Motorcycle Dealer - Ltd Company / Liability Insurance

[KTMsm]

I'm considering becoming a motorbike dealer (small scale to start with) and looking at whether I should start a Ltd Company

The reason I started looking into it was to set up a dormant Ltd Company to protect my trading name, from what I can see it will likely cost me more and be more onerous to set up a Ltd Co.

If the worst happened - someone on a test ride / buys a bike and then due to mechanical failure (chain breaks, a bearing seizes etc) they are badly hurt / killed, would that be covered by my liability insurance or would I only be covered by being a Director of a Ltd Co. ?

I presume this is the reason most are sold with a fresh MOT - to mitigate any claim

[KTMsm]

Thanks - it's more a hobby growing into a business than a money making scheme but I'd rather not loose everything should the unexpected happen.

I recall my last business's liability insurance excluded gross negligence - which was the only reason I might have needed to claim upon it !

[KTMsm]

V8forweekends said:

Liability Insurance (the clue is in the name) is only to cover your (or your limited co) for things for which you are legally liable.
You aren't automatically liable if a chain breaks and causes an accident.

The Courts tend to be heavily weighted in favour of consumers these days

My friend ran a charity fireworks night for many years but stopped recently after he was sued by a woman who twisted her ankle in a rabbit hole whilst walking around the field it was held in - IIRC she was awarded £20k