Haulage insurance in the UK is cover for a business that carries other people's goods for reward: hire-and-reward operators, not private car or van cover, and not a courier goods-in-transit add-on sold as a monthly price.
Running a small fleet?
Get a quote review for UK hire-or-reward fleets with roughly 1–15 vehicles.
It is a bundle, not one policy. You typically need hire-and-reward motor or HGV (place that with a specialist motor broker; Meshed is not an HGV comparison site), goods in transit, public liability, and employers' liability if you have staff. Meshed is an FCA-regulated UK broker. Mesh'd Limited trading as Meshed is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 1033248. We place the commercial liability and goods-in-transit side of that stack for limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders, from a panel of insurers. Broker fee is a flat 10%, with no admin add-ons.
If you only want a cheap HGV or truck quote, stop here and use a motor specialist. If you are an IT or trades contractor, that is Contractor Insurance UK. This page is haulage operators.
Who this is for
UK limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders that move other people's goods for reward, including:
Sole traders with an operator's licence running hire-and-reward
Limited companies and partnerships with an O-licence
Operators who already have motor elsewhere and need GIT plus public and employers' liability next to it
Hauliers who store goods as part of the job and need that declared
We work with limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders. Running tippers or fridges, or just varied your O-licence? Go straight to the tipper insurance quote, refrigerated haulage insurance quote or O-licence variation insurance quote page.
We do not compare HGV, truck, 7.5 tonne private-use, young-driver, or temporary HGV motor. Own-goods only (you move your own stock) is a different GIT wording from hire-and-reward. Tell us which you actually do.
Who we have helped
We place commercial haulage covers for UK limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders: operators whose customers or conditions of carriage require goods in transit, firms that already have hire-and-reward motor elsewhere and need the liability and GIT certificates to sit next to it, and sole traders with an O-licence who have been quoted as if they were a courier van.
GIT, public liability, and employers' liability
Those are the commercial parts Meshed places. Hire-and-reward motor sits alongside them; it is not the product we rank for.
Goods in transit is the cargo while it is being moved. Hire-and-reward (other people's goods, for a fee) is not the same as own-goods. International movements may sit under CMR; UK domestic work often sits under RHA or similar conditions of carriage. We name those distinctions so the schedule matches how you actually haul. We will not invent clause wording on this page.
Public liability is injury or property damage to third parties arising from the operation, not the load itself. Yard, loading, a member of the public at the premises. Detail sits on Public Liability Insurance UK.
Employers' liability is a legal duty once you employ anyone. The certificate has to be for at least £5 million, from an authorised insurer. Detail sits on Employers' Liability Insurance UK. A self-employed subcontractor is a different test. Tell us who actually drives and who is on PAYE.
Hire-and-reward motor / HGV is the vehicle. You need it. Meshed is not a HGV comparison site. Get that quote from a motor specialist, then come to us for GIT and liability.
Ask us if you also store goods, need trailer or environmental/pollution questions, or want personal accident looked at. Those are asks, not extra ranking pages.
Is haulage insurance required by law?
Goods in transit is not a blanket UK statute in the way employers' liability is. Three things still bite:
Employers' liability. If you employ staff, you must hold EL. That is the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act.
Operator licensing and customers. Hire-and-reward operators are expected to meet claims for the goods they carry. Contracts, RHA/CMR conditions, and customers often require GIT at a stated limit.
Motor. Vehicles used for hire-and-reward need the right commercial motor, not social-domestic-pleasure. That policy is not this page.
If you want the wider list of covers a UK company usually needs, that sits on What insurance does a UK business need.
What it costs
Premium follows the operation: whose goods, own-goods versus hire-and-reward, limits, territory, vehicles and trailers, claims, and whether anyone is employed. A sole trader on local work and a multi-vehicle operator will not price the same.
We will not publish a from-£X-a-month figure that only exists for courier GIT on a comparison site.
What you can control: an accurate description of hire-and-reward versus own-goods, the conditions of carriage you actually use, headcount, and not leaving the motor policy as the only document in the file.
How Meshed works
You tell us the company or sole trader, O-licence position, whose goods you carry, vehicles (for context), headcount, GIT limit, and current cover.
We review the documents and flag gaps between motor, GIT, public liability, and employers' liability.
We go to our panel and come back with options for the commercial covers we place.
You bind. We stay on for mid-term changes and renewal.
We don't do instant quotes. We take your details to the insurers on our panel and come back with the cover and rate that fit how you actually haul, not the first automated price. Specialist storage, international CMR, or incomplete motor schedules take longer, and we will say that up front. If you'd rather not dig out paperwork, sign a short letter of authority on our haulage insurance page and we will pull your current schedule for you.
FAQs
What does haulage insurance cover?
A bundle for operators carrying other people's goods for reward: typically hire-and-reward motor (elsewhere), goods in transit, public liability, and employers' liability if you have staff.
Is haulage insurance the same as hire and reward?
Hire and reward describes the use: you are paid to carry other people's goods. Haulage insurance is the stack around that use. Motor must be hire-and-reward rated; GIT must match hire-and-reward, not own-goods.
What insurance do I need to transport goods?
If they are other people's goods for reward: the right motor, GIT, public liability, and EL if you employ. If they are your own stock, say so. The GIT wording changes.
Is goods in transit a legal requirement?
Not as a single statute that names GIT. Employers' liability is a legal duty if you employ. Contracts and conditions of carriage usually make GIT a commercial requirement.
Can Meshed quote my HGV?
No. We are not an HGV comparison site. Place hire-and-reward motor with a specialist, then we place GIT and liability.
I am a sole trader with an O-licence. Can you help?
Yes. We place cover for limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders, including sole traders on hire-and-reward.
Are you an insurer?
No. Meshed is a broker. Mesh'd Limited trading as Meshed is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 1033248.
How fast can we bind?
Clean GIT and liability for a straightforward operator can be same-week. Missing motor schedules, storage, or international work take longer.
Vincent Liu
Co-founder & CTO
