Truck Insurance

Truck insurance does much more than simply provide you with protection again loss or damage to your truck, vital though that is; it provides truck operators with the cover that they are legally required to have when driving a vehicle on the road. That legal requirement involves unlimited cover for third-party injury or death, and cover for damage to third-party property for an amount not less than £1.2 million.

The truck insurance policies we offer are particularly designed for road haulage businesses running up to five HGVs over 7.5 tonnes. If you’ve a fleet of vehicles or lighter vehicles used for courier work, we can help you too. 

Most customers buy Comprehensive cover though more limited third-party fire and theft, and third-party only coverage is available too. Cover is of course available for trailers as well as tractor units.

As well as commercial motor insurance cover, we can also arrange other essential covers for haulage operators like; goods-in-transit, public liability, and employers’ liability cover.

No matter how many trucks you operate, whether you’re an owner-driver or a fleet operator, you’re going to need truck insurance; not just because it’s a legal requirement, but because your trucks represent a very significant investment that requires protection. Comprehensive cover provides protection against not just injury or damage caused by your truck, but also loss or damage to the truck itself.

Our truck insurance policies are 'multi section', made up of various sections of cover . This enables you to choose exactly which sections you require. We offer a wide variety of insurance covers, all designed to meet the needs of a commercial vehicle operator, including commercial motor insurance; goods-in-transit cover; employers' and public liability insurance.

It's completely up to you. It depends on the nature of your business and your attitude to risk. Some sections of cover, such as motor insurance and employers’ liability insurance, are mandatory by law. Others are optional, such as personal accident and goods in transit. If you are unsure which products are right for you, our staff specialise in commercial vehicle insurances, so please don't hesitate to contact us.

Yes, you can. We pride ourselves on our ability to insure a wide array of trucks, lorries and HGVs and are one of the few companies in the UK who specialise in the heavy haulage market. Speak to one of our truck insurance advisers more information.

If you have an employee, or employees, even if only occasionally, or temporarily, then you are legally required to have employers’ liability insurance unless an exemption applies, such as family businesses where every employee is a close family member, providing they are not incorporated as a limited company.

We can offer employers’ liability cover alongside your truck insurance policy and the other essential non-motor business insurance covers. More information can be found here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hse40.pdf

Yes. At Towergate, we know starting up a business can be expensive and insurance cover adds to the cost. We’ll work with you depending on your circumstances to find the very best discounts we can for you, such as introductory discounts and no-claims discounts for companies using drivers with a claim-free driving history.

Care needs to be taken when taking out truck insurance to make sure the cover you are buying is what you need and that there are no exclusions that are detrimental to the cover you need. In addition to exclusions such as war risks, damage or contamination caused by radioactive materials, and terrorism, exclusions under a truck insurance policy typically include:

- Claims arising out of agreements unless a Claim would have been accepted in any case.

- Claims whilst Your Vehicle is being:

- used for any purpose that the Certificate of Insurance does not allow

- driven by someone not allowed to drive by the Certificate of Insurance

- driven by You if you do not hold a licence to drive the vehicle or you are disqualified from having such a licence

- driven with Your permission by someone who You know does not hold a licence to drive the vehicle unless that person has held a licence and is not disqualified from getting one

- Claims involving a vehicle being driven ‘airside’ (here at Towergate, we know how important ‘airside’ cover can be for some hauliers and can usually arrange that cover when it’s needed)

We have provided a summary of the significant key exclusions, but please note that full terms, conditions and exclusions can be found in the policy wording, a copy of which is available through the quotation process. 

• Making sure the insurer is financially sound and will be there to pay a claim should things go wrong
• Making sure the cover provides the protection you need; that there is no ‘small-print’; that takes away vital protection
• Whether your broker has been recommended to you and is a truck insurance expert meaning you can rely on the advice they give
• What sort of service you can expect from your broker and insurer should you need to make a claim

Truck insurance can be a substantial sum of money. Exactly how much each operator has to pay varies from insurer to insurer and depends on a variety of factors. These may include:

• Whether any of your trucks are of exceptional value
• Where your trucks are driven and whether they go abroad
• The nature of your business activities and whether you ever visit hazardous sites or carry hazardous loads
• The profile of your drivers in terms of age and experience, and accident and conviction history
• Whether you have telematics devices or camera systems deployed actively to monitor and improve driving style and behaviour

A haulier running up to five vehicles will usually see their trucks rated individually. Above that number of trucks, policies tend to be fleet-rated, whereby the premium depends significantly on past claims experience across your truck fleet.