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Truck insurance

We don't offer truck insurance comparisons - here are some companies[1] offering quotes [2]

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  • Quote Me Today Truck Insurance

    Whether you want to insure individual vehicles or an entire fleet, you'll find a competitively priced policy with Quote Me Today. Helping you find the right level of road, goods and liability protection to keep your drivers on the road and your business moving. All you need is an operators licence to take advantage of Quote Me Today's low rates.

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Do I need truck insurance?

It’s a legal requirement to have appropriate insurance If you take a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) on the road. It’ll protect you, other drivers and any third parties.

Your lorry will need to be covered, even if you don’t intend to drive it, unless you’ve registered it as being off the road with a Statutory Off Road Notice (SORN).

This applies if you’re an owner-operator looking to insure a single truck or a fleet owner looking to cover all your lorries.

What does truck insurance cover?

As with other types of vehicle insurance, there are three main levels of cover for HGVs. Check the terms of your own policy carefully to find out exactly what is and isn’t included.

Third party only (TPO)

  • The minimum level of insurance legally required
  • Liability for injury to others (including your passengers)
  • Damage to third party property
  • Liability while towing a caravan or trailer

Third party, fire and theft (TPFT)

  • Everything TPO covers plus
  • Fire damage
  • Theft of the truck
  • Damage to your lorry caused during theft

Comprehensive

  • Everything covered by TPFT, plus damage to your own vehicle
  • May include windscreen cover, personal effects, accidental damage and medical expenses

What else can truck insurance cover?

Policies vary, but may include these extra features either as standard, or for an additional premium:

  • Employers’ liability insurance (a legal requirement if you’re employing drivers)
  • Public liability insurance
  • Goods in transit cover
  • Personal accident and sickness insurance
  • Truck breakdown cover
  • Legal cover
  • Income protection
  • Commercial property cover
  • Uninsured loss recovery
  • A choice of repairer
  • Removal of debris following an accident
  • Towing costs
  • Changing or replacing locks and keys
  • Returning the vehicle after theft

Choose the right truck insurance for your business

It’s likely you’ll need to insure your HGV for commercial use, but make sure you describe how you use it correctly to your insurer.

Carriage of own goods

If you transport your own tools or equipment to jobs in your HGV. For example, if you’re a builder using your truck to carry your own large tools and equipment to a site.

It won’t cover you for transporting anything belonging to someone else.

Haulage

Haulage insurance tends to be for drivers taking a single load to a drop point a distance away. For example, collecting a shipment of goods from a port and transporting it to a depot.

It can include goods in transit insurance, which covers the transportation of goods belonging to someone else.

Carriage of goods for hire or reward

Reward or hire classification tends to apply to drivers delivering to many addresses. This could include courier work, or a delivery driver dropping off goods to a number of different customers.

As with haulage insurance, it can cover goods in transit, so you’re insured to transport someone else’s property.

The differences between haulage and carriage of goods for hire or reward are subtle, and policy wording may even be identical.

If in doubt, contact your insurer to check you’ve got the right cover for how you use your truck.

Telematics truck insurance

Telematics policies use a black box or mobile phone app to calculate premiums based on the standard and nature of your driving.

The telematics app or device will track things like braking, acceleration and how long you spend driving. This information will then be used to assess whether your premium gets cheaper or more expensive. The better your driving, the cheaper your insurance will be.

It’s popular with commercial fleets, where it can be used to monitor the performance of different drivers.

Are you covered?

For HGV insurance to be valid, all drivers on the policy must hold the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) qualification

Fleet insurance

If you have a number of HGVs, insuring them all as part of a fleet may well be cheaper and more convenient than covering them individually.

Insurers will have different criteria regarding how many trucks you need to make up a fleet, but this can be as low as two. There’s also likely to be a cap placed on the number of lorries that make up a fleet, but this may run into hundreds, or even thousands.

How do I reduce the cost of my HGV insurance?

There are a few things you can try to cut the cost of your truck insurance:

  • Consider fleet cover if you have multiple vehicles
  • Make sure that the drivers you employ have experience and clean records (it’s typical for insurers to exclude drivers under the age of 25, or to charge an extra premium for them)
  • Make employed drivers responsible for their own excesses
  • Install cameras that can determine liability in the event of an accident
  • Fit security devices appropriate to the nature of the vehicle and work
  • Have a safe location for the overnight storage of vehicles when at base
  • Choose UK-only cover, if your truck won’t be going abroad

You can also try these tips that can save you money on any type of motor insurance:

  • Shop around for insurance every year to avoid auto-renewal
  • Try to build up a no-claims bonus
  • Pay annually rather than monthly
  • Increase your voluntary excess
  • Avoid making modifications to your truck(s)
  • Consider advanced driving qualifications for drivers
  • Only pay for the cover you need, avoiding unnecessary packaged add-ons

Frequently asked questions

The type of insurance you need will depend on the size and weight of your vehicle.

Light goods vehicles (LGVs) have a maximum gross weight of 3.5 tonnes and are usually van or pick-up type vehicles, rather than lorries. If you don’t use your LGV commercially, you might find that a private van insurance policy is right for you, not truck insurance.

Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) are usually lorries and have a gross weight in excess of 3.5 tonnes. HGVs are typically used for commercial purposes.

Insurers tend to cap HGV policies at 44 tonnes - if your vehicles weighs more than that, you’ll probably need a specialist policy.

Confusingly, some insurers will use ‘LGV’ to mean ‘large goods vehicle’, which is the same as an HGV.

All drivers on the policy will need to hold the appropriate professional driving qualification called the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC).

If HGVs are used to carry goods for business, depending on the weight of the vehicle and other criteria, then drivers will be required to hold an appropriate operator’s licence too.

Using your HGV to carry hazardous goods is typically an exclusion on many policies.

There are insurers who’ll cover the transit of hazardous material, but make sure you know this is included in the terms and conditions of your policy. If in any doubt, speak to the insurer before taking out your cover.

See also:

[1]We do not offer a full comparison service on truck insurance at Gocompare.com but instead have provided links to some companies that offer truck insurance quotes. These companies are not listed in an order that indicates that one is better than another but are instead ordered in line with our commercial arrangement with each one. Please remember, as different companies offer different policies, it is up to you to choose the one that best suits your needs

[2]Gocompare.com introduces customers to Quote Me Today and Haul-in-One. Both providers are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Gocompare.com's relationship with Quote Me Today and Haul-in-One is limited to that of a business partnership, no common ownership or control rights exist between us

[†]Please note, we cannot be held responsible for the content of external websites and by using the links stated to access these separate websites you will be subject to the terms of use applying to those sites