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Skip hire

Skip Hire Insurance

Insurance advice for skip hire operators covering skip lorries, hired-out skips, customer sites, waste carriage and the limits of motor and liability cover.

Request a risk review 0330 133 4386
Start with the exposure

Understand the exposure before comparing terms.

A skip hire firm runs on a vehicle, but a motor policy only answers part of the exposure. The lorry may be on the road, tipping on a customer's drive or lifting a skip from a pavement; the skip itself is equipment left in public view; and the waste inside brings carrier and disposal responsibilities. We walk through each stage of the job so that motor, public liability, goods in transit and property wording are tested against how you actually work.

OAK VIEW

Most skip hire losses are not about the lorry being driven badly. They are about what happened on the customer's side of the gate.

Cover to consider

Built from the risk outwards.

Availability and scope depend on insurer acceptance and the terms offered for your business.

01

Skip lorry and fleet

Motor cover for lifting vehicles, with attention to who drives, use at customer sites and lifting-equipment risks.

02

Public liability

Cover for damage and injury arising from skip placement, tipping and collection, including damage to driveways and underground services.

03

Skips and containers

Consideration of owned skips as equipment, including loss, theft and damage while hired out, subject to terms.

04

Waste carried

Review of how carried waste, and any goods or materials of customers, are treated under motor and liability wording.

Practical buying guidance

Follow the skip from your yard to the tip

Walk the job in order: loading the skip at your yard, driving to the customer, lifting it off, placing it on a drive or road, collecting it later, and tipping it. A motor policy answers vehicle use, but lifting gear operation, damage caused while placing a skip and the status of the skip itself may sit under liability or equipment cover instead.

Distinguish your own plant from hired-in vehicles and skips. If you hire vehicles in peak periods or use sub-contract drivers, the policy needs to reflect that, including who is permitted to drive. Contract terms with customers may also shift responsibility for the skip, and an indemnity you have agreed to may not be covered automatically.

Waste adds a further layer. Custody of carried waste, goods inadvertently mixed in, and your duty of care to pass waste to an authorised site are legal matters. Insurance may respond to damage or injury, but it does not remove regulatory duties, and some fines or penalties may be uninsurable.

Compare the wording, not just the premium

A generic motor policy answers the vehicle; a skip hire programme tests the lift, the placement, the container and the waste separately.

For more detail, read Skip hire insurance: road use, loading, owned skips and the waste chain.

Common questions

Useful answers before you approach the market.

Does motor insurance cover the tipping or lifting operation?+

Not always. Motor policies focus on use of the vehicle, and loading, unloading or operating lifting gear can be treated differently. We check how the wording deals with these tasks and whether liability cover needs to respond.

Who insures a skip on a customer's property?+

Usually you remain responsible for your own skips unless contract terms say otherwise. Check hire terms, any customer indemnities and what your equipment cover includes while skips are away from your yard.

What if a skip is placed on the highway?+

Permits, lighting and marking duties can apply and insurers may ask about them. Damage or injury caused by an unlit or badly placed skip is an exposure we discuss with you.

Is this a general motor trade policy?+

No. A skip operation needs the vehicle, equipment, site and waste chain considered together, rather than a generic motor product.

Programme review

What an underwriter will want to understand

Motor fleet versus public liability

A skip lorry is a vehicle and a lifting machine. Motor insurance responds to use of the vehicle, but lifting gear operation, tipping and placement of skips may be treated under liability instead, or excluded from one and covered by the other. Ask how the wording describes these tasks. Our existing fleet advice covers wider motor questions; this page deals with where a skip operation differs from it.

  • Driving the vehicle on the road
  • Operating the lifting arm or hook
  • Placing or removing the skip
  • Tipping at a disposal site

Tipping, hired skips and your own plant

Skips you own are equipment, and their loss or damage while on hire usually sits outside the motor policy. If you hire in skips or vehicles, the terms of that hire may transfer responsibility to you. Placement on highways brings permit, lighting and marking duties, and a poorly marked skip can cause injury or vehicle damage.

Damage to driveways, drains or underground services during placement is a recurring theme. Consider how liability wording treats it and whether any limit applies.

Custody, goods and waste chain limits

Waste you carry is not necessarily goods in transit in the usual sense. Customers sometimes dispose of items in error, and you may carry materials that need specific handling. Insurance may respond to damage or injury, but it does not remove your duties as a waste carrier, and fines may not be insurable.

Insurance and contractual responsibilities across the waste chain need review. Do not assume that tipping waste or using a disposal contractor ends your legal duties. Check the permissions and arrangements applicable to your activity and retain the required transfer and disposal records; insurance does not replace waste duty-of-care obligations.

All cover is subject to insurer acceptance, underwriting information and the terms of the policy issued.

Commercial enquiry

Tell Oak about the account.

Give us the outline. We will ask for schedules and documents separately, so please do not send sensitive personal data in this form.

Main business trading/contact address

Enter the UK address where your business trades or can be contacted. This is not automatically the address of the premises you want to insure.

For properties, warehouses, depots and other premises, tell us the actual insured site address separately if it differs. For a large portfolio or fleet of locations, you can ask us to contact you for a schedule instead.

Your business and insurance requirements

Brief estimates, ranges or “unknown” are enough to start. Do not include medical information, claimant or tenant names, bank details, policy numbers or confidential documents. An enquiry does not put cover in place.

Or email info@oak-insurancebrokers.co.uk or call 0330 133 4386.

Related specialisms

Fleet insurance

Motor Fleet Insurance

Liability to other people

Public Liability Insurance

People working for your business

Employers' Liability Insurance

Commercial combined insurance

Commercial Combined Insurance

Speak directly to Oak

Talk to Oak about skip hire insurance.

Tell us what you do, what needs protecting and when the policy renews. We'll take it from there.

Start an enquiry 0330 133 4386