Insurance and Liability Information

1. About this document

1.1 This document explains the relationship between Bities’ business insurance and its responsibilities to customers.

1.2 Please read it with the Booking and Service Terms and the agreed Booking specification in your Booking Confirmation.

1.3 Our business and contact details are set out in Company Information and Contact Details.

2. Business insurance and your Booking

2.1 Bities maintains commercial motor, public liability and goods-in-transit insurance arrangements for its transport operations.

2.2 Cover depends on the particular activity, goods, vehicle, people, territory and policy conditions.

2.3 Before we confirm a job, we assess from the details you provide whether we can accept it.

2.4 Our business insurance does not automatically give you a separate insurance policy or direct rights against an insurer.

2.5 We do not sell an optional customer insurance product under these terms. We do not promise that every item and every cause of loss is insured.

3. Tell us about the load

3.1 Please provide:

• an accurate description of the load;
• the approximate total load value; and
• an itemised inventory showing individual values for goods worth £500 or more.

3.2 Tell us about fragile items, unusual weights, valuable equipment, antiques, motorbikes, batteries, fuel and any other special handling risk.

3.3 A declaration of value does not itself confirm insurance or our acceptance of the goods.

3.4 We may request additional information, or decline work that we cannot safely undertake with suitable arrangements.

3.5 Higher-value or unusual work needs our express acceptance. Paying a surcharge does not imply additional insurance.

4. Scope and restrictions

4.1 The following may be subject to insurance restrictions: owner-packed goods, inadequate packing, pre-existing damage, wear and tear, internal mechanical or electrical failure, theft, overnight loads and specialist goods. Where relevant, we assess these matters before we accept a job.

4.2 An insurance restriction does not automatically exclude Bities’ own legal responsibility for damage that Bities causes.

4.3 Under our standard booking documents we do not offer storage, standalone passenger transport, hazardous-goods transport or international transport.

4.4 Accompanying customers may travel only as an incidental part of an expressly accepted goods booking, with suitable seating and insurance arrangements.

4.5 Requests involving film or photographic equipment, standalone motorbike transport, overnight custody or unusual values require our confirmation that we can accept the particular job with suitable insurance. A website service description alone is not that confirmation.

4.6 An overnight service under the Additional Charges Schedule is available only where it has been agreed in your Quotation, following the confirmation described in clause 4.5.

5. Liability and claims

5.1 Our legal responsibility is governed by the agreed contract and applicable law.

5.2 A policy limit is not automatically a limit on your compensation. An insurer’s exclusion or refusal does not automatically remove a valid claim against Bities.

5.3 We do not automatically deduct our insurance excess from compensation we owe you.

5.4 Nothing in this document limits your non-excludable consumer rights, or liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.

5.5 To raise a service or damage concern, contact Bities rather than an insurer. The Damage Claims and Refund Policy explains the procedure.

6. Evidence of insurance

6.1 Where a venue or business booking requires evidence of insurance, ask Bities to arrange an appropriate confirmation through its broker.