High Risk Truck Insurance

high risk truck insurance

High Risk Truck Insurance

The tide keeps rolling in the trucking industry with more and more non-renewals and cancellations, high risk truck insurance is becoming a huge issue…  A bad safety score can cause a trucking company to go out of business.  Many of the insurance companies are unwilling to help a company to be safer.  Most trucking companies are left scratching their heads because it seems almost hopeless in finding insurance and trying to “clean up” a safer score, driving record, or whatever else is causing a judgment against them.

High truck insurance companies are changing their minds about who they are willing to insure.  I call this the one box fits all model.  If a trucking company doesn’t fit in this box, then they almost become “uninsurable…”  How is it even possible for a company to get out of this box?  It seems that at this point to have insurance, a company has to be close to perfect.  How can a company with a high safer score, or a bad driving record find insurance?  Will a driver with a DUI or major violation find insurance?  In the ever evolving insurance world many of these questions are asked on a regular basis.

Solution

Well, we here at Evolution Insurance Brokers have been able to see the complexities that continue to surround the trucking industry and we have been able to help with the insurance that is almost impossible to find.  Insuring a trucking company regardless of claims history, insurance history, safer score, or any other type of reason that may have been given to you in the past is our specialty.

Below are some of the things we help with:

  • A chance to become insured again
  • Driver with a DUI
  • New Driver
  • Company that has large claims or too many instances of claims
  • Risk management department to help a company clean up it’s problems
  • Claims management team that will actually fight and help reduce claims not just pay out on them.
  • Partner that can stand in your corner to protect your business
  • An insurer with experience on dealing with complex claims

All of this we can offer.

High Risk Commercial Truck Insurance

How do I know if I need high risk commercial truck insurance, and what types of coverages do I need?

The basic coverages that a high risk company will need are:

Commercial Auto Liability Insurance – Coverage for when your truck is actually on the road.  If you hit somebody and cause bodily injury or third party property damage, then the commercial auto liability will cover you for these types of claims.

General Liability Insurance -Will cover you when your truck is not on the road such as load or unloading your truck.  This will also be something that many load brokers are now requiring.

Motor Truck Cargo Insurance – This will cover the load that you are hauling in case of damages or other problems happening to the load.

Refrigeration Breakdown Insurance – Will cover you if your load spoils, if you are hauling refrigerated goods.

Bobtail Insurance – Covers a truck under your authority when it is not on a load, such as going to the grocery store or other things like that.  This can be offered to owner operators of your company that may need it because they have a bad record and nobody else will cover them.

Hazmat Insurance – Will cover companies that haul high risk items like gas or chemicals.  This is an endorsement to be put on the cargo.

Pollution Liability Insurance – This insurance will cover if there is a spill on the road or something from your truck and the possible contamination and clean up of that.

These are just some of the coverages that may be needed by a high risk trucking company.

Insurance For Bad Safety Score Trucking Companies

In answering the 2nd question about how to know if a company is a high risk trucking company..  There are 3 questions to assess this:

  1. Have or are you getting dropped by your current insurer?
  2. Are any other insurance companies offering a renewal?
  3. Are you getting the same answer about why you can’t be insured?

If you can answer yes to these questions, then most likely you have fallen into the high risk category.  At times a bad safety score can be to blame for this.  Some insurance companies will actually cancel a trucking company because they have too many out of service violations.  Actions like these can also affect any other companies offering to insure you.  Making it even more difficult for a smaller company because they only get a few inspections a year, which can make the uphill climb seemingly impossible when it comes to obtaining insurance.

A company that understands safety scores, and is willing to offer you a shot even if you have “a little hair” on your safety score is nice.  Just because you have a bad safety score isn’t a reason to despair.

High Risk Truck Driver Insurance

The last point we are would like to hit on is the fact that many insurance companies just deny drivers the opportunity to drive for your company.  High risk truck driver insurance is pretty hard to come by.  There are many reasons given for a particular driver not being able to drive for your company.  Here is a list of a few:

  • Not having enough experience
  • Bad Driving Record
  • Too Young
  • Too Old
  • Not being licensed in the same state as the company
  • Being a Hotshot driver
  • Driving in the wrong states
  • Getting too many safety score violations
  • DUI
  • Having too many drivers on a policy

If you have a driver that has been denied for any reason, we will cover them.  Our goal is help trucking companies to be successful.  Allowing for growth will help to attain the goals that you have for your company.

If your company is not fitting into the “perfect box” that all insurance carriers are looking for, then don’t despair.  Give me a call because I can help you get a quote for your insurance.  I can make finding high risk truck insurance quick and easy process.  Let me know if I can help.

Rick J. Lindsey
Rick Lindsey

President, CEO and Chairman