Who are the Top 10 Commercial Truck Insurance Companies for New Authority? Virginia, Lake Ridge

Primary Liability Insurance

• Your primary liability will be the major cost for your trucking insurance policy.  Although the FMCAS can only require $750,000 in most cases shippers will require $1,000,000 in primary liability insurance coverage before they will allow you to pick up loads.
• Primary liability insurance covers damages to third parties for bodily injury and physical damage to others property in the event of an accident.

Medical Pay

• In most cases this is a low cost add on to your primary liability insurance to cover medical expenses.

PIP – Personal Injury Protection

• Some states require this coverage and, in many cases, can reduce the need for Medical Pay.
• Personal injury protection (PIP), also known as no-fault insurance, covers medical expenses and lost wages of you and your passengers if you’re injured in an accident. PIP coverage protects you regardless of who is at fault.

Uninsured Motorist

• If you’re hit by a driver with no insurance…
  • Uninsured motorist bodily injury (UMBI) may pay medical bills for both you and your passengers.
  • Uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD) may pay for damage to your vehicle.

Underinsured Motorist

• If you’re hit by a driver with not enough insurance…
  • Underinsured motorist bodily injury (UIMBI) may pay medical bills for both you and your passengers
  • Underinsured motorist property damage (UIMPD) may pay for damage to your vehicle

Motor Truck Cargo

• MTC or Cargo insurance provides insurance on the freight or commodity hauled by a for-hire trucker. It covers your liability for cargo that is lost or damaged due to causes like fire, collision or striking of a load.
• If your load is accidentally dumped on a roadway or waterway, some cargo forms offer Removal Expenses coverage pays for removing debris or extracting pollutants caused by the debris. And can also pay for costs related to preventing further loss to damaged cargo through Sue and Labor Coverage and legal expenses in the defense or settlement of claims. Another option is Earned Freight Coverage to cover freight charges the customer loses because of an undelivered load.
• Cargo insurance deductibles can be set at $1,000, $2,500, $5,00 or even higher if you are self-insured.
• Cargo coverage limits are normally set at $100,00 but some shippers may have higher requirements depending on the cargo you are hauling.
• Cargo policies can have exclusions stating what cargo it will or will not cover.

General Liability Insurance for Truckers

• General liability insurance for truckers should not be confused with primary liability for truckers.
• Similar to primary liability. General liability offers coverages to pay for physical damage to other and/or bodily injury to others. BUT there is a difference between the two.
• For example, if you are loading or unloading and you cause injury to someone or their property this is when the general liability policy would respond.
• The actions of a driver while representing the insured and on the premises of others, such as loading docks and truck stops
• General Liability is normally offered $1,000,00 per occurrence and $2,000,00 aggregate. What does this mean?
• It the insurance company will pay up to $1,000,000 for any one claim and no more than $2,000,000 per year for the total of all claims.
• General liability can be required by shippers and other companies such as the UIIA and flatbed operations.
• If there is any chance you might be involved in loading or unloading. General Liability is relatively inexpensive and is an advised coverage.

Trucking Physical Damage Insurance (PD)

• Physical damage insurance coverages are designed to pay for losses to your equipment and damages to others equipment. (Others equipment must be listed on your policy).
• If you own or lease equipment. You may be required to have PD by bank or leasing company to carry a set amount of physical damage insurance and name them as a Loss Payee.
• PD can also cover damage to others equipment you are in possession of if the coverage is listed on your policy. An example would be non-owned trailer insurance coverage.
• Deductibles for physical damage range from $1,000 to $5,000.
• Required deductibles. If you have a loan on your equipment or it is leased. They bank or leasing company may have a minimum deductible you can have on your physical damage policy.

Non-Owned Trailer Insurance vs Trailer Interchange (TI)

• Both are insurance coverages designed to cover damage to others trailers.
• Deductibles for either can range from $1,000 to $5,000.
• Coverage limits for either can range from $25,000 and up depending on the requirements of the company and/or shipper freight you are hauling for.

The difference between Non-Owned Trailer coverage and Trail Interchange coverage

• Non-owned trailer insurance covers physical damage to the trailer only when attached to a truck. And no written agreement is place.
• Trailer Interchange requires a written trailer interchange agreement to be in place. It can provide protection when you have care, custody and control of one, or many, trailers. Whether the trailer is attached to your truck or not.

Excess Liability Insurance

• Excess liability can sometimes be called umbrella insurance.
• The excess liability policy sits on top of your primary liability policy.
• For example, if you have $1,000,000 in primary lability coverage and you have a claim which exceeds the policy limit of $1,000,000. In most cases that is all the insurance carriers will try to pay out for a claim.
• Excess policy coverage starts at $1,000,000 and go up.
• So, let’s say you say you purchased a $1,000,000 excess policy. Now if you have a claim that is $1,500,000. Your primary would pay the first $1,000,000 and your excess would pay the remaining.

The age of any driver play can influence your cost:

1. A few trucking insurance companies will offer quotes if a driver is under the age of 25 but mostly the cut off age is 23 if they have the experience.
2. And some will offer quotes if a driver is over 67, but may require a current medical exam.
3. We quote for drivers between the ages of 25 and 67.

MVR's:

1. The MVR (motor vehicle record) will be a large part in what price the insurance companies will offer you.
2. If you driver has had more than one at fault accident and two speeding tickets or more in the past 3 years. They may not offer you a quote. And if they do. In most cases it will be unaffordable.
3. Your drivers pool is very important
4. Find drivers with clean MVR's is the best advice here.

Customer service for your New Authority Truck Insurance should way beyond just selling you a policy.

• Can you get in touch with your agent when you need service or have a question. And does your agent have the knowledge and resources to answer your question/s in a timely manner?
• It is important to work with a commercial trucking insurance agent who knows trucking insurance. All JDW offers is commercial truck insurance and our agents go to training continuously to make sure they trucking insurance knowledge is current.

Certificate of Insurance - COI

• Being able to get a COI quickly is a must in order not to miss a load for lack or not having a COI.
• JDW offer free 24/7 COI.
• No matter the day or time. When you need a COI. You need a COI. Our application is free and their is not limit to number of COIs you can send out to shipper or anyone else who has requested a COI from you.
• You do not have to wait on a COI. You can send out your COI from our system in a matter of minutes and for free.

The cost of your New Authority Truck Insurance should be looked at several different ways.

• Your New Authority Truck Insurance cost will make up a major portion of your operating cost in most cases.
• Over paying for truck insurance for your new authority can break you.
• Underpaying for truck insurance for your new authority can break you.

Let's review why.

• Overpaying is the easy one to answer. You should work with a trucking insurance agent who has access to a large network of commercial truck insurance company as JDW does in order to help you find the best commercial truck insurance rates for you new authority. JDW has a network of 20 plus commercial truck insurance companies to shop and compare quotes from to help you find the best new authority truck insurance at the right price.
• Underpaying or just buying based on price alone should be considered and is not always the best policy. You have to review the coverages the insurance company will offer. If you have two quotes and one is $250 more it may be the best policy for you. Getting in a hurry and not knowing what your insurance company will pay in case of a claim if important to understand.

JDW will shop and compare quotes for you from our different carriers to help you find the best new authority truck insurance at the best price with the correct coverages which will allow you to run your trucking company they way you want run it.  

The AM Best Rating of the insurance company you buy your New Authority Truck Insurance is another consideration.
And another step when asking a question related to New Authority Truck Insurance. What is the commercial truck insurance company’s AM Best Rating?
This should be a very important consideration. The AM Best Rating of a commercial truck insurance company tells you the financially stability for an insurance carrier. If you are buying a commercial truck insurance policy based solely on pricing. Buyer be ware!
If you purchase a policy and the carrier has a low AM Best Rating or none at all. This might cost you more money in the long run. This is not based just upon your policy but other policies the low rated carrier may have on their books. If another trucking company gets a large claim. Ask yourself is the carrier financially stable enough to pay the large claim. What happens if you report a claim? Do they have the reserves to continue to pay claims. JDW Truckers Insurance only work with commercial trucking insurance company who have an AM Best Rating or A-or better.  

If you have questions. Ask!
You do not want to get a policy in place for your new authority and then find out after you have purchase the policy. You may not be covered for the cargo you want to haul.
JDW is here to answer your questions and discuss your options to help you find the best solution for your new authority truck insurance policy. Keep in mind not all policies are the same and you should buy on that works for you and not the insurance carrier.