Home care fleet insurance for domiciliary care providers and their care workers
Pool cars and cars handed to care workers for their rounds, insured together with business use set for back-to-back visits. One short form puts you in touch with specialist brokers who arrange cover for care providers across the UK.
- Pool cars and cars given to carers
- Short visits from early till late
- Client keys and key safe codes
Home care fleet insurance in brief
Home care fleet insurance is one motor policy for the cars a domiciliary care provider owns, leases or provides to its care workers, covering the drive between clients' homes on a single schedule. It belongs with the other kinds of trade and service fleet insurance, and it is about carers driving to people at home rather than moving patients to hospital, which is the job of ambulance and patient transport fleet insurance.
Many providers begin with carers using their own cars, then add company cars for staff without one or on rural rounds. Insurers want to see which cars belong to the business and who may drive each.
Getting carers to clients
Pool cars, allocated cars or carers' own cars?
Most care agencies end up with a blend of all three. The fleet policy covers the first two, while the third stays on each carer's private insurance, which is where grey fleet insurance for staff using their own cars becomes the relevant topic.
Pool cars at the office
A small group of cars kept at the branch and picked up by whichever carer is on that round.
- Several carers share each car across the week
- Keys and fuel cards handed over at the office
- Insurers ask how drivers are approved before use
A car provided to one carer
A company car given to a care worker who keeps it at home and starts the round from there.
- Home postcodes usually asked for
- Personal use outside shifts is a separate choice
- Partners and family driving it is often excluded
Carers driving their own cars
Staff using a private car on care calls and claiming mileage back from the provider.
- Each carer needs business use on their own policy
- The provider may want proof at each renewal
- Not part of the fleet schedule itself
A carer's day on the road
What does a domiciliary care round look like to an insurer?
A care round is a string of short hops between homes, often starting before breakfast and ending after the evening medication call, and the class of use on each car needs to reflect that.
- Business use: Driving from one client's home to the next, plus trips to the office for rotas and supplies.
- Travel to the first call: Carers with allocated cars often drive straight from home to their first client, which insurers treat as part of the working day.
- Personal use: Some providers let carers use an allocated car off shift; others keep it for work only.
Tight parking on estates and narrow drives is where minor knocks tend to happen, and some providers fit dashcams to pool cars.
Clients in the car
Can care workers take clients out in a company car?
Trips to the shops, a GP surgery or a day centre are part of many care plans. A client in the passenger seat is a different risk from an empty car, so it is worth telling the broker how often it happens.
Lifts and planned outings
A quick lift to the pharmacy, or weekly trips to clubs and family set out in a care plan.
- May be treated as carrying passengers for the business
- Any charge to the client is a question for the broker
- Seat belts and booster cushions checked before use
Wheelchair users
Clients who travel seated in a wheelchair need an adapted vehicle with a ramp and restraints.
- Adapted vehicles listed separately on the schedule
- Ramps and restraints declared to the insurer
- Staff trained to secure the chair
Providers that run a wheelchair accessible minibus for group days out may find minibus fleet insurance fits that vehicle better than the car policy.
Keys and lone working
Client keys, key safe codes and carers working alone
Care workers often carry clients' door keys or know key safe codes. If a car is broken into and keys or a printed rota with addresses go missing, the problem reaches well beyond the vehicle.
Client keys and codes
Changing clients' locks after a theft sits outside most motor cover.
- Key cover is sometimes an add-on
- Keeping codes out of the car helps
- Worth asking how a theft of keys is handled
A carer stranded at night
A breakdown on a dark lane between late calls leaves a carer alone and a client waiting.
- Breakdown cover that treats lone drivers as a priority
- Onward travel so the next call is not missed
- Cover from the carer's home, not only the office
A carer hurt while working may claim against the provider as an employer, and that cover is usually arranged as employers' liability insurance, separate from the fleet.
Before the quote
What do insurers ask a home care provider?
Care teams change often, so many providers ask about any driver fleet insurance to let a new carer use a pool car without being named first, usually with age and licence conditions. Other points a broker tends to cover:
- How many carers driveThe number of care workers using company cars, and how many use their own.
- Pool or allocatedWhich cars are shared at a branch and which are kept at a carer's home.
- Driver age and experienceNewly qualified drivers are common in care, and insurers often set age or licence terms.
- Area coveredTown rounds with heavy parking, or rural rounds with long dark lanes.
- Clients carriedWhether clients travel in the cars and how often.
- Recent claimsParking knocks, reversing damage and any theft from the cars.
How it works
One quote form, specialist fleet brokers
Insure Fleet is an information site, not an insurer or a broker. We link you to MyMoneyComparison.com, a comparison service that gives businesses a gateway to brokers who arrange fleet insurance every day.
Start your quote
Get my fleet quote takes you to our partner, MyMoneyComparison.com.
Describe the care company's cars
The form asks about the vehicles, the work they do and who drives, so you can be matched with a specialist fleet broker.
Compare and decide
A broker contacts you with options, subject to insurers' acceptance criteria. There is no obligation to buy.
Before you buy
Questions for the broker about a care provider's cars
Care agencies often find gaps only after a bump on the way to a call or a car stolen with client keys inside.
- Can any approved carer drive a pool car?Some policies need each driver named; others allow approved staff within set terms.
- Is travel from home to the first call covered?Allocated cars started from home need the right use on the schedule.
- Are clients covered as passengers?Regular outings with clients may need declaring.
- What happens if client keys are stolen with the car?Lock changes for clients are often outside motor cover.
- Is a replacement car offered?Without one, a round may go uncovered during repairs.
FAQs
Home care fleet insurance questions
What is home care fleet insurance?
Home care fleet insurance is one motor policy for the pool cars and allocated cars a domiciliary care provider runs for its care workers. The cars are rated much like any car fleet run by a business, plus questions about short visits and clients travelling.
Do carers using their own cars need business use?
Yes. Driving between clients' homes is business use, which a private policy for social use and commuting is unlikely to include. Many providers check carers' certificates at the start and at each renewal.
Are clients covered when they travel in a company car?
The motor policy usually covers passengers if the car is insured for the use it is being put to. Regular trips with clients, or any charge for transport, are worth declaring so the insurer knows clients are part of the work.
Can newly qualified care workers drive the pool cars?
Often, within the insurer's age and licence rules. Younger or recently qualified drivers may carry a higher excess.
Are electric cars a good fit for care rounds?
Many care providers use electric cars for short urban rounds. Home charging for carers with allocated cars, charging cables and repair times are points to raise, and electric fleet insurance covers what insurers usually ask.
Can a small care agency with two or three cars get fleet cover?
Many insurers will consider a fleet that size. Small fleet insurance explains how moving a few cars from separate policies onto one schedule usually works.
Does Insure Fleet sell insurance?
No. Insure Fleet is an information site and an affiliate of MyMoneyComparison.com, a comparison service that gives businesses a gateway to specialist brokers. When you start a quote you continue to MyMoneyComparison.com, and we may be paid a small commission if you are matched with and speak to a broker.
Ready to insure your care company's cars?
One form for pool and allocated cars, specialist brokers, no obligation.