Does car insurance need to be for business use?

[Sockpuppet]

I thought your truck WAS your place of business?

Only for part of the year and its not my truck...usually DHL or Tesco who self insure by depositing half a million with the crown courts. I bet some contractors on here could do that as well.

[Sockpuppet]

Maybe they ripped you off before hand so it is not really "free".

Well either the cheapest or within £2 a month for me (Group 11 I think)

[TheFaQQer]

Same. With direct line it didnt cost me anything.

I thought your truck WAS your place of business?

[gingerjedi]

Maybe they ripped you off before hand so it is not really "free".

I've never found anything cheaper and thats with a group 17 car.

[AtW]

Same. With direct line it didnt cost me anything.

Maybe they ripped you off before hand so it is not really "free".

[Sockpuppet]

Same. With direct line it didnt cost me anything.

[gingerjedi]

My last insurer charged £20 PA for business use and IIRC Directline charged me nothing, just get it.

[r0bly0ns]

Yeah, good point. (thanks for all the replies guys) I'll put it down as business mileage. then I just need to get them to agree to the post code I give them, may end up being a hotel!

Personally I would just explain to them that you spend a far amount of time away from home overnight, but the car's 'normal' overnight location is home.

They may bump up your premium, they may not. But I have never heard of someone not getting a payout if their car got nicked from a hotel.

[swamp]

I'm past the 24 month rule and I drive to work. I don't claim mileage any more, so I reckon my drive to the client's site is a 'commute' now, at least in the eyes of HMRC.

[richy]

Yes - get business use. It doesn't usually cost a whole lost extra.

It's a bit of a cheek to claim your client's site as your normal place of work for car insurance purposes, but only a temporary place of work for expenses purposes, even if you'd never get caught.

Yeah, good point. (thanks for all the replies guys) I'll put it down as business mileage. then I just need to get them to agree to the post code I give them, may end up being a hotel!

[VectraMan]

Yes - get business use. It doesn't usually cost a whole lost extra.

It's a bit of a cheek to claim your client's site as your normal place of work for car insurance purposes, but only a temporary place of work for expenses purposes, even if you'd never get caught.

[r0bly0ns]

typically as a contrator your main place if business is your house.
ANy visits to clients are classed as business mileage, so yes you need to be insured for business use.

If you are able to claim mileage for driving there then it is not your normal place of work and you need business insurance cover. If you have an accident on the way the insurance company are within their rights to not pay out if you don't have it.

[richy]

Getting a new car insurance quote I was asked:

Are you just using for social domestic and commuting? I said yes.
Then I was asked if I would be driving to the same place of work and returning home after. The thing is, I may be staying away during the week in a hotel. And also the location may change every 3 or 6 months when contracts change.

The other thing is if I'm away from "home" travelling i'll only be back at "home" 2 days a week. which is only 29% of the time (depends when i travel back), and they are looking for >70% of the time in one fixed location over night.

So I've got two queries:
* do i need to stipulate my "commute" to different work sites as "Business mileage" for the insurance purposes?

* What address do I list as the location of hte vehicle? If I'm changing hotels then its going to be a pain having to keep phoning up and giving a new postcode and watching my premiums go up!

tips appreciated guys!