If you regularly haul cargo on a flatbed trailer, it’s critical that you have adequate flatbed insurance as part of your fleet coverage. Flatbed trailer insurance can make a huge difference in your ability to pay for damages caused by your flatbed trailer. Similar to enclosed trailers, tractor trailers, utility trailers, dump trailers, and other commercial trailers, your flatbed trailer badly needs insurance too.
Why Commercial Flatbed Trailer Insurance Matters
If you use your flatbed truck or flatbed trailer for job purposes, you need to have commercial flatbed trailer insurance.
Furthermore, if you have anyone else at your company, including employees operating a flatbed truck or trailer, commercial insurance will help ensure that you have coverage if they cause an accident.
As someone who regularly uses a flatbed truck or trailer, make sure you have adequate commercial flatbed trailer insurance so that you can protect your business; not only against claims in the event of an accident but also for repair or replacement costs of the flatbed trailer or flatbed truck.
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Policies Included in Flatbed Trailer Insurance
Different carriers have their own tailored flatbed trailer insurance. But generally, what you’ll commonly find are:
- General liability policy
- Commercial property insurance
- Roadside assistance coverage
Flatbed Trailer Commercial General Liability Insurance
Your flatbed trailer can get insured with commercial general liability insurance having products and completed operations coverage. You’ll need this policy if you rent out flatbed trailers to hot shot truckers or movers.
So how does general liability insurance help? This policy will kick in if your flatbed trailer caused property damage or personal injuries to the person renting it. Costs covered are:
- Compensation – General liability insurance will help you pay the aggrieved party for their injuries and suffering
- Lawyer fees – Aside from compensation, general liability insurance provides money so that you can hire a qualified attorney
- Other legal costs – Depending on how its underwritten, general liability can also take care of payments for witnesses, filing fees, and more
Flatbed Trailer Commercial Property Insurance
Your flatbed trailer can be insured under commercial property insurance. To do so, you’ll need to request your carrier to schedule or name it on the terms of the insurance policy. Once added, commercial property insurance will protect your flatbed trailer against:
- Theft – If someone manages to steal your flatbed trailer, commercial property insurance will provide reimbursement equal to the current market value of the stolen flatbed trailer. In case the thief just damaged your flatbed trailer after failing to steal it, then the insurance policy will help to pay repair costs too
- Fire – Commercial property insurance also covers damage caused by unintentional or intentional fire
- Lightning – If your flatbed trailer got hit by lightning during a storm or typhoon, then commercial property insurance will help you reverse the damage incurred
- Vandalism – In the event that someone puts a dent or splatters paint on the flatbed trailer, commercial property insurance will help you pay for the repair work needed
- Riot – If a riot breaks out and the mob steals or damages your flatbed trailer, commercial property insurance will reimburse your loss or pay for repair costs
- Damaged caused by colliding with an object – If your flatbed trailer is left in a parking space along the highway and a car collided with it by accident, commercial property insurance reimburses you if the flatbed got totaled or pays for repair costs if it only got damaged
Flatbed Trailer Roadside Assistance Coverage
Your flatbed trailer might experience occasional defects while being used. And if this happens, you might need to call a towing company to take the flatbed trailer back to the terminal or to the nearest auto repair shop.
Roadside assistance coverage sees to it that you don’t incur extra costs if the flatbed trailer becomes unusable while on the trip. It provides a $500 – $750 reimbursement so that you can recover the expenses for towing, and even lodging if the issue happened while you’re far away from home.
Are Commercial Auto Insurance Policies Useful for Flatbed Trailers?
You can’t use physical damage coverage, auto liability insurance, and other types of commercial auto insurance policies as coverage for flatbed trailers. The reason is simple. Commercial auto insurance is for motorized vehicles and a flatbed trailer doesn’t have its own engine.
What Does Flatbed Truck Insurance Cover?
Flatbed trucks are large dangerous machines that are costly to maintain. Carriers offer specialized flatbed truck insurance, which will protect you from costs if the flatbed truck causes an accident, breaks down, or gets damaged by someone. Policies included in flatbed truck insurance are:
- Physical damage coverage
- Emergency roadside assistance
- Cargo insurance
- Auto liability
Physical Damage Coverage
There are two types of physical damage coverage for flatbed trucks; collision insurance and comprehensive insurance.
Comprehensive insurance kicks in if your flatbed truck got damaged because of a vehicular accident. It applies whether it’s your fault or the other driver’s fault. So how does collision insurance work? Here’s an example:
Your flatbed truck got damaged in a vehicular accident and it’s covered by $30,000 collision insurance. The cost of repairs is $25,000. Prior to getting your car repaired, you filed a claim so that you can use your collision insurance. The company agreed and granted the full amount, which you used to cover repair costs. And so, your collision insurance covered all expenses which you would have otherwise paid using your own money if you didn’t decide to get covered.
The simplest way to define comprehensive insurance is to tell you that it takes care of damage not resulting from a collision, except rollovers. Damage from the following perils are what’s covered:
- Arson – While you’re resting in a public area, a drunk hippie armed with a molotov set your flatbed truck trailer ablaze and caused some major damage
- Lightning – While parked outside of your house, freak lightning struck your flatbed truck and set it on fire
- Hail – While traveling, an unusually strong hail set in and destroyed your flatbed truck’s windows, taillights, and headlights
- Theft – Someone managed to steal your flatbed truck’s batteries and other lightweight components
- Vandalism – Someone painted defamatory graffiti on your flatbed truck. As a result, the flatbed now needs a repaint to reverse the damage
Comprehensive Insurance Coverage: Why Get It?
Comprehensive insurance can help cover the cost of damages to your flatbed truck regardless of how they occur. Many types of emergencies can cause damage to your vehicle even when it’s not out on the road.
For example, a falling tree branch could shatter the windshield of your flatbed truck or damage the trailer and its cargo. Also, someone could try to steal the flatbed truck or its cargo and leave some damage. For these perils, comprehensive insurance can help cover the cost of damages and ensure that your flatbed trailer or truck can be repaired or replaced.
Emergency Roadside Assistance
Engine failure, transmission defects, overheating, and brake problems are some issues that can happen to your flatbed truck while it’s on the highway. Since such problems halt your trip, you’ll need someone to help you bring the flatbed truck home or to the nearest repair shop.
Carriers insuring flatbed trucks offer emergency roadside assistance. This policy gives you an allowance if your trip was halted 2,000 or more miles away from home because of the above-mentioned issues. The insurance money you’ll get from this coverage amounts to $300 – $1,000 and can be used to pay for:
- Towing costs
- Battery jump-start service
- Tire repair or replacement service
- Extrication or winching service
- Gas delivery
Note that depending on the carrier that underwrites it, emergency roadside assistance can also reimburse your lodging expenses if ever you needed to stay in a hotel or inn after the flatbed truck experienced issues on the trip.
Cargo Insurance
If you’re using your flatbed truck to deliver goods or materials from one business or individual to the next, then you’ll benefit greatly from cargo insurance. Allow us to discuss why.
Goods or materials loaded on your flatbed truck are considered to be under your care. And so, if the goods get damaged or lost because of a vehicular accident, theft, or vandalism, your clients might sue you. The job of cargo insurance is to help you pay in such a situation.
Two types of cargo insurance are very useful for flatbed trucks. These are:
- Open cover – An open cargo insurance covers all kinds of perils you specify on the terms of the insurance policy. This one is a solid option if you use your flatbed truck for interstate commerce
- Specific cargo – Specific cargo is a type of cargo insurance you can use to only cover specific loads. For example, if you only listed household materials as covered, then specific cargo insurance won’t provide coverage to other loads you’re carrying.
Flatbed Truck Cargo Insurance Requirements
Flatbed truck cargo insurance requirements will dictate how much coverage you need to get. Typically, most flatbed owners decide to get a minimum of $5,000 cargo insurance. However, to get the best protection, you should decide to get the cargo coverage the FMCSA requires based on the type of load.
If you haul property or household goods using your flatbed truck, the amount of cargo coverage you need to get is $100,000 or more.
Flatbed trucks are sometimes hired by garbage collection companies to haul hazardous waste materials. If this is what you do, then decide to get cargo coverage amounting to $1 million.
If you use your flatbed truck to haul farm animals such as chickens, cows, horses, and others, it will be smart if you decide to purchase cargo coverage that offers $300,000 in coverage.
For transporting oil, paint, and other hazardous substances or materials, the FMCSA might require you to get $2 million cargo insurance for your flatbed truck
.
Auto Liability Insurance
Flatbed truck auto liability insurance will help shoulder the cost of property damage claims or personal injury claims. This one kicks in if you caused an accident and third parties who got hurt demand you to pay for their damages, pain, and suffering.
Flatbed Truck Auto Liability Insurance Requirements
Just like cargo insurance, the amount of auto liability insurance you need to get depends on the types of load your flatbed truck is hauling.
For non-hazardous property or household goods, you’ll need auto liability insurance that offers a minimum of $100,000 per injury, $300,000 per accident, and $50,000 per property damage limits.
What if your flatbed truck is only carrying light household goods? In this case, the auto liability insurance required must provide a $2,500 or $5,000 limit.
If you’re hauling oil or harmful waste substances using your flatbed truck, you’ll need to have a $1 million auto liability insurance to comply with state laws.
Flatbed Van Insurance
Flatbed vans are used by landscapers, arborists, and other related professionals. These, unlike flatbed trailers, are not designed to carry heavy loads.
Flatbed van insurance provides the best coverage. A typical flatbed van insurance provides the following protections:
- Auto liability insurance
- Physical damage coverage
- Property in transit/cargo insurance
- Emergency roadside assistance
Auto Liability Insurance for Flatbed Vans
Auto liability insurance covers the cost of personal injuries or property damage your flatbed van deals to third parties. Typically, the amount of coverage you’ll need to get is $500,000 – $1 million. In connection, decide to endorse hired or non-owned flatbed van insurance to your auto liability coverage. This will be useful if ever you’ll need to rent or borrow someone’s flatbed van to resume business operations.
Physical Damage Coverage for Flatbed Vans
Available physical damage coverage for flatbed vans is collision insurance and comprehensive insurance. Collision insurance covers dents and other types of damage resulting from a vehicular accident. On the other hand, comprehensive insurance covers damage not resulting from collisions. Common perils covered are damages due to theft, arson, vandalism, and extreme weather. Damage from earthquakes or floods isn’t covered.
Property In Transit/Cargo Insurance for Flatbed Vans
If you’re a contractor using your flatbed van to carry your work equipment or tools, then you’ll benefit greatly from property in transit coverage. What this policy does is cover losses or damage to your work equipment, which happened during the trip.
On the other hand, you’ll need cargo insurance if you’re a trucker using a flatbed van. With cargo insurance, you can reimburse clients if their cargo got damaged or lost during transit because of fire, theft, vandalism, and other named perils. As a flatbed van trucker, you’ll need at least $300,000 minimum coverage to provide comprehensive protection to all kinds of loads.
Emergency Roadside Assistance for Flatbed Van
Emergency roadside assistance sees to it that there’s minimum cost or no cost at all if ever your flatbed van experiences issues on the road and needs towing service, battery jump start service, or tire repairs to continue the trip, go the nearest repair shop, or get home.
Flatbed Pickup Insurance
Flatbed pickups, sometimes, used for hot shot trucking have their own tailored insurance coverage called flatbed pickup insurance, which includes the following policies:
- Commercial auto liability – Takes care of the costs when the flatbed pickup truck causes an accident and injures someone
- Physical damage coverage – Takes care of the repair or replacement costs when the flatbed pickup is damaged by a collision, theft, fire, vandalism, and other covered situations
- Underinsured/uninsured motorist – Provides money if another driver damaged the flatbed pickup and can’t pay because he has no insurance coverage or his insurance is lackluster
Flatbed Trailer Insurance Cost
The average cost of insurance for flatbed trailers is $191.66 a month or $2,300 a year for a $1 million general liability insurance coverage.
Flatbed Truck Insurance Cost
Flatbed insurance for flatbed trucks costs $3,000 a year or each month, you could end up paying $250 for a $1 million general liability coverage.
What Affects The Cost of Flatbed Trailer, Flatbed Van, and Flatbed Truck Insurance?
What is The Value of Your Flatbed Truck, Flatbed Van, or Flatbed Trailer?
In order to insure your flatbed truck or trailer against damage, including comprehensive and collision insurance, you will need to determine the overall value of your flatbed truck or flatbed truck/trailer combo. If you have a high-value truck or trailer, you may find that it costs more to insure it than if you have a lower-value truck or trailer.
What is The Estimated Value of the Items You Haul in Your Truck, Van, or Trailer?
As part of your flatbed truck insurance, you will need to include coverage for the items on your flatbed. If you frequently haul costly items, you may find that your insurance costs more than if you typically do not carry high-value cargo. The type of load you haul can also influence your insurance costs since if you often haul dangerous items or items that could pose more of a danger if not strapped down properly, you could end up with higher overall flatbed trailer insurance costs.
How Many Flatbed Trucks, Flatbed Vans, or Flatbed Trailers Do You Have?
If you own two or more flatbed trucks, vans, or trailers and you insure them with separate flatbed insurance, then expect your premiums to be very expensive.
But know that companies don’t wish you to take this very impractical step in providing coverage for your multiple flatbed equipment. Know that there’s commercial fleet insurance.
Commercial fleet insurance allows you to insure multiple flatbed vans, trucks, or trailers under one policy. The best thing about fleet insurance is that it’s significantly cheaper than insuring each of your flatbeds with separate policies. Not to mention, it’s easier to manage too.
For further reference, here’s a table showing the pricing of the best companies for flatbed trailer and truck insurance:
Monthly Rates | Annual Rates | Best for | |
---|---|---|---|
CoverWallet | $120 | $1,440 | Flatbed trailer and truck insurance quotes comparison online |
Hiscox | $156 | $1,872 | Stand-alone commercial insurance for flatbed trailers, trucks, and vans |
Flatbed Pickup Insurance Cost
The average cost of flatbed pickup insurance is $105 a month or $1,260 a year for a $1 million general liability coverage. Flatbed pickup insurance cost depends on:
- The value of the pickup truck
- The general value of your cargo
- How many pickups you have in your commercial fleet
When choosing flatbed pickup insurance, you may also need to consider what type of cargo you will usually haul with the pickup, since you may find yourself carrying higher-value cargo than you would in a standard pickup. If you need to provide extra comprehensive or liability coverage for your cargo, you may need to carry additional insurance, which may also lead to higher costs.
Best Flatbed Trailer Insurance Companies
Read the reviews below to know the best flatbed trailer insurance companies’ pros, cons, and monthly pricing for a $1 million general liability coverage.
CoverWallet Flatbed Trailer Insurance
Pros
- Gives you the quotes of the best flatbed trailer insurance companies with the cheapest rates
- Easy policy management – pay for your insurance online and get a certificate of insurance wherever you are
Cons
- Not an insurance company but a broker
CoverWallet is not an insurance company but a broker that allows you to compare the offers of all flatbed trailer and truck insurance carriers. If you decide to get covered by its partners, CoverWallet can help you secure a certificate of insurance and easily manage policies online.
Best for: Flatbed trailer and truck insurance quotes comparison online
Average cost: $120 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Hiscox Flatbed Trailer Insurance
Pros
- Has numerous stand-alone policies, which can cover flatbed trailers, vans, and trucks
Cons
- Doesn’t have a tailored insurance product for flatbed trailers
Hiscox doesn’t have tailored insurance for flatbed trailers. However, it offers stand-alone insurance products that can be used to cover vans, trucks, and flatbed trailers.
Best for: Stand-alone commercial insurance for flatbed trailers, trucks, and vans
Average cost: $156 per month
Our rating: 9/10
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