Nationwide offers commercial vehicle insurance for many types of business auto risks. Today’s topic will be Tow Truck Insurance. What insurance issues arise when you own a tow truck? How much is tow truck insurance and how long does it take to get it started? What are filings and which do you need? I will answer these and present a few other questions you need to consider when shopping for tow truck insurance in Texas.
Tow Truck Insurance has a few nuances that separate it from other types of commercial or business auto insurance. Specifically, cargo insurance, vehicle storage facility, consent vs. non consent towing, and incident management are a few terms you will need to be familiar with.
The type of tow truck insurance you need will depend on what exactly you are using your tow truck for.
Consent Towing
– Most basic type of towing, this is a tow that is requested by the owner of the vehicle
Incident Management
– Tow Trucks who take vehicles away from accident scenes, this type of towing can require additional filings (VSF, H)
Non Consent
- Tows resulting from "no parking"
Repo
– Many insures will deny a policy if repossessions are part of the scope of business. Make sure you let your insurance broker know about this ahead of time
TOW TRUCK FILING REQUIREMENTS
Form E – required for all tow truck operators, this is basic insurance verification that is sent to TDLR
Form H – Cargo Filing, required typically if your business tows for Incident Management, Non Consent, or Repo’s.
Form VSF – Vehicle Storage Facility, if you tow for Incident Management, Non Consent, or Repo’s and you have a storage facility.
HOW MUCH IS TOW TRUCK INSURANCE
This is such a broad question and is very hard to answer without all the info that determines premium. Liability only coverage can run as low as $1500 a year but can be as expensive as $5000 a year. It could even be more if you have a more expensive truck, tickets, extra filings, etc. The best thing to do is to call around for quotes and see what you can get. You will want to go with a reputable carrier that can pay claims and also be responsible enough to get your filings sent in on time. If they don’t send your filings correctly you could be looking at fines or refilling fees that aren’t cheap! A quote shouldn’t take longer than a day for a basic tow truck business. If you have multiple locations, cars and drivers it could take longer.
WHAT ELSE?
If you have contracted with another company to tow cars they may require additional coverage. A common extra coverage is General Liability in addition to the Liability on the tow truck policy. Get something in writing so you can send this to your agent.
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation is the regulatory agency that oversees tow truck operators, you can find out more info @:
Trucks tend to be extremely vulnerable to incident and it's also necessary for each and every truck proprietors and also truck motorists to be able to make insurance for their own truck.
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