Becoming a (Part-Time) Trader - Advice on Insurance?

[CrawfW]

iHi,

Has anyone tried setting themselves up as a Motor Trader so they can access auctions like BCA, which are no longer open to the general public?

The reason for asking is that i'm getting tired for looking at cars sold by small dealers which they themselves recently bought at auction. They know nothing about the cars - model-wise or the specific example. I'm then just paying their mark-up.

There are about half-a-dozen car purchases needed across the family, mostly under 10K each, hence wondering about getting into the auctions.

I tried getting some quotes for Motor Trade Insurance online, but none of them gave prices. My mobile has been running red hot with calls all day, but i haven't been able to take many as i'm at work.

One place quoted £6.5K for high-performance cars and £1.5K for "everyday" ones. Is this the right ball-park?

If so, seems like i will be continuing to make my way around the back-street dealers of Britain.....

[123DWA]

Sounds about right for trade insurance, I suspect the £1500 policy will have a £25k excess to discourage you from claiming.

Also if you're part time you'll only be eligible for the lowest tier of membership with BCA which means you're looking at £800 of buyers fees on a £10k car. Also if you don't know which sections to avoid you can get your fingers burnt easily & you have to pay for it before they'll even allow you to book a time for collection.

[CrawfW]

Thanks 123DWA.

What do you mean by sections? Any idea how the fees scale between, say, 3K and 25K? 8% throughout?

[buyer&seller]

My last traders policy, which I didn't renew this year, was just under a £1000, maximum vehicle value was £10k, I had a fair amount of NCB.

To have a traders policy you do actually have to be a motor trader, in the event of a claim the insurer will wish to see evidence of dealing activity, that's purchase invoices and sales invoices, also from my experience there aren't too many companies wanting the business of "part time traders/home traders" these days so you might struggle to find a company to take you on at a sensible premium.

As previously mentioned buying from BCA these days is fraught with potential problems and isn't for those without knowledge and experience, the fees are getting expensive too as they get more and more greedy, there's no published list of fees for traders they just seem to make it up as they go along.

[CrawfW]

Thanks for the comments. Really seems like a closed system, very different to how it used to be. Frustrating, but guess you have to pick your fights.......