Home Care Worker Car Insurance

iCare

Hello folks, since last insuring my car I have started work as a home care worker (work for an social care agency on 0 hours contract).
I drive myself, and sometimes a colleague, from house to house in the local urban area helping vulnerable adults at home.
Any advice from forum members before I start calling insurers and brokers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
iCare

Sally_A

Call your existing insurer, and ask them to amend the policy to business use - also let them know you may be carrying colleagues in the course of your business, but NOT for hire and reward.

If this causes a problem...I may be wrong, but I think CoOp are good for this occupation.

Premiums hike and insurers get funny when you may have to carry your clients in the course of your duty, eg to Dr appts, hairdresser, as the vehicle insurance will pick up any injury getting into or out of a vehicle, and also passenger liability.

Sally_A

In addition, your employers have a duty of care to ensure your vehicle and you tick all the boxes for work use, and carrying colleagues - this RoSPA guide is very useful and should be shown to them.
http://www.rospa.com/safety-training/on-road/fleet/grey-fleet/

unforeseen

Sally_A wrote: »

In addition, your employers have a duty of care to ensure your vehicle and you tick all the boxes for work use, and carrying colleagues - this RoSPA guide is very useful and should be shown to them.
http://www.rospa.com/safety-training/on-road/fleet/grey-fleet/

That's not a guide but RoSPA trying to flog their fleet management system that could be done for free on a spreadsheet

Sally_A

My bad unforseen - somewhere on the Rospa website is a really good guide to grey fleet - I picked that link quickly.

agrinnall

Make sure you get the insurance changed before you work again, and in particular before you carry any colleague in your car, as you could find yourself facing a very big bill (unlikely but not worth the risk).

iCare

Thank you all.
What class of business use is the norm for Home Carers?

piglet74

I'm a carer in the community and I have been with three different insurance companies while in this post, I just add business class insurance to my policy.

I am currently with AA who were the cheapest by a country mile!

iCare

Thank you for the tip!

agrinnall

There are 3 classes of business use, take a look at the descriptions here and make sure you ask your insurer to add the appropriate one (I'd guess class 1 from what you've said so far).

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/business-cars/

iCare

Online, Tesco Bank has come in cheapest. I'll pick up the phone on Friday (day off) and check the fine print plus those not on comparison sites - look forward to posting results