What is the difference between courier and haulage insurance?

Both courier insurance and haulage insurance require that the use of your policy specifies “Carriage of Goods for Hire and reward”. However, there are differences between the two:

Haulage contractors often have set contracts to whom they deliver to on a regular basis. They normally have pre booked appointments and due to this haulage contractors will know exactly what they are carrying.

In contrast, courier drivers do not usually have specific contracts. Couriers will advertise and get customers for transporting one-off items. The key difference is that anyone could contact a courier or courier company at any time on any given day. Couriers will not always be aware of the packages they are carrying.

Couriers often use vans rather than HGV’s as they are much cheaper to run and require less fuel – making it more profitable. The vans are typically up to 3.5 tonnes in weight. HGV’s are over 7.5 tonnes in weight.

If you want HGV insurance or haulage insurance – for vehicles of 7.5 tonnes and above – we have a specific team and sister site for this, please click here to contact us.

Along with commercial vehicle insurance you may require Goods in Transit and Public Liability. Goods in transit insurance insures the merchandise which you are transporting while in transit.

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