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HGV and Truck Insurance

We understand that your Truck or HGV is closely linked to your livelihood and protecting it is a major priority for you and your business. We also understand that as an owner-operator finding affordable insurance that provides an adequate level of cover can also be challenging and time-consuming.

HGV and Truck Insurance is designed for vehicles of 3.5 tonnes and above. The variety of different vehicles that can be covered under truck insurance is massive, ranging from Refrigerated Trucks to Cherrypickers to Horse Boxes and Classic Trucks.

When you look for a HGV policy, you’ll be asked for the same contact and personal details as you would when buying cover for any other type of vehicle, but you should also expect questions on things like the nature of your business, the size of a fleet, the number of drivers and the sort of cover you may require in Europe.

The first step to ensuring that your HGV insurance is valid is by making sure that all drivers on the policy hold the appropriate professional driving qualification called the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC).

Depending on the weight of the vehicle and other criteria, if your truck is put to any goods-carrying business use then drivers will be required to hold an appropriate operator’s licence.

Types of truck insurance

As with other types of vehicle insurance, there are three main types of cover for HGVs.

Third party only truck insurance (TPO)

• Third party only is the minimum level insurance required by law for drivers in the UK. It covers:
• Liability for injury to others (including passengers)
• Damage to third party property
• Liability while towing a caravan or trailer

Third party, fire and theft truck insurance (TPFT)

• Third party, fire and theft covers everything that third party does, but also:
• Fire damage
• Theft of truck
• Damage to
• your lorry caused during theft

Comprehensive truck insurance

A comprehensive policy will provide you with the most extensive level of cover, including everything covered by third party, fire and theft, and usually:

• Loss or damage to your lorry
• Windscreen cover
• Personal effects
• Accidental damage
• Medical expenses

Check the terms of your own policy carefully to find out exactly what is and isn’t included.

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 and there’s also likely to be a cap placed on the number of lorries that make up a fleet.

What do insurers class as a HGV?

You’re unlikely to find a standard classification of a HGV for insurance purposes and the sort of cover you require will depend on the type of vehicle you own and the use you put it to.

All HGV policies vary and some will be catered specifically to the individual needs of the truck owner.

As an example, a small proportion of truck owners may not put their vehicle to any sort of commercial use. In such cases, owners of smaller, lighter trucks may find that a private van insurance policy  is right for them, but owners of larger, heavier vehicles may require a specialist truck policy.

Again, there’s no standard classification for the weight of a HGV. Some insurers may set the limit as low as 3.5 tonnes, others may specify, say, 7.5 tonnes.

What else can truck insurance cover?

All policies will vary and some will include a wide range of cover as standard, others will offer additional protection for extra payment, and others will only offer basic cover. Some of the options to look out for include:

• Employers Liability Insurance (a legal requirement if you’re employing drivers)
• Public Liability Insurance
• Goods in transit cover
• Breakdown Cover
• Legal cover
• Commercial property cover
• Uninsured loss recovery

Cut the cost of truck insurance

There are things specific to truck/HGV insurance that may help you cut the cost of cover, such as:

• Consider fleet cover if you have multiple vehicles
• Ensure 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

You can also work on the things that can reduce the price of all sorts of motor insurance such as:

• Try to build up a no claims bonus
• Pay annually rather than monthly
• Avoid making modifications to your truck(s)

At Baslow Insurance Services we can help by using our knowledge and experience of providing Truck/HGV insurance to tailor a policy to suit your needs, so that you only pay for the cover that is relevant to your business.

After obtaining the information that we require to obtain a quotation, we will survey the market using the A rated insurers that we have agencies with, and will offer you the best product to suit your needs.