Patons Insurance, which specialises in providing cover for professional drivers, is extending its proposition to include people working in the motor trade. It has established a dedicated team at its Manchester office to grow this new offering.

Patons Insurance provides motor trade cover to taxi companies with in-house garages and repair centres. It will now expand this to include garages, body shops, MoT testing centres, vehicle sales centres, car washes and breakdown and recovery agents.

In the 2024/25 financial year, Patons Insurance posted record customer written premiums of £31.5m, extending the record amounts of £27m and £22m written in the previous two years.

Chris Pracy, head of strategic growth at Patons Insurance, said: “Whilst we have offered motor trade insurance for about 10 years to our taxi customers who have their own garages and repair centres, the expansion of our marketing into the wider motor trade sector, supported by our current insurer panel, is a key part of our medium and long-term growth plans.

“We have set up a team dedicated to this service to ensure the needs of customers in the motor trade are met.”