Vehicles also sit on business premises: company cars in the yard, a forklift in the warehouse, a work machine behind the hall. Which insurance protects which? The answer depends on the type of vehicle and how it's used – and knowing the boundaries here, too, prevents losses.
- Vehicles that take part in road traffic (registered cars) belong to the world of third-party motor liability and comprehensive cover: flotta.biz.
- Work machines used on site (forklifts, loaders) can typically be brought within the scope of property and machinery-breakdown cover.
- Company equipment stored in parked cars is a typical gap risk – neither type of cover applies to it automatically.
Registered vehicles: the world of fleet cover
Damage to vehicles that take part in road traffic is handled by motor insurance: third-party liability cover for damage caused to others, comprehensive cover for damage to the vehicle itself – even when the car happens to be sitting on the premises. Property insurance typically doesn't extend to these – comprehensive cover is what protects a vehicle parked on the premises against damage to itself, so without comprehensive cover this risk stays with the company. The sister site covers insuring the company's vehicle fleet: flotta.biz.
Work machines: the grey zone
The forklift, the loader, the self-propelled lift are a different category: if they don't take part in road traffic, they can typically be insured as part of the on-site property, as machinery and equipment – and machinery breakdown cover is the logical option for their breakdown. The borderline case is mixed use: a work machine that occasionally rolls out onto the public road – at that point, motor-insurance obligations can also come into play. It's worth clarifying the right classification machine by machine – that's part of the site survey.
The typical gaps
Company equipment stored in a car: tools, a laptop, a sample collection in the car fall automatically under neither comprehensive cover nor on-site cover – off-site cover provides the answer here, typically with rules attached (a locked boot, overnight storage). A vehicle taken out of traffic and parked on the premises: it can be named as an asset – but only if it has actually been added to the policy. Customers' vehicles in the service yard: not the company's property, but a liability matter – the workshop article.
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