Garage insurance for a self-employed mechanic
If you work alone, the largest item on a motor trade policy disappears: staff. What remains is the customer's car, the journey with it on the public road and your own tools.
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- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
Motor trade insurance (garageverzekering) is a package. As a self-employed mechanic you can choose the sections that suit your work and leave out the rest. The general structure is set out on the hub page compare garage insurance; below is what differs for a sole trader from a business with four ramps and six members of staff.
Your core risk is that you work on someone else's property. A car you have in hand is in your care and is therefore excluded on an ordinary liability policy. Without the clients' vehicles section you pay for the dent in the door, the scratches in the paint or the engine that seizes during your work yourself. See also liability insurance for self-employed professionals.
The second risk is that you take that car onto the road. Every motor vehicle on the public road is subject to the compulsory insurance requirement of Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM). If you make a test drive or collect a car, there must be valid third-party cover in place, either the customer's or your own trade plate. Public and employers' liability insurance does not cover the motor vehicle risk.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare motor trade insurance.
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Get coveredWhy arrange it through Finass Verzekert?
We look at the terms as well as the premium, and stay your point of contact when there is a claim.
Independent
We are not tied to one insurer and compare on the basis of an objective analysis of several companies.
One fixed adviser
You call or email someone who knows your file. No menu options, no changing call centres.
Switching without hassle
We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
Help with claims
We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
Where things go wrong for a sole trader
Four points that affect self-employed mechanics more often than the debate about the sum insured.
Your own injury is not covered anywhere
The duty of care of Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code applies between employer and employee. You are neither. If you are injured under a car or by an angle grinder, there is no employer's liability and therefore no payment from the motor trade policy. You cover that risk with disability or personal accident cover, which is separate from this package.
The repair itself falls outside the cover
If you fit the wrong part or fail to tighten a wheel bolt, the consequential damage is liability, but redoing your own work is not. The cost of dismantling, the replacement part and your hours are the cost of putting your own work right and are excluded on every liability cover. Allow for that in advance when quoting keenly.
Tools in a van parked outside overnight
If you work mobile, your workshop is in a van. Insurers impose requirements on that: a sound lock, sometimes an alarm, and in almost every case an exclusion for theft from an unlocked vehicle or for tools left in view. See tools insurance for self-employed professionals.
Ancillary work must be declared
If you also work on motorhomes, tractors, motorcycles or the high-voltage systems of electric cars, that is a different risk from car servicing. For high-voltage work insurers require demonstrable competence. Undeclared activities can lead an insurer to invoke Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover and nature of the work: servicing, diagnostics, accident repair or tuning
- Own workshop or mobile: working at customers' homes calls for different sections
- Trade plate: determines how test drives are arranged
- Value of tools and equipment: including diagnostic equipment and charging gear
- Work on electric vehicles: high-voltage work requires demonstrable authorisation
- Excess per event: often set separately for clients' vehicles
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Third-party liability | Comprehensive |
|---|---|---|
| You reverse into a customer's garden wall at their home | Yes | Yes |
| Your trailer loaded with materials tips over onto a parked car | Yes | Yes |
| You drive the van into a low bridge | No | Yes |
| The van is stolen from your drive overnight | No | Yes |
| In a break-in to the van, the tools disappear from the load space | No | No |
| An apprentice mechanic without a valid licence drives the van into a ditch | No | No |
The policy follows the vehicle, not its contents. What you take to the job is insured separately.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Do I need a motor trade policy, or is self-employed liability insurance enough?
As soon as you have customers' vehicles in your care, an ordinary liability policy falls short. It excludes damage to property in your care and does not cover the motor vehicle risk. A motor trade policy has the clients' vehicles section for that. If you work purely as a supplier of labour at another business, the position may be different; put that to us in advance.
May I test drive a customer's car?
Only with valid third-party cover, because Article 2 WAM requires it for every motor vehicle on the public road. That usually runs through the customer's own insurance or through your trade plate. Check whether your policy mentions test drives and collection and delivery; otherwise, in a collision, you personally face the other party's loss.
Is theft of a customer's car covered?
That depends on the clients' vehicles section and on the clauses about key management and security. Insurers often require keys to be kept in a locked cabinet outside working hours, and not in the car or on a key board by the window. If that is not complied with, a declined theft claim is a real prospect.
What if the car is damaged after my repair?
Consequential damage caused by an error in your work is liability and may be covered. Carrying out the repair again and the part you supplied or fitted incorrectly remain for your own account. Report a claim promptly: Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to report the loss as soon as you are reasonably aware of it.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare motor trade insuranceThe main page
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