December 4, 2020 – Goods that are transported in their own vehicles by their own employees can be covered by company traffic insurance. It closes the gap between public liability and content insurance. In this way, expensive spare parts, valuable merchandise or high-priced pharmaceuticals that could be stolen during transport or damaged as a result of an accident can be protected.
“The public liability insurance covers damage for which a third party claims compensation. Content insurance provides insurance coverage at the business location. This creates a gap when tools, machines, material or other goods or goods are transported in your own vehicle, ”explains Steffen Lohse, authorized representative at the Old Leipzig Insurance AG, on.
- Steffen Lohse
(Photo: Alte Leipziger)
Factory traffic insurance closes this gap and is therefore a “must-have” not only for craft businesses. The number of break-ins into vehicles, in which thieves suspect something valuable, is increasing. “This is often more attractive than drug trafficking for gangsters big and small,” says Lohse.
These goods should be insured
Companies that were previously unaware of these risks or who wanted to bear vandalism and theft damage to transported goods and so on themselves may now rethink their approach as the volume and values increase.
“All goods should be insured for which the policyholder does not want to pay himself in the event of theft or other damage. These are usually merchandise, small machines and tools, ”explains the expert. Substantial values can also represent spare parts, measuring instruments or other technical devices.
The term “merchandise” includes all goods that are completely purchased, i.e. materials to be installed by a craftsman, sales goods from retailers or spare parts from service technicians. Customers who also deliver to neighboring countries should expand the scope of insurance to include the corresponding countries.
What damage should be insured
In the opinion of Steffen Lohse, the scope of insurance should cover at least:
- Vehicle accident,
- Emergency braking and evasive maneuvers,
- Fire, lightning strike, explosion,
- Earthquakes and other natural disasters,
- Vehicle burglary or robbery,
- Theft or misappropriation of the entire vehicle.
Depending on the situation and the customer’s security needs, extensions are also useful here. For example, Alte Leipziger offers the component “Damage to goods due to moisture”, which should be of interest to booksellers and grocery stores.
Options for special risk situations
It can become particularly expensive for companies that transport chemicals or pharmaceuticals if the goods have to be laboriously recovered, transported and destroyed after an accident. There are additional modules on the market for this too.
Two examples of common risks: A retailer delivers high-quality goods in Germany. A plumber who specializes in copper gutters regularly parks his van on the street at night and on weekends – packed with material.
For both special cases, works traffic insurance offers solutions outside of the standard offers. The time between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. is often excluded from insurance cover. It can be included again with a night clause.
Extended domicile clause
Most providers expect there to be a garage or other safe location for parking the vehicles. But especially in smaller companies or craftsmen, the vehicles are parked in front of the house in the evenings and on weekends – even more frequently since Corona.
In such cases, such storage locations can be insured with an extended domicile clause. At Alte Leipziger, for example, this clause is automatically integrated into the insurance conditions so that there is no gap.
There is also the option of many customer-specific extensions. For craftsmen in particular, it is an important issue that insurance cover also extends to the storage of tools and materials on construction sites, for example.
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