "indirect" loan such as a store card, you're likely to be offered payment protection insurance, or PPI. It is intended to cover the periodic (normally monthly) payments should you find yourself out of work, sick or injured. Normally there is a waiting period of 28 days before you can claim and payments are then made for varying periods, according to your policy, usually up to 12 months. Always read the small print of any policy - PPI is no different, there are wide variations in cover and you shouldn't rush in to anything without knowing all the facts.

There's been a whole lot of bad press regarding PPI - take the case of a store card, for instance. You may decide to take out a store card with the express intention of gaining the discount offered on the day - which is often the way in which salespersons get you hooked on to the store card in the first place. If your sole intention is to get the discount and pay the account in full as soon as possible, then you're hardly likely to need PPI, but it's amazing how many people are bamboozled into it.

PPI is an optional insurance with any type of loan and not something to be taken out regardless of circumstances. It should never be automatically included in a loan and when looking at a loan quotation, you should make sure that it's not hidden away in the small print. Ask for a quote with and without PPI, just to make sure. Chances are you'll be staggered at the cost!

Mis-selling and extremely high interest rates are the cause of the poor publicity - PPI's have been sold indiscriminately, even to those who cannot benefit fully from the cover they offer. As an example, it is no benefit whatsoever offering cover for redundancy to some-one who is self-employed or engaged in short term freelance work.

Despite all this, PPI can be a valuable tool in its place. If you would be in serious financial trouble making loan repayments were the worst to happen, then it could save a lot of worry by having some sort of insurance in place, at the right price. For instance, there's something new down at the Post Office. Following the bad press, the Post Office has obviously seen an opening for PPI and has entered the market, with a promise to offer a fair and reasonable deal.

As far as interest rates are concerned, it's possible for your loan to snowball when PPI is added. A loan of £10,000 over a period of five years can add up to a massive £16,114.40 if PPI is included. Without PPI the total would have been £11,650. Typically the APR is increased from 6.2% to 22.7%.

The Post Office Lifestyle protection policy has deeply undercut rival PPI products when it comes to cost, typically by up to 15%. This makes it a reasonable stand-alone policy. Customers can take out insurance on monthly repayments of anything from £100 to £2,500, right up to a maximum of 60% of their gross salary per month.

The Post Office is not the only place to buy a stand-alone policy, however. By logging on to an independent broker, you can find all types of insurance products, including PPI. The broker will search a whole range of insurers to find the right policy for you, to suit your own individual circumstances.

Have a look at Michael Challiner's great articles about insurance and financial matters. Insurance articles - Loans articles - Mortgage articles

The Dangers of Assuming Your Insurance Policy Covers Everything

By Lavana James

One of the most costly errors any one of us can make is to overestimate our short term insurance cover - be it on our primary residence, our car or even our own health and well being. Many of us may well rush into covering ourselves and our valuables without considering updating the policies on a regular basis and this could prove fatal.

Even if your chosen policy does protect you from rising inflation, you may find the value of your home simply outpaces it. Plus, the fact that many of us keep on collecting valuable and often priceless possessions without increasing the short term insurance cover could mean your personal property is criminally under insured.

Review the basic elements of your short term policies regularly

It is imperative that you review the basic elements of all your insurance policies on a regular basis, especially in these economically trying times. There can be nothing worse than submitting a claim only to be told you are not adequately covered.

The vast majority of property policies generally cover losses to your home, the related property and selected personal items. The provided cover for your possessions is usually worked out as a percentage of the total coverage of the house and is normally in the range of 50%.

When taking out a policy, it is important to be aware of the acts of God, or perils, that are not included in the cover. In the United States, for instance, flood damage is often not included in the overall insurance cover and home owners are encouraged to buy separate cover.

Here in South Africa, many insurance policies will not cover damages caused by riots or political turmoil and home owners have to address it as a separate issue.

Choose replacement cost cover over actual cash value

A smart move when ensuring that your possessions are adequately covered is to negate the urge to purchase a home owner's policy with extra blanket coverage for your personal items and to rather opt to buy separate, additional cover for your valuables instead.

Remember, however, to choose replacement cost cover rather than the actual cash value. The latter, although it sounds like the better of the two options, takes depreciation into account and will only pay out the calculated market value of the item instead of the cost of replacing it.

Penny wise, pound foolish

Some brokers may suggest you try and save a little on your premiums by insuring your home for only 80% of its value. The thought process behind this startling proposition is that it is most unusual for your entire home to be destroyed in one fell swoop. But this idea has its definite snags, apart from the obvious one of losing your entire home to fire, earth quake or some other natural horror.

The problem with under insuring your home is that the cost of labour and materials could very well increase and instead of the claim covering 80% of the cost of re-building, it may only cover 73% of costs. And in these turbulent times, it may be very difficult for you to source the extra 27% needed for the job.

Quick policy pointers

• Make sure your policy automatically protects you from rising inflation

• Shop around for a policy that is tailor-made for you and your possessions

• Be aware of acts of God not covered by your policies

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