If you are looking for a takeaway insurance quote and choose to do this over the internet, you will be absolutely bombarded with choice. A simple search on the most popular search engine, Google, throws up over 30,000 results in the UK alone.
The big question is, who do you actually go to for a quote? If you have a couple of spare weeks, you could approach the first three pages worth of companies on the search engines. But hey, in reality this is not really going to happen. The usual scenario is that you get your existing renewal through, which has increased, and you say to yourself you must do something about this. Then, two days before renewal you realise you haven’t done anything and then it is a mad panic to get an alternative sorted out.
To decide who to go to, you need to think of a few things. Firstly, do you need to have a local business insurance broker dealing with your cover? If so, this would surprise us as in 2010 you can deal with a broker anywhere in the country and still get a similar service. If you do need a local one, then search for the correct insurance related phrase, but put in your town as well. This should throw up the main ones operating nearby.
Secondly, do you want absolute basic cover (not recommended) or the level of protection that a professional adviser thinks you should have. If you want the latter, then you need to speak to a specialist, maybe one that can offer separate, specific, takeaway, restaurant and fish and chip shop insurance quotes. If you speak to a company that tries to offer a basic commercial policy, you should spend a bit more time looking for a more specific one. The reason being that if an insurer has a bespoke policy, then they will know and understand the market better.
Lastly, check on the instalments. You may have a competitive quote, but if you add in an excessive monthly instalment chsarge of 8, 9 or 10%, the competitive quote may cost you more money.
In summary, you need to spend as much time as you can possibly afford getting a quote. Whilst you can get one at the last minute, you should try and set aside some time before renewal to sort this out.