Membership of the FLTA is effectively a quality mark, but do your insurers understand that and adjust your insurance premiums accordingly? In addition, does a standard business/motor trade insurance policy really cover the very specific risks that FLTA members encounter?

The FLTA maintains the standards in the fork lift dealership business, with a key aim of enhancing safety and productivity in members' premises. Accordingly, an FLTA member will have fewer insurance claims than a non-FLTA member. Fewer claims should equate to a reduced insurance cost.

The FLTA appointed Oval Insurance Broking (Oval) to undertake an in-depth analysis of FLTA members' insurance needs and identify ways to support them. As a result, Oval identified a clear opportunity to bring about a significant change in the pricing of insurance for FLTA members.

Of equal significance is that standard market policies do have gaps in cover. These are just some of the cover deficiencies that have been identified:

• Liability incurred through LOLER/PUWER examinations
• Theft of trucks from the open
• Theft of goods from vehicles overnight
• Theft by hirer
• Training activities

Oval's expertise in the sector has allowed them to design a bespoke insurance product, plugging those gaps.

"Oval put together a product that made a huge amount of sense for us" says David Ellison. "Oval's expertise has helped a lot of FLTA members, which has further deepened Oval's knowledge of the business."

"Members need to feel assured that they are not paying over the odds because they are dealing with brokers who don't understand the business" says David Ellison. "Oval's work has definitely made it easier, not just to obtain insurance coverage, but also to cover all aspects of member's requirements. Now areas, like engineers' indemnity, are properly covered. It has helped us enormously to work with someone that understands the business and understands what the issues are".

Oval is a top ten UK commercial insurance broker, combining quality service with the insurance 'buying power' of a large national operation. If you would like Oval to advise you on your insurance needs and provide a cover proposal and competitive quotation, email your contact details and renewal date to shirley.turner@theovalgroup.com or call 02476 232600