Liability insurance for car parts reseller?

[DriftworksJames]

Hi all,
This looks like a very handy forum :) not sure why I haven't seen it before.
We run a business selling and distributing car parts, mostly big name brands, but we have some parts we are buying in from direct from manufacturers in the east (by that I mean China and Taiwan rather then Norwich) and are branding as our own.
We have a reseller/dealer who is questioning where the liabilty lies regarding liability insurance and it's got me wondering who is actually responsible if for example something snaps and a customer crashes their car as a result......
Is it the end retailer? Is it us as the middle man? Is it the manufacturing company in China?
If we are responsible, what level of cover do we require and does anyone have any suggestions for a company that offers a cost effective solution that will mean we are actually covered if something goes wrong?

I imagine (ever the cynic) that there are plenty of companies who will sell me liability insurance, but whether it's worth a paper it's written on is another matter entirely.....

thanks in advance,
James

[Jayne]

Hi James,

Welcome to the forum :D

Jayne

[bwglaw]

We run a business selling and distributing car parts, mostly big name brands, but we have some parts we are buying in from direct from manufacturers in the east (by that I mean China and Taiwan rather then Norwich) and are branding as our own.

From what you say, you are merely a distributor/reseller (motor factoring) in the eyes of the law, even if you 'brand' the product as your own, provided that you only change the branding and not the manufacturer's details and certainly not modify the product in any way. You can add a statement along the lines of "Manufactured by ABC Ltd, China on the behalf of XYZ Ltd, UK"

it's got me wondering who is actually responsible if for example something snaps and a customer crashes their car as a result......

The liability can fall on the product manufacturer and/or the mechanic. Who is liable depends on the evidence of fault and whether the manufacturer was negligent, or the mechanic. In cases of product liability, lawyers often get expert evidence and decide whether to bring a claim against the manufacturer and/or the mechanic depending on the evidence.

As a reseller/distributor you have to comply with consumer law and not knowingly sell a product that is faulty etc.

You should seek advice from an Insurance broker for a cover on product liability, but from a legal point of view, I am not entirely sure if you need it provided you make your position clear that you have not manufactured the product on the product and in your terms and conditions.

[DriftworksJames]

thanks :)
Yes, essentially we are just a reseller. We may specify parameters or suggest a design/style but we are not actually manufacturing any parts ourselves. The most we will be doing is applying a logo and repackaging items.

Can we pass the onus on to a manufacturer without publicly specifying who they are? We don't want competitors/customers approaching them directly if at all possible, but would be happy to supply detals to relevant parties if a situation were to arise.

I presume this means that liability is essentially global and that we are not responsibile for it as the UK importers?

We test all parts ourselves wherever possible before selling and would never knowingly sell anything dangerous. Are you saying that as long as we can prove due diligence, that is sufficient?

We have T&Cs available on our website, but it sounds like ammending them slightly to include this and asking dealers to aknowledge and sign a copy would be a good idea.

thanks again,
James

[Arnold Soutar 1]

Hi,

I used to sell exhaust and performance parts for cars. We had them repackaged and after lenghy discussions with similar importers it became clear that we required products liability, in case we had no recourse against the manufacturer. I shopped around and had real problems speaking to anyone that knew what they were doing. Unless it is a car policy most insurance companies seem lost. Eventually i found a company called peacock insurance services, not increadably cheap but it was the cover i needed and they included public liability as well as the legal requirment for employers liability. Link below, hope this is useful.

[peter stacey]

I cant find this link.

Can you help.

Cheers.

Pete

[Arnold Soutar 1]

As requested.


<a href=http://www.peacockinsurance.co.uk/liability-insurance.aspx
"title="Public Liability Insurance and Employers Liability Insurance quote"> Public Liability Insurance and Employers Liability Insurance</a>

[Arnold Soutar 1]

http://www.peacockinsurance.co.uk/liability-insurance.aspx

[car-parts-tt]

Oops duplicate post (ignore this)

[car-parts-tt]

hi, like someone else in this thread, i did use to sell some import car parts and performance parts for cars. We went with peacock insurance company