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Hire or Reward Insurance

Started by neil1974, Mar 31 2010 11:05 AM

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18 replies to this topic

#1 neil1974

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Posted 31 March 2010 - 11:05 AM

First post so a big Hello,

I'm a member of the public so may not be too welcome on a professional Forum. BUT,

I own a small courier company and sub out most of the work.

A question has been raised on a forum for couriers which we cant get to the bottom of.

Do Couriers require H&R Insurance by Law?
Do they need it if they are using private cars or is it just if using commercial vehicles?

Looking around on the internet most Insurance companies quote the RTA for the need of third party liabilities but NONE has pointed towards the specific legal need for H&R (unless excluded from policy)

Would a driver still be covered under the RTA for third party liabilities IF they had improper Insurance.

There are certain circumstances where a policy may be void/avoided with regards to SD&P instead of Business use but not with regards to the wrong type of business Insurance.

Part 6 of the RTA stipulate that there must be Insurance as to its "use" but what does "use" mean in this context Does it mean straight driving or more specifically its actual activity.

Part VI
Third-Party Liabilities
Compulsory insurance or security against third-party risks
143
Users of motor vehicles to be insured or secured against third-party risks

(1)
Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act—

(a)
a person must not use a motor vehicle on a road unless there is in force in relation to the use of the vehicle by that person such a policy of insurance or such a security in respect of third party risks as complies with the requirements of this Part of this Act, and

I have attached a link to a long topic on this at the parcelnet forums

http://www.parcelfor...hilit=insurance

I know its a long read but it shows there is a lot of mis-information out there.

Asking the Insurance compainies themselves doesnt help they just say yes you need it put cant point us to the Law.

This is a copy of an email sent/Received to/from Cheshire Police.

Dear *******,
Thank you for your enquiry regarding the matter of insurance cover for your business vehicle. Your correspondence was considered today by our Traffic department based here at Warrington and Sgt 2655 Farnworth advised that 'hire and reward' is not necessary for your business based on the information supplied but applies more to businesses such as taxi companies.

Regards
Northern Customer Service Desk
Cheshire Constabulary

01244 615881

This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only.
Please notify the sender if received in error. Internet email
is not to be treated as a secure means of communication.
Cheshire Constabulary monitors all Internet and email activity
and requires it is used for official communications only. Thank
you for your co-operation.

The information I supplied which they based their decision on was :-

"We deliver small packages, which are generally small items people order from catalogues and other home shopping sources. Each courier operates in only a small area each day, either one complete postcode, or a part of it. The parcels are either collected from a small depot, or delivered to the courier's home. The parcels themselves are insured by the company we deliver for, so I know we don't need GIT insurance. However, the issue seems to be surrounding the phrase "for hire and reward". My insurance company seem to think that our type or courier work is not classed as hire and reward (Direct Line). No money is collected from customers at any time, the company pay us at the end of the month on a self employed basis."

I told them I was questioning whether or not my insurance company was correct, because a courier in North Wales had had his car seized by the police for not having "hire and reward".

The Courier mentioned in the above Email is Jasper999 who has posted on the thread I have Linked to

I hope you knowledgeable folk can help.

Thanks in advance
Neil

#2 marko2002

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Posted 31 March 2010 - 11:14 AM

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Edited by marko2002, 31 March 2010 - 11:17 AM.