Mechanics & Motor Trades Insurance
Cover built around the risks of working on someone else’s vehicle, in the workshop and on the road.
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Complete the form to request a QUOTE. Call us at 1300 900 207 for an immediate response.
Insurance For Mechanics And Motor Trades
Motor trades businesses carry a specific kind of exposure most standard business policies aren’t built for, other people’s vehicles sitting in your workshop, being test-driven on public roads, or moved between sites on trade plates. A single incident involving a customer’s car can be a far bigger claim than the same incident involving your own property.
Coverscope arranges cover for mechanics, auto electricians, panel beaters and workshops across Australia, built around how vehicles actually move through your business, not just what’s parked in it.
What Does Motor Trades Insurance Cover?
- Public Liability: Covers injury or property damage claims from third parties connected to your business.
- Garage Keeper’s Liability: Covers a customer’s vehicle while it’s parked at your premises or kept overnight in your care.
- Motor Trade Road Risk: Covers you while driving or test-driving a customer’s vehicle on public roads.
- Tools and Equipment: Covers diagnostic gear, hand tools and portable equipment against theft or damage.
- Trade Plate Insurance: Covers unregistered vehicles being moved, tested or demonstrated under dealer or trade plates.
- Business Interruption: Replaces lost income if your workshop can’t trade after an insured event.
Who Needs Motor Trades Insurance?
- Mechanical workshops and repair garages
- Auto electricians and panel beaters
- Mobile mechanics working at client locations
- Car dealerships, new and used
- Tyre shops and service stations
If your work centres on heavy diesel, plant, mining, marine, or rail equipment rather than general passenger vehicles, our Heavy Diesel Mechanic Insurance program is built specifically for that segment.
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Garage Keeper's Liability And Road Risk Cover Two Different Triggers
Garage Keeper’s Liability responds while a customer’s vehicle sits in your workshop, parked overnight, waiting on parts, or up on the hoist. Motor Trade Road Risk responds while you’re actually driving it, a test drive, moving it between bays, a diagnostic run on the road. These are genuinely different risk windows, and a policy built around one doesn’t automatically extend to the other.
Trade Plates Let You Move Unregistered Vehicles, But They Need Their Own Cover
If part of your work involves test-driving, demonstrating or relocating vehicles that aren’t currently registered, using trade plates rather than individual registration, that’s a real, distinct legal arrangement, and driving on Australian roads without valid registration or proper trade plate cover in place is illegal and carries real penalties. This isn’t automatically bundled into standard workshop cover.
Faulty Workmanship Isn't Covered, But What It Causes Can Be
Garage Keeper’s Liability responds while a customer’s vehicle sits in your workshop, parked overnight, waiting on parts, or up on the hoist. Motor Trade Road Risk responds while you’re actually driving it, a test drive, moving it between bays, a diagnostic run on the road. These are genuinely different risk windows, and a policy built around one doesn’t automatically extend to the other.
A Standard Garage Keeper's Limit Might Not Match What Actually Comes Through Your Workshop
Garage Keeper’s Liability typically caps the payout per vehicle, commonly somewhere between $100,000 and $250,000 depending on the policy tier. That’s a different question from which section responds and when, it’s about whether the number attached to it is actually enough. If you regularly handle higher-value, newer or imported vehicles, a standard cap can leave a real gap on exactly the car most likely to produce a serious claim. Worth checking this limit against what genuinely comes through your workshop, not just accepting the default.
Your Trusted Business Insurance Partners, Wherever You Are
For immediate response please give us a call.
Our team continues to work remotely but you are welcome to arrange an appointment with one of our consultants.
Find The Right Cover
Complete the form to request a QUOTE. Call us at 1300 900 207 for an immediate response.
Insurance Solutions for Every Commercial Property
Public and Products Liability
Covers legal costs and compensation if your business causes injury to a third party or damages their property, and extends to a claim linked to work you’ve completed, such as a repair that fails and causes harm after the vehicle has left your care.
Garage Keeper's Liability
Covers a customer’s vehicle while it’s in your physical possession, parked at your premises, kept overnight, or on the hoist mid-repair, protecting against damage, theft or vandalism during that time.
Motor Trade Road Risk
Covers liability while you or your staff are driving a customer’s vehicle on public roads, a test drive, a diagnostic run, or moving the vehicle between locations, separate from the cover that applies while it’s parked in your care.
Trade Plate Insurance
Covers vehicles being driven on public roads under dealer or trade plates rather than individual registration, relevant if your business moves, tests or demonstrates unregistered stock.
Tools and Equipment
Covers diagnostic scanners, specialty tools and workshop equipment against theft or damage, both on and off-site.
Business Interruption
Replaces lost income and ongoing costs if an insured event forces your workshop to close temporarily.
Personal Accident and Illness
Replaces a portion of your income if you’re unable to work due to injury or illness, particularly relevant for sole traders and smaller operators without a team to fall back on.
Property
Covers your premises, fittings and stock against fire, storm, theft or vandalism, including racking, fixtures and fittings you’re responsible for under a lease.
Glass Breakage
Covers the cost of replacing shopfront glass and signage.
What's Not Covered By Motor Trades Insurance?
- Cost of Redoing Faulty Work: Fixing your own faulty repair isn’t covered, though resultant damage it causes can be.
- Claims by Employees: These sit under Workers Compensation instead.
- Unregistered Vehicles Without Trade Plate Cover: Driving an unregistered vehicle without proper trade plate arrangements isn’t covered and isn’t legal.
- Claims Related to Asbestos: A standard exclusion across virtually all liability policies.
- High-Value or Exotic Vehicles Without Specific Arrangement: Show cars and prestige vehicles commonly need to be declared and arranged specifically, not assumed to sit within standard limits.
What is motor trades insurance?
A specialised package for businesses that handle, repair or sell vehicles, mechanics, panel beaters, auto electricians and dealerships, covering property, liability and the specific risk of customer vehicles being in your care.
What's the difference between Garage Keeper's Liability and Motor Trade Road Risk?
Garage Keeper’s Liability covers a customer’s vehicle while it’s parked or stored at your premises. Motor Trade Road Risk covers it while you’re actually driving it, a test drive or a diagnostic run. Most workshops need both, since a vehicle passes through each risk window during a typical job.
Do I need trade plate insurance?
If your business moves, tests or demonstrates vehicles that aren’t currently registered, yes. Driving an unregistered vehicle on public roads without proper trade plate cover in place is illegal, not just uninsured.
I've heard some insurers no longer offer motor trade insurance, can I still get cover?
Yes. Some major direct insurers have narrowed or exited this space in recent times, but that reflects their own risk appetite, not a shortage of genuine cover available. Coverscope arranges motor trade insurance through a panel of specialist insurers who actively want this business, public liability, customer vehicles in your care, tools, business interruption and more.
Get in Touch
Simply fill in the form below and we’ll be in touch shortly, or feel free to call and tell us about your specific requirements.
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Suite 10B, Level 10, 2 Corporate Court, Bundall QLD 4217
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PO Box 7005, Mount Crosby QLD 4306
Our team continues to work remotely but you are welcome to arrange an appointment with one of our consultants.
Please complete the form to submit an enquiry.
