Skip hire cover

Skip hire insurance for skip lorries and the skips they deliver

Chain-lift skip loaders, mini skip lorries and the skips you leave on drives and streets. Fill in one short form to be put in touch with specialist brokers who understand skip hire risks.

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Skip loader lorries
One lorry or a fleet
Skips on hire

Yellow builder's skip filled with soil and rubble — Once a skip is dropped, it stays on someone else's property or the road for days, which brings risks of its own.

Quick answer

Skip hire insurance is the cover a skip business needs for its skip loader lorries, the skips it puts out on hire and the people its work could affect. The lorries need HGV insurance for carrying customers' waste, while damage caused by a skip sitting on a road or driveway is usually a matter for public liability (opens in a new tab). Many firms also insure the skips themselves against theft, fire and damage, and hold employers' liability (opens in a new tab) once they take on staff.

Skip hire cover at a glance

Skip lorries that carry customers' waste are insured for haulage, also called hire and reward.
Lifting and lowering skips is a large part of the lorry's risk, on the road and on private ground.
A skip left on a street or drive can cause injury or damage long after the lorry has gone.
The skips on hire are valuable stock and are not covered by the lorry policy.
Waste carrier registration and the types of waste you accept both matter to insurers.

What skip hire insurance covers

Skip hire cover is usually built from a few parts rather than one policy. The lorry policy is the starting point, with the skips and your liability to the public added around it.

The skip lorryThird party injury and damage while driving between your yard, customers and the tip, plus your own lorry on comprehensive cover.

Loading and unloadingHow the policy treats the lorry while its arms lift a skip on or off varies, so it is one of the first points to check.

Skips out on hireSeparate cover for the skips themselves if they are stolen, set alight or damaged while on a customer's site.

Skips on roads and drivesClaims from a car hitting a skip or a skip cracking a driveway usually fall under public liability (opens in a new tab).

Lifting gearChains, arms and hydraulics are part of the lorry's value and are worth listing when the cover is arranged.

Breakdown and extrasRecovery, a replacement lorry and legal expenses are usually add-ons. See HGV breakdown cover.

Skip lorry types and what insurers look at

Insurers want to know which lorries you run and the skips they handle, because each combination works in a different way on the street.

Skip lorries and containers, the work they do and the points insurers tend to look at
Vehicle or equipment	Typical work	What insurers look at
Chain-lift skip loader	Builders' skips delivered to and collected from homes and sites	Lifting near people and cars, reversing in narrow streets
Skip loader with telescopic arms	Placing skips over walls, kerbs or into awkward spaces	Ground stability, lifting gear condition, operator experience
Mini skip lorry	Mini and midi skips for gardens and small jobs	Who drives, licence category, overloaded skips
Skips on hire	Containers left on drives, sites and roads for days at a time	Theft, fire, lighting and marking on the road

Moving large open or enclosed containers rather than skips? Roll-on roll-off lorries are rated differently: see hook loader insurance. Running grab lorries for muck-away? See tipper lorry insurance.

Skip hire for customers or clearing your own waste

The class of use on the lorry policy follows whose waste is in the skip. A skip hire firm and a builder who owns one skip lorry for their own sites are insured in different ways.

Skip hire firms

Taking customers' waste away for a fee is haulage, also called hire and reward. See haulier insurance.

Builders with their own skip lorry

Moving waste from your own jobs, with no skips hired out, is usually carriage of own goods. See own goods cover.

Which class of use covers hiring out skips?

NoSocial, domestic and pleasurePrivate use only, with no skip work at all.
NoCarriage of own goodsWaste from your own building jobs, not skips hired to the public.
YesHaulage, or hire and rewardDelivering, collecting and emptying skips for paying customers.

Registration details insurers may ask for

Carrying waste for others generally needs waste carrier registration, and skip lorries over 3.5 tonnes used for hire work need a standard operator licence. Brokers often ask for both, so it helps to have the numbers ready when you start a skip hire quote (opens in a new tab).

What affects the price of skip hire insurance

A skip business is priced on how it works on residential streets as much as on the lorries themselves.

At the drop

Lifting a loaded skip over cars, walls and pavements, often with the public close by, is one of the main risks in skip work.

Between drops

Short runs, tight turns and reversing in narrow streets add up over a working week of deliveries and collections.

Waste you acceptMixed builders' waste, green waste and anything hazardous, such as asbestos or fridges, are viewed very differently.
Lifting gear checksRecords of regular inspection for chains, arms and hydraulics help show the lorries are well looked after.
DriversExperience on skip loaders and years holding a C or C1 licence usually count for more than age.
Your yardWhere lorries and spare skips are kept overnight, and how it is secured, affects both theft and fire risk.
Claims historyPast claims for the lorries and for skips on hire, including liability claims from the public.
Size of the businessSeveral skip lorries usually sit better on HGV fleet insurance.

Cover that often sits alongside a skip lorry policy

The lorry policy deals with driving. These pick up the parts of skip hire that happen after the lorry has driven away.

Public liabilityInjury or damage caused by skips on roads and drives, and by your work on customers' property.View cover (opens in a new tab)Employers' liabilityUsually needed once you take on drivers, yard staff or office help.View cover (opens in a new tab)Hook loader insuranceFor roll-on roll-off lorries carrying larger containers.View cover HGV fleet insuranceAll your skip lorries on one policy with one renewal.View cover HGV breakdown coverRecovery for a skip loader stuck with a loaded skip on its arms.View cover New operator HGV insuranceFor a skip business starting out without its own claims record.View cover

Before you buy

Questions worth asking about skip hire cover

Skip hire policies can look alike on price but differ on the points that matter for skip work. Each one is worth settling before cover starts.

Is lifting a skip covered?And does damage during a lift fall under the lorry policy or public liability?
Are skips on hire insured?Including theft, fire and damage while they sit on customers' property.
What about skips on the road?Some liability cover depends on skips being lit, marked and placed with permission.
Are hazardous items excluded?What happens if a customer hides banned waste in a skip?
Who can drive the lorries?Age limits, licence categories and experience on skip loaders vary by insurer.
Is the yard covered?Lorries, spare skips and equipment kept at your base may need property cover.
Is a replacement lorry offered?Without one, a damaged skip loader can mean missed collections and unhappy customers.
Does the class of use fit?Hiring skips to the public and moving your own waste are declared differently.

How it works

How to get a skip hire insurance quote

HGV Insure is an information site, not an insurer or a broker. We link you to MyMoneyComparison.com, a comparison service that can match skip hire businesses with specialist brokers.

1
Start your quote
Get my skip hire quote takes you to our partner, MyMoneyComparison.com.
2
Describe your lorries and skips
The form asks about each skip lorry, its weight, your operator licence, who drives and how the business works.
3
Compare and decide
A specialist broker contacts you with options, subject to insurers' acceptance criteria. There is no obligation to buy.

Get my skip hire quote (opens in a new tab)

FAQs

Skip hire insurance FAQs

What is skip hire insurance?

It is the set of cover a skip business needs: HGV insurance for the skip loader lorries, cover for the skips out on hire, and liability cover for injury or damage caused by skips and the work around them.

Does skip lorry insurance cover lifting and lowering skips?

Often, but the details differ. Some lorry policies include the lifting operation, while others treat it as a working risk and leave damage during a lift to public liability (opens in a new tab). It is a point to settle with the broker before you buy.

Who pays if a car hits one of my skips on the road?

A claim like this usually goes to the skip firm's public liability insurer rather than the lorry policy. Insurers may ask how your skips are lit and marked at night and whether they were placed with council permission.

Are the skips themselves covered by my lorry insurance?

No. The lorry policy covers the lorry. Skips on hire are a separate asset and need their own cover for theft, fire and damage, often arranged alongside your liability insurance.

Do I need waste carrier registration to insure a skip business?

Businesses that carry other people's waste generally need waste carrier registration, and brokers often ask for the number along with your operator licence details.

What if a customer puts something hazardous in a skip?

Policies treat this differently. Some liability policies have conditions about the waste you accept, so it helps to explain your checks on what goes in the skips and to ask the broker how hidden hazardous items are handled.

Is a roll-on roll-off lorry insured like a skip loader?

Not quite. Roll-on roll-off lorries pull larger containers on board with a hook arm, so insurers rate them separately. See hook loader insurance.

Can I get skip hire insurance as a new business?

Yes, some insurers accept new skip firms, usually asking more about driver experience, the yard and the waste you plan to take. See new operator HGV insurance.

Can all my skip lorries go on one policy?

Yes. Once you run two or more lorries, a fleet policy can bring them together under one renewal.

Does HGV Insure sell skip hire insurance?

No. HGV Insure is an information site and an affiliate of MyMoneyComparison.com, which matches businesses with 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.

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