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Motor trade insurance
Mobile mechanic insurance is a mix of public liability, customer vehicle cover, road risks and tools cover for mechanics who work at customers' homes or the roadside. Getting the mix wrong usually shows up as an uncovered claim for damage to a customer's car.
Part of: Motor trade insurance
In short
Mobile mechanics usually need public liability for driveway accidents, separate cover for damage to customers' vehicles while in their care, and motor trade road risks if they test drive or move customer cars on the road, because section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 requires insurance for that use. Tools cover protects kit kept in the van, subject to theft conditions. Employers' liability is compulsory once you take on staff. Liability policies commonly exclude the cost of redoing faulty work, which consumers can demand under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
A mobile mechanic carries most of the same risks as a garage, but on someone else's driveway, at their workplace or at the roadside. The main exposures, and the cover that commonly responds, look like this:
| Risk | Cover that commonly responds | Points to check |
|---|---|---|
| Injury to a customer or passer-by, or damage to their property | Public liability | Limit of indemnity, pollution wording, heat and hot work conditions |
| Damage to the customer's car while you work on it | Customer vehicles (sometimes called goods in trust or vehicles in custody) | Whether it applies away from premises, any per-vehicle limit |
| Driving a customer's car on the road, for example a test drive | Motor trade road risks | Who can drive, what use is allowed, whether the car itself is covered for damage |
| A part you fitted fails and causes damage | Public and products liability | Exclusion for the cost of redoing the work |
| Theft of tools or diagnostic kit | Tools cover | Conditions for tools left in a van, especially overnight |
| Injury to an employee | Employers' liability | Required by law once you employ staff |
Cover is always subject to the insurer's acceptance and the policy terms.
For the wider picture, see motor trade insurance, our motor trade broker guide and the guide to motor trade insurance without premises.
When you work on a driveway or at a customer's workplace, you are responsible for what your work does to the people and property around you. A trolley jack that cracks a block-paved drive, a fire from a hot exhaust near dry vegetation or a customer who trips over an air line are all public liability claims in the making.
Public liability is not compulsory in the way employers' liability is. HSE's guide to the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 says public liability insurance "is generally voluntary". In practice many customers, fleet clients and letting agents expect to see it, and it is the cover most mobile mechanics rely on day to day.
Oil is the other driveway risk. GOV.UK lists engine, gear and lubricating oils as hazardous waste, and in England a business that carries waste, including its own, must register as a waste carrier (registration is usually free if you only carry waste you produce yourself). A spill that stains a customer's drive or reaches a drain can lead to a claim and a clean-up bill. Many liability policies limit pollution cover to sudden and accidental events, so gradual leaks may not be covered. Check the wording.
There are two separate questions with customer vehicles, and they need different cover.
If you drop a car off a jack, scratch the paintwork or the car is damaged while you are working on it, that is damage to property in your custody. Public liability policies commonly exclude property in your care, custody or control, so a specific customer vehicles section is usually needed. See customer vehicles in your care for how this cover works.
Under section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is an offence to use a motor vehicle on a road or other public place without insurance covering that use. A test drive after a repair, or moving a car to a safer spot, is use on a road. Do not assume the customer's own policy covers you: whether it does depends entirely on that policy's terms.
The legal minimum is narrow. Section 145(4) says compulsory cover need not include damage to the vehicle being driven or damage to property in your custody or under your control. So a third-party-only road risks policy can satisfy the law while paying nothing towards the customer's car if you crash it. If you drive customer cars, ask whether the policy covers damage to those vehicles. Road risks only motor trade insurance explains the levels of cover.
If your customer is a consumer, the Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 treats every service contract as including a term that you will perform the service with reasonable care and skill. If you fall short, section 55 lets the consumer require you to do the work again, within a reasonable time and at your cost, including labour and materials.
Insurance and consumer law do not line up neatly. Public and products liability is designed for injury to people and damage to other property caused by your work. It commonly excludes the cost of putting right the faulty work itself, and often the cost of the part. Some insurers offer a faulty workmanship extension that goes further, subject to limits and conditions.
Illustrative scenario: a mobile mechanic changes the oil on a customer's van and does not tighten the sump plug properly. The plug works loose, the oil drains and the engine seizes on the motorway. The engine damage and the cost of recovery may be claimed against the mechanic. Whether a policy pays, and how much, depends on how it treats damage to the vehicle worked on, workmanship exclusions and any customer vehicles section.
If you move into a workshop, the risks change; see garage and vehicle repair insurance. Working on hybrids and EVs raises its own questions, covered in EV repair insurance.
Tools and diagnostic equipment live in a van that is parked outside customers' houses all day. Tools cover is usually written with conditions, for example that tools left in an unattended vehicle are in a locked, enclosed load area, and some policies restrict or exclude theft from vans overnight unless the van is garaged or the tools removed. Read them before you rely on the cover.
Your own van is a separate question. Some traders insure it on a commercial vehicle policy and use motor trade road risks only for customer cars; others put everything on one motor trade policy. Which suits you depends on how you work. See commercial vehicle insurance for the van side.
If you take someone on, GOV.UK says you must get employers' liability insurance from an authorised insurer, with at least £5 million of cover, and you can be fined £2,500 for every day you are not properly insured. There are limited exceptions, for example where the only person you employ is a close family member. Helpers who drive customer cars also need to be allowed to drive under your road risks policy. Who can drive on a motor trade policy covers named driver and age terms.
Used engine oil is also a health issue for you and your staff: HSE warns that prolonged skin contact can cause dermatitis and, at worst, skin cancer.
Whatever you tell insurers must be accurate: under the Insurance Act 2015 duty of fair presentation a business must disclose material facts before cover starts. This road risks gap scenario shows what can go wrong.
Apex arranges motor trade insurance for mobile mechanics, including road risks and liability for working on customers' vehicles. A broker reads your enquiry and comes back with options, and there is no fee for a quote. To quote we need: what work you do and where, your address and where the van and tools are kept overnight, who drives (ages, licences, points), turnover, the value of tools and the typical value of customer vehicles you handle, and your claims history. Cover is subject to the insurer's acceptance and the policy terms.
Not always. If you never drive customers' cars on the road, public liability, customer vehicles and tools cover may be the core. Once you test drive or move customer cars on a road, the Road Traffic Act 1988 requires insurance for that use, and a motor trade road risks policy is the usual way to get it, subject to the insurer's acceptance.
Usually not. Most public liability wordings exclude property in your care, custody or control, and the car you are working on is exactly that. Cover for customer vehicles is normally a separate section or extension, with its own limits and conditions, so check it is included and that it applies away from premises.
Only if their policy covers you driving it, and many private policies will not. Do not assume. A motor trade road risks policy is designed to cover you driving vehicles in your care for business purposes, within the uses and driver terms the policy sets out.
Probably not for the cost of redoing the work. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a consumer can require you to repeat the service at your cost. Liability insurance commonly excludes that cost, though it may respond to resulting damage or injury. Some insurers offer a faulty workmanship extension, subject to terms.
No. HSE describes public liability as generally voluntary, unlike employers' liability, which is compulsory once you employ staff. Many customers and business clients still expect you to hold it, and it is the cover that responds to most driveway accidents.
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.
