A Simple Guide to Breakdown Cover for Businesses

If you have our own business and want to keep it running smoothly, breakdown cover is an absolute necessity. This type of cover will provide you with a way to get your vehicles back on the road quickly if there is an incident such as a flat tyre or the battery dies. It is important that you learn everything you can about and compare breakdown cover before making a final decision. When you take the time to learn about it, you can make the right decision for your business.

What are the Benefits of Breakdown Cover for a Business?

Some of the main benefits of getting breakdown cover for your business include:

  • Save Money: You can actually save quite a lot of money with breakdown cover. If an of your vehicles ever need to get towed, you won’t have to pay out-of-pocket, which can be expensive. The key replace, tyre replace and battery replace options with these policies can also save you money.
  • Get back on the road faster: Breakdown cover also gives you a convenient way to keep your vehicles on the road with minimal downtime. If a vehicle blows a tyre, breakdown cover can be of immense help. The faster your vehicles get back on the road, the less damage will be done to your bottom line.
  • Peace of mind: If you own a business that involves transporting goods, breakdown cover will give you peace of mind. Being an entrepreneur can be stressful enough without having to worry about vehicle breakdowns.

How to Get the Best Deal

All businesses want to save as much money as possible on everything, including insurance and breakdown cover. The best way to go about doing this is to compare quotes that you get online. It won’t take long to get these quotes, and it’s well worth the time and effort. Once you have spent a little bit of time doing this, you will know where to get the best possible deal. Make sure that you give each provider accurate information so you get quotes that reflect how much you will actually end up paying.

Insured Breakdown Cover vs. Pas-As-You Go

The most common type of breakdown cover uses an insurance structure. This is when you pay each month or year for these services and use them when they are needed. There are also policies with a pay-as-you-go setup, where you pay for the services you need each time. It is important to take a close look at both of these options before making a decision. A lot of businesses choose the insurance type of cover, simply because it is easier and more convenient.

Cost

The total cost of your breakdown cover will depend on many factors, including:

  • How many vehicles you are getting cover for (you can most likely get a discount if you have at least several vehicles).
  • Distance your vehicles travel (the farther your vehicles travel on a regular basis, the more this cover will likely cost).
  • Condition of the vehicles (the age and condition of your vehicles will affect the price).

You need to factor in all of these things when setting your expectations from the start. The older your vehicles are, the more you will likely pay. If you have new vehicles that don’t travel very far, you can probably get a good deal on this type of cover.

What to Look for

There are a number of specific things that all businesses should look for when shopping around for the right breakdown cover policy. You need a policy that includes 24 hour roadside assistance. It is fairly standard, but you still need to make a point of getting it. This is especially important if your vehicles travel at all times of the day and night.

Towing services are also a standard part of most breakdown cover policies, but there are sometimes limitations. You might only be able to get the vehicle towed to the nearest garage, depending on the specifics of the policy. You can get a policy that allows for towing to anywhere in the UK, which can be useful.

You should make a point of getting breakdown cover that includes repairs as well. While it will only cover repairs up to a certain amount, this can help you save money. The more vehicles you have in your fleet, the more likely you are to use this feature.

Any business that maintains a fleet of vehicles needs to have breakdown cover. It will provide you with peace of mind as well as a way to keep your operation functioning as smoothly as possible. Every minute that one of your vehicles is out of commission means you are losing money, so you have to keep that in mind.

Will one Payday Loan Lead to Another?

Many people might say that one thing leads to another and they may also say that once you start getting into debt you will acquire more debt. This might very well be the case for some people but it does not have to always be the case. With a payday loan people seem to be particularly worried about it because they hear of others using another payday loan to pay off the last one. There are things that you can do to make sure that this does not happen and it is wise to be aware of them.

  • Find out exactly how much you need to repay and when – it is really important to make sure that you know exactly what is expected of you. If you go to the lenders website and put in how much money you wish to borrow and how long for, you will find that it will let you know how much you will have to repay. This will take into account any fees or interest that you need to pay and so you will be able to know exactly the amount that you will have to pay back. The date of repayment should be the day that you get paid.
  • Check your finances – once you have this information then you will be able to find out whether this is something that you will be able to afford. If you look at bank statements then you will be able to see how much you are paid and whether this will be enough to cover this bill.
  • Find out what else you will need to pay – it is also important though, to make sure that you take into account the other things that you have to pay for. You will probably have other bills going out on the day that you are paid or other things to pay for through the month. It is really important to work out whether you will still have enough money in order to afford these as well. If you do not then you can run the risk of getting into financial trouble, However, you may still be able to manage.
  • Calculate if you need to cut spending or earn more – You should take a look at your typical pending and work out whether you can cut down in any places. It may be that you buy things which you will be happy to go without or that you can find cheaper alternatives. It is worth being very specific with your maths though, making sure that you are exactly aware of where you can cut down and by how much. This is because it may be that you will not be able to do enough in order to manage. If this is the case then you may need to do some extra work in order to earn money so that you can afford the loan. Think about what work is available for you to do and whether it is practical for you to be able to do it.

Once you have this information you will be clear as to whether you will manage the loan. You will be able to work whether you can afford it or if you cannot, whether there are other things that you can do in order to make sure that you will be able to afford it. If you cannot afford it and cannot find ways to manage, then you will need to avoid the loan and find another way to buy whatever it is that you needed with the loan money. If you feel that it will be a struggle but you have a plan on how to manage, then you will need to be confident that you will be able to stick to the plan and ensure that you are able to spend less and earn more so that you can make the repayment and manage all of your other expenses.

It is also worth making sure that even if you can afford the loan, that you really need it. Payday loans are designed for emergency use and so if the reason for getting one is not an emergency then you should consider whether there are alternative ways to get the money, such as saving up over a period of time. Even if it is an emergency, make sure that there are no alternatives to the loan such as using savings or getting an advance on your salary. There may also be alternative loan types that you can use. If you do decide that a payday loan is the right option for you, then you need to make sure that you compare the different payday loans available so that you are not paying more than necessary. Do check out whether you are going to get good value for money from the loan.

Am I safe Getting a Payday Loan?

Most of us will not be that familiar with the lenders that provide payday loans. Although we tend to know the high street banks and building societies and the more well-known internet banks, payday lenders tend to be less well-known. This is partly because they are newer, but also because we do not see their branches when we walk down the street and may not see much advertising from them. This can lead us to feel that we do not know them well enough and therefore we should not trust them. It is important to firstly realise that just because we have not heard of lender it does not mean that we should automatically not trust them. However, it is important to make sure that we do find out more about them, so that then we can decide whether we trust them or not. There are lots of ways that you can find out more and it is wise to pick a selection of these.

  • Ask people you know – it can be really good to ask people that you know whether they have used payday lenders and what they think of them. It can feel a bit difficult to discuss finance with other people, but it can be really useful. They will let you know what lenders they have used and what they thought of them and it could help you to decide which ones might be suitable and which may not be. If they have had a bad experience it is good to find out why and then you can judge whether this was down to the lender and whether the problem is something that would be important to you.
  • Look at their websites – to find out more about the lenders, you could take a look at their website. The site may have information about the company, but it will also give you an idea of what they are like. From the way things are worded it should help you to get a feel for them. It will also give you the opportunity to find out more about the loans that they are offering. Emu is a great example of a payday firm with a highly professional website.
  • Look at review sites– there are some sites which review payday loans and looking at these will help you in some ways. They can be good in a way, as they let you know what loans and lenders are available so you can investigate them. The reviews might be useful but many will be biased because the companies reviewing them get commission on leads. Therefore, they will be more likely to recommend lenders which pay them the most money. This means that you will need to be careful with their recommendations and reviews.
  • Look at personal finance sites – You may find that there are general personal finance sites online which will have information about payday loans that you may find useful. You will need to be careful, as again these may be biased but you should be able to find some which are not. If you look at a big selection of them then this should help you to get a more balanced view.
  • Contact the lender – if you get in touch with the lender and ask them some questions then it will help you to decide what they are like. Judging them on how quickly and well they answer and how easy it is to get in touch with them will help you to decide whether you like them or not.

This may seem like a lot of work. However, if you want to find out more about lenders and see which ones you can trust then you will have to do some research. It is likely that you will be glad that you did too as you will be able to feel that you can use a lender that you know a lot more about and that you will be able to trust. You should then be able to feel safe with them and that should help you to feel more confident in your decision.

If your safety concerns were more about the risk of a loan then you will need to take a different approach and make sure that you have enough money to be able to pay it off easily and manage afterwards.  It is worth working hard on doing these calculations so you can be really sure that it is the right decision. Look back at your bank statements and look at how much money you normally have and think about whether you will be able to manage with that much. Consider how easy it will be for you to repay the loan and whether you will then have enough money left to cover all of your normal bills. If you are concerned then think about whether you can change your spending habits or earn more so that it is easier to manage.