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Motor trade insurance
Auto electrician insurance covers liability for electrical work on vehicles, damage to customers' cars, diagnostic equipment and test drives. Electrical faults can cause fires long after a job, so liability cover matters.
Part of: Motor trade insurance
In short
Auto electricians usually need public and products liability for faults that cause fires or injury, customer vehicles cover, tools cover for diagnostic and programming kit, and road risks for test drives under section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Misdiagnosis claims are often pure financial loss, which many liability policies exclude. GOV.UK says removing a DPF almost invariably makes a vehicle illegal for road use, and insurers commonly ask about remapping, emissions and key work. Keep parts and job records, and declare every activity.
| Risk | Cover that commonly responds | Points to check |
|---|---|---|
| A wiring fault you introduced causes a fire or injury | Public and products liability | Exclusions for the cost of the work and parts |
| Damage to a customer's vehicle while you work on it | Customer vehicles cover | Whether it applies at customers' sites as well as your unit |
| Test driving a customer's vehicle after a repair | Motor trade road risks | Who can drive and whether damage to the customer's vehicle is covered |
| Theft of diagnostic laptops, scan tools and programming kit | Tools and business equipment cover | Limits for portable electronics and theft from vans |
| Injury to an employee | Employers' liability | Compulsory once you employ staff |
Cover is subject to the insurer's acceptance and the policy terms. Test drives are use on a road, and section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 requires insurance for that use.
See motor trade insurance, road risks only cover, customer vehicles in your care and mobile mechanic insurance if you work at customers' premises.
Electrical faults are slow to show and expensive when they do. A chafed cable, an unfused feed for an accessory or a poor connection can cause a vehicle fire days or weeks after the job, and a car fire on a driveway or in a garage can spread to a home.
Public and products liability is designed for injury to people and damage to other property caused by your work or the products you supply. It commonly excludes the cost of putting the faulty work right. For consumer customers, the Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 requires services to be performed with reasonable care and skill, and section 55 lets the consumer require the work to be redone at your cost.
Illustrative scenario: an auto electrician fits towbar electrics to a customer's car. A month later the wiring overheats and the car catches fire on the customer's drive, damaging the house. The home insurer pays the homeowner and then seeks to recover from the auto electrician. The electrician's liability insurer will want the job records, the parts used and how the circuit was protected.
Much auto electrical work is diagnosis. If you misdiagnose a fault, the customer may claim for parts and labour they did not need. That is usually a financial loss rather than injury or property damage, and liability policies often do not cover pure financial loss. If diagnosis or advice is a large part of your work, ask how the policy treats it and whether any extension is available.
Keep diagnostic reports and fault codes on file, and record what you advised the customer and what they chose to do. That evidence matters when a customer says a fault was missed.
Some electronic work carries legal risk, not just technical risk. GOV.UK's guidance on diesel particulate filters says removing a DPF "will almost invariably contravene" the construction and use requirements, "making the vehicle illegal for road use", and cites fines of up to £1,000 for a car or £2,500 for a light goods vehicle. A missing DPF, where one was fitted when the vehicle was built, is an MOT failure. DVSA began roadside checks for emissions cheat devices on lorries on 1 September 2018.
Insurers commonly ask whether you do ECU remapping, emissions-related work, key programming or immobiliser work, and some decline or exclude certain activities. Declare everything you do. A remapped vehicle is also modified, and its owner may need to tell their own motor insurer.
Accurate answers matter: see the Insurance Act 2015 duty of fair presentation. ADAS calibration is covered in our automotive trade broker guide, and workshop-based businesses should also read garage and vehicle repair insurance.
Under section 2 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987, liability for damage caused by a defective product falls on the producer, anyone who puts their name or brand on it, and the importer into the UK. A supplier can become liable if asked to identify one of those people and fails to do so within a reasonable time. Keep records of where you buy parts, especially unbranded accessories bought online.
Work on electric and hybrid systems raises separate high-voltage risks; HSE warns that some components may retain a dangerous voltage even when the vehicle is switched off. See EV repair insurance. If you employ staff, GOV.UK says employers' liability with at least £5 million of cover is compulsory.
Apex arranges motor trade insurance for garages and mechanics, including mobile mechanics, and road risks for test drives. A broker reads your enquiry and comes back with options, and there is no fee for a quote. We need: the work you do (including diagnostics, ECU, EV or key work), your address and any premises, who drives (ages, licences, points), turnover, equipment values, the typical value of customer vehicles, and your claims history. Cover is subject to the insurer's acceptance and the policy terms.
Usually public and products liability, cover for customers' vehicles in your care, tools and equipment cover for diagnostic kit, and motor trade road risks if you test drive customer vehicles. Employers' liability is compulsory once you employ staff. Exact cover is subject to the insurer's acceptance and policy terms.
Possibly, under public and products liability, for the resulting damage to other property and any injury, subject to the policy terms. The cost of redoing your own work is commonly excluded. Insurers will want job records, parts details and how circuits were protected.
Often not fully. A customer's claim for unnecessary parts and labour is usually a pure financial loss, which many liability policies exclude. If diagnosis is a large part of your work, ask the insurer how it is treated and whether any extension is available.
GOV.UK guidance says removing a diesel particulate filter will almost invariably make the vehicle illegal for road use, with fines of up to £1,000 for a car or £2,500 for a light goods vehicle. A missing DPF, where one was originally fitted, fails the MOT.
Yes. Declare every activity, including remapping, key programming and immobiliser work. Some insurers ask about these specifically and may restrict or exclude them. Leaving them out can affect a claim under the Insurance Act 2015 duty of fair presentation.
Tell us what your business does, who drives, your premises and vehicle values. A broker reads every enquiry and comes back with options. No fee for a quote. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Start a motor trade enquiry Request a callbackApex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information, not advice on your individual circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.
