Goods in Transit Cover: The Gap in Trade Policies

Tools in transit cover protects your tools. Goods in transit cover protects everything else in the van — the customer’s boiler, the kitchen units, the tiles you collected this morning. Most trade policies include the first and quietly leave out the second, and the difference only becomes obvious the day something expensive is stolen or damaged before it reaches site.

Two different covers that sound the same

Tools cover insures the tools and equipment you own and use to do your job. Drills, testers, benders, the mixer in the back. It normally comes in two flavours — cover in the van overnight, and cover away from the van on site — with different limits and conditions for each.

Goods in transit cover insures the property you are carrying that is not your working tools: materials, fittings, appliances, and often customers’ own goods. It responds when those items are lost, stolen or damaged while being carried.

They overlap in one place — both live in the back of your van — and are otherwise unrelated. A policy schedule showing a healthy tools limit tells you nothing about whether the £2,000 of oak flooring on top of them is insured.

The scenario that catches trades out

You collect a boiler from the merchant on the way to a job. It is on your invoice, but the customer has already paid you for it. The van is broken into at lunchtime.

Your tools cover responds to the tools. It does not respond to the boiler, because a boiler is stock or materials, not a tool. Your motor policy covers the van and the damage to it, not its contents. Public liability covers injury and damage to third-party property caused by your work, which is not this.

So unless you hold goods in transit cover, the boiler comes out of your pocket. And you still owe the customer a boiler, because you took their money for it.

Multiply that across a kitchen delivery, a bathroom suite, a pallet of tiles or a customer’s own appliance you agreed to collect, and the exposure is not small.

What goods in transit typically covers

Policies vary, but a standard goods in transit section usually covers loss or damage to goods you are carrying in a vehicle you own or use, caused by fire, theft, accident or an incident with the vehicle.

Common features to look for:

The limit per vehicle. Often set at a level chosen when you had less valuable loads. Check it against the most expensive thing you have ever carried, not the average.

Whose goods are covered. Some policies cover only your own materials. Some extend to goods held in trust — a customer’s property you have been entrusted with. If you ever collect on behalf of a customer, you need the wider version.

Loading and unloading. Many claims happen on the pavement, not the motorway. Confirm the cover extends to loading and unloading, not just the journey.

Overnight and unattended conditions. This is where claims are declined. Read this section properly.

The conditions that decline claims

Goods in transit and tools policies both carry conditions, and they are the reason genuine claims fail.

The overnight parking condition. Many policies require the vehicle to be kept in a locked building, or in a secure compound, or on a driveway within a certain distance of your home, between set hours. Parking on the street outside a hotel while you are on an away job can breach it.

The locked and secured condition. The vehicle must be locked and all security devices in operation. An unlocked van, even for two minutes at a merchant, is usually not covered.

Visible or concealed. Some policies require goods to be out of sight.

Forcible and violent entry. Many policies only respond where there is evidence of forced entry. Modern relay and key-cloning thefts leave no damage at all, which has caused real problems for trades. Ask specifically how your insurer treats a theft with no signs of forced entry.

Excluded items. Cash, documents, and sometimes specific high-value categories. Check whether anything you routinely carry sits on the exclusion list.

Read the conditions once, properly, and then change your habits to match them. It is a twenty-minute job that decides whether a claim pays.

How to spot the gap in your current policy

Get your schedule out and look for four things:

Is there a section headed goods in transit, or carriage of goods, with its own sum insured? If not, you probably do not have it.

What is the tools limit, and does it distinguish between in-vehicle and on-site?

Does the wording cover goods held in trust or on commission, as well as your own?

What are the overnight and security conditions, in plain words?

If you cannot answer all four from the schedule, ring your broker and ask them to confirm in writing. “I assumed it was included” is not a defence anyone has ever won with.

Practical steps that cost nothing

Do not leave materials in the van overnight when you can avoid it. Deliver direct to site where the customer can store them, or collect on the morning you need them.

Photograph high-value deliveries at collection and at unload. It settles arguments about whether damage happened in transit or on site.

Empty the van of anything valuable when you park anywhere unfamiliar, and use the “no tools left in this van overnight” stickers — they work more often than trades expect.

Keep receipts and delivery notes digitally. Claims need proof of value, and a photograph of a merchant receipt takes five seconds.

Tell your insurer when your loads change. If you have moved from small domestic work to fitting kitchens, your old limit is now wrong.

Getting paid properly for materials

The exposure is worst when you have taken a customer’s money for materials you have not yet installed. Two habits reduce it: stage payments timed around delivery, and having materials delivered to site or to the customer rather than carried in your van.

Neither is always possible, which is why the cover matters. But the trades who lose the most in a van break-in are usually the ones carrying a full job’s materials on a full prepayment.

Keeping the work steady while you sort your cover

Insurance is one of those overheads that only feels expensive when the diary is thin. Trade Pilot is free to join and only charges when a real local job lands in your inbox, with each lead sold to no more than three trades in an area — so there is no monthly subscription to carry alongside your premiums.

Frequently asked questions

Is goods in transit the same as tools in transit?

No. Tools cover protects your own working tools. Goods in transit covers materials, fittings and other goods you are carrying. Many trade policies include the first without the second.

Does my van insurance cover what is inside the van?

Generally not. A motor policy covers the vehicle and third-party liability. Contents need separate tools and goods in transit cover.

Am I covered if my van is stolen with a customer’s boiler in it?

Only if you hold goods in transit cover that extends to goods held in trust, and only if you met the policy conditions on locking and overnight parking. Check the schedule rather than assume.

What happens if there are no signs of forced entry?

Some policies require forcible and violent entry, which is a problem given modern electronic vehicle theft. Ask your insurer directly how they treat a keyless or relay theft and get the answer in writing.

How much cover do I need?

Base it on the most valuable load you realistically carry, not the average. If you occasionally collect a full kitchen, that is your number.

Do I need it if materials are always delivered to site?

Less, but not never. If you ever collect from a merchant, carry appliances between jobs, or take a customer’s item away to work on, you have an exposure.

Related reading: insurance for tools and vans · van insurance for tradesmen · how to prevent tool theft · van security upgrades that lower your premium