Couriers watch out!!

sprintersam

Some companies are misleading people and selling Good s In Transit insurance at really cheap premiums. I wont say the name of the companies as even bad publicity is good!!

However, please check that you are getting All Risks cover.

If you are subbing for TNT etc they only require your to have RHA cover as you have to match their ins to work for them..

The thing is this covers you for £1300 per tonne ( unless you request more!) If you are carrying light goods the cover is pointless!!

I bought this cover from someone who didnt advise me of the restrictions, but I have now heard on the grapevine that there is a major problem.

I spoke to Milestone who insure my vehicle and they have sorted me out!

Unfortunately my previous insurer has charged me a ******** huge admin charge!!

Always check the cost to cancel!!! Especially in our job!!

dacouch

Good advice, its best to source GIT cover for a Courier from a specialist broker so they arrange the right type of policy.

Instead of RHA I think from memory its better to go for European CMR conditions for a couriers.

lesley1960

sprintersam wrote: »

Some companies are misleading people and selling Good s In Transit insurance at really cheap premiums. I wont say the name of the companies as even bad publicity is good!!

However, please check that you are getting All Risks cover.

If you are subbing for TNT etc they only require your to have RHA cover as you have to match their ins to work for them..

The thing is this covers you for £1300 per tonne ( unless you request more!) If you are carrying light goods the cover is pointless!!

I bought this cover from someone who didnt advise me of the restrictions, but I have now heard on the grapevine that there is a major problem.

I spoke to Milestone who insure my vehicle and they have sorted me out!

Unfortunately my previous insurer has charged me a ******** huge admin charge!!

Always check the cost to cancel!!! Especially in our job!!

Always check what you are insured for !

dacouch

lesley1960 wrote: »

Always check what you are insured for !

Thats very good advice for any type of Insurance, but especially for a business policy.

cogito

dacouch wrote: »

Good advice, its best to source GIT cover for a Courier from a specialist broker so they arrange the right type of policy.

Instead of RHA I think from memory its better to go for European CMR conditions for a couriers.

CMR applies to international shipments by road and is totally irrelevant here. The answer is for the owner of the goods to insure and claim on his own insurance if goods are lost or damaged. His own insurers can then worry about getting money back from the carrier.

There is no problem at all with companies carrying goods under RHA conditions as the majority do. The conditions have applied in various forms since the invention of the internal combustion engine. The conditions are there to protect the carrier who frequently doesn't know the value of the goods or even what they are.

dacouch

A courier is normally told to take out a certain level of cover for their van eg £5000 or £10000. The RHA cover gives £1300 per tonne which is not enough for a transit size van. The CMR basis of cover gives a higher amount.

As I stated its recommended a courier goes to a specialist broker who will be able to arrange a suitable policy with the right level of cover the company they work for require and can explain any policy limititions.

The people who engage the use of a courier would normally not have the own cover for items in transit as it would be to expensive if they were only sending occassionaly packages.

cogito

You really don't understand CMR do you? It's specifically for international road haulage so if the goods are moved within the UK, the convention cannot apply. The limits are higher - 8.33 SDRs per kilo - but that doesn't matter if the convention is inapplicable.

All carriers operate under conditions which give limited protection to their customers who need to understand the T&Cs as in any other business transaction.

Oscar_The_Grouch

Cogito, I haven't underwritten Goods In Transit insurance since the early 90's, so I'm out of date on this. When I was insuring, some haulage and courier companies were using terms of transport that imposed the liability limits of CMR even for UK only trips.

Is this still the case?

cogito

The basic RHA limit is £1300 per tonne but carriers are free to apply whatever monetary limits they desire (or to be more accurate, the limits that their customers force upon them)

jeppy

You can get CMR UK but this is only when you are picking up a container from Europe and taking it straight the the delivery point.

The container is dropped at port and then collected by the 2nd haulier.

Couriers are multi drop and wouldnt be doing haulage! Only as one offs perhaps!

Large companies such as TNT have large HGVs and use RHA T&Cs. The insurers insist that if they sub contract, then the BFSC must have similar insurance.

If as a courier you only require ins to match the person you are subbing for go for the cheaper option, but you are insured for very little!!

If you want to protect yourself opt for All Risks!

GIT claims are few and far between, but if you have to take out the insurance choose the one to cover you! If need to save money opt for the lowest sum insured, rather than RHA at least you will have some protection if not full if you do need to claim!!

Milestone are specialists in courier, they are not a call centre and will give you proper unbias advice.

Talking of Call Centres etc, I would add, if your premium is really cheap ask if it includes Hire and Reward for the carriage of goods!! (Actually always ask!)

Several couriers are being insured for business use only. This is incorrect and because the insurer is not a specialist they too think this is OK. However, this would only cover a person who is working for a courier business, but not undergoing the actual courier work.

So many couriers get IN10s from wrong advice!

woodys_wonders

Good advice Sprinter Sam, as with many Insurances corners are cut to get a cheaper price without many of us realising.
Ie comparison sites quoting huge excesses to look cheap etc
The same with that particular company offering RHA but not giving the full details to you of what that actually means.

Lesson for us all really Check all quotes carefully especially if they seem too good to be true.