Insurance For Traffic Control & Management Contractors

Regardless of the size of your Traffic Management Company, the three main liability covers are a necessity.

It is very important to ensure that this insurance is arranged covering the full extent of the traffic management activities that you are carrying out. There are a limited amount of insurers who will cover your trade, a lot of the composite insurers will not cover your trade AT ALL because of the fact the majority of the work is work away from your premises and it is all on roads or construction sites, standard insurers class this as ‘high risk’.

At ‘Real’ we have a very good relationship with the Insurance markets that are able to intelligently accommodate the insurance needs of your trade at a decent premium.

The markets we approach provide the Liability insurance you need at the right price.

The standard limit of indemnity for Employers Liability cover is £10,000,000.

Employers Liability gives Indemnity against legal liability for injury to or illness of employees arising out of or in the course of your business and within the Territorial Limits.

It may be unnecessary to explain here what the covers are for Employers Liability: That said, just a quick definition of what a direct employee is, what a sub contractor is and what a bona fide contractors is, as a breakdown of these is always needed whenever you request your Employers Liability quotes!

1.      PAYE manual workers are quite obvious! They are your PAYE staff.

2.      Labour-only sub-contractors, when it comes to insurance the best way to view them is that you would treat them as a direct employee in the sense that your responsible for them as if they were a direct employee. Just because they are "self employed" does not mean that you are not responsible for their actions... you are!

3.      Finally just to confuse matters further Bona-Fide Sub-Contractors, although not a strict rule, generally a BFSC will invoice you direct, they will supply labour and materials (unless you/ your employer supply free issue materials) and carry their own liability insurance, and they are an entity in their own right

Public & Products Liability cover gives Indemnity against legal liability for injury to third parties or loss of or damage to third party property arising out of the business & out of the products supplied.

It is important to know what limit of cover you want. Options can span from £1million up to £25 million or more. At Real Insurance we are able to advise you regarding the cover you need as well as obtaining you the limit of indemnity you need.

As your trade requires your company working frequently around the general public, covering for third party property damage and bodily injury with a Public liability policy is incredibly important.

IMPORTANT – Public Liability covers are quite often confused with the cover given for a Professional Indemnity policy. Both Insurances are necessary for your trade, but it is important to understand the difference. See the Professional Indemnity section on this website to find out more or give us a call.

Contractor’s plant is one of the most attractive & targeted items of Machinery for theft, so it is imperative that you make sure yours is covered properly.

A Traffic Managements companies plant & equipment is left unattended due to the nature of the trade.

Having Own and Hired in plant cover means that it is covered whilst it is at your premises and out on the road away from the premises doing its job.

If a piece of equipment is damaged or stolen and needs to be replaced, from your point of view, the sooner the better. It also covers hired in items of plant and equipment.

Its not realistic to claim for an odd traffic cone that gets squashed every now and then by on coming traffic! But it is important to have full cover for the large array of plant and equipment needed by any Traffic Management Company to function.

Hand tools can also be covered along with Portable buildings including the porta-loos!

If your company owns or rents space to store your equipment and vehicles and/or use some of the space for an office, the property needs to be covered.

If the buildings are owned by the company they need to be insured or if the premises is being rented by your company then there are covered that need to be taken out.

For example, if some alterations have been made to the property to accommodate yourselves, i.e.: a mezzanine floor or a partitioned wall installed – these elements should be covered incase of fire and other perils.

Also, any computers at the premises, printers, faxes and other electronic office equipment can be covered under the same policy alongside general contents such as tables and chairs and filing cabinets.

Other covers such as Business Interruption, Money cover, Goods in transit cover and legal expenses can also be included. All of these options we will discuss with you so that you understand what you are buying and what you need.

These Property covers can be arranged on the same policy as your Liability Covers, or they may be covered separately depending on the Insurer, we would always advise the best way to arrange the cover in line with the best option and price for you.

Professional Indemnity in a lot of ways – is the most important cover for your specific trade.

The ‘Design & Installation of Traffic Management Systems’, not all traffic management companies design their own design systems; some follow the plan of a system that has been designed by their client or a third party employed by their client to ‘do the drawings’.

However, regardless of whether you are designing your own systems or just installing them, none of your other liability covers, Public or Employers Liability pick up the cover for you designing and/or installing the traffic management systems, in fact, they specifically exclude it in big letters!

Any claim arising as a direct result of negligence, whether it just be an accidental error on installation, ongoing management of the system, or a mistake in the original design of the system which was down to the traffic management company in the conduct and execution of their professional activities & duties (design if applicable and the installation & ongoing management) are covered under a Professional Indemnity policy, not the

Public Liability or Employers Liability policy.

It is SO important to make sure you deal with a broker who knows and has experience with your trade to ensure that when you are obtaining your Professional Indemnity cover it is done correctly, as you will find that some insurance companies will only cover the design element only and not the installation and ongoing management.

We will make sure that you will get the correct cover and there will be no gaps that turn up as nasty surprises if you ever need to call upon your Insurance to claim.

All Traffic Management companies have a fleet of vehicles of their own and/or hired in vehicles that they rely on constantly to take them and their equipment to where they are needed across the UK. If there is an accident and the company is without a vehicle for a period of time this can impact hugely on a trade such as a ‘Traffic management’ company who rare 99% of the time on the road or on site working. They heavily reply on their wheels, therefore it is imperative to be insured with a company who deal with claims swiftly and get the client back on the road with a full fleet again ASAP.

Having a broker who understands the trade again helps to ensure that they can assist the claims process in any way they can as quickly as they can, we understand the trade so we can provide that back up service to ensuring all of your employees are back on the road.