Non Trucking Liability Insurance: Cost & Quotes From $11

As truckers, you must decide to get no trucking or non trucking liability insurance. We know you’re thinking getting several insurance coverages for trucks may be an overkill. But in truth, it isn't. Here’s a guide that will tell you why and will further discuss the cost of non-trucking liability insurance, non trucking liability insurance meaning, and more. 

Also read:

• Enclosed Cargo Trailer Insurance: Cost & Quotes from $11
  
• Tractor Trailer Insurance: Cost, Companies & Quotes from $15

Non Trucking Liability Insurance Definition

So what is non trucking liability insurance? The formal definition goes like this; A non trucking liability policy accounts for bodily injury and property damage a truck, tractor-trailer, or any other power unit caused while not engaged in interstate or intrastate commerce. 

Such meaning for what is non trucking liability is very lengthy and complex. But in a nutshell, you just have to understand that non trucking insurance is a policy that applies if a truck, tractor-trailer, or any similar power unit injures someone or damages someone’s property while being used by the driver to do personal errands. 

Note that aside from no trucking insurance, non trucking liability is also called ntl insurance. There’s also IRMI that uses the longer term “liability insurance for non trucking use”. 

What Do “Personal Errands” Mean?

The term “personal errands or personal purposes”, commonly used to describe the situations where non-trucking liability applies, refers to activities that only concern the personal ends of the driver/operator and not the business. A good example is when the driver uses his truck to take kids to school. >

Is There a Short Term NTL Insurance?

If you just want to pass DOT inspection and don’t care about getting protection, the best thing to do is to get temporary non trucking liability insurance. A temporary non trucking liability typically lasts for 30 days and offers the same coverage as the standard NTL insurance. 

Do You Really Need Non Trucking Liability Insurance?

It’s your decision whether you want to get non trucking liability coverage or not. But still, here are some interesting findings that will convince you to get insured:

• Accident Analysis and Prevention Journal (1993) - Trucks with no trailers attached are more prone to get  involved in accidents than trucks with trailers. Casualty accident risk at night is 1.4 times higher than daytime. Rural areas have 1.6 times higher casualty accident risk than urban areas

• MDPS Survey - Trucks have been involved in 10,019 accidents in 1991 wherein 179 casualties were recorded

• UMTRI Truck Trip Information Survey - Between 1980 and 1974, there were 17,089 fatal highway accidents recorded, and trucks are one of the major causes

Bobtail Insurance vs Non Trucking Liability: Which is Better?

Non trucking liability vs bobtail; Which of these policies suit you better? The answer is there’s no need for you to choose.  Allow us to explain why:

Bobtail liability kicks in if a truck, tractor, or other similar power unit is on the way to get another load without a trailer attached and inflicts bodily injuries or property damage to third parties. In this sense, the accident happened while such transport vehicles are engaged in intrastate or interstate commerce with no trailer attached. 

Non trucking liability, as we emphasized earlier, kicks in when a truck, tractor, or other similar power unit caused bodily injuries or property damage to third parties while being used by the driver to do personal errands.  As compared to bobtail insurance , non trucking liability doesn’t care whether or not there’s a trailer attached. 

If bobtail insurance is the only policy in effect, you can’t be covered by your insurance company if you caused an accident while using a truck to pick kids from school, buy groceries, visit your favorite electronics store in a neighboring city, and so on.  

On the other hand, when you only have non trucking liability, the insurance company can't also help if you caused damage with your trailerless truck while on the way to pick up goods. 

So to set the record straight about bobtail vs non trucking liability, the best thing to do is get both. Bobtail liability insurance will take care of the exclusions in non trucking liability and vice versa. 

But note that there’s also a policy that seemingly serves as non trucking liability and bobtail insurance at the same time, which is called unladen insurance. 

Do Freight Brokers Need to Get Non Trucking Liability Insurance?

Freight brokers don’t need to get non trucking liability insurance. The best policy for them is contingent auto liability. In a nutshell, contingent auto liability insurance kicks in when freight brokers are held liable for personal injuries or property damage a motor carrier caused either because the motor carrier in question can’t cover the liability claim using its own policy.

What are Motor Carrier and Trucker Insurance?

Note that non trucking liability insurance can be added to truckers policy or motor carrier insurance. Trucker insurance or trucking insurance is a policy that explicitly provides coverage for for-hire truckers operating under a regulating authority. Trucking liability insurance policies are general liability insurance, auto liability insurance, and public liability insurance. Carriers also offer trucking umbrella insurance which extend the limits of liability policies for for-hire truckers.

Your trucking authority checklist won’t be complete if you don’t know what motor carrier insurance is. Motor carrier insurance covers private and private-and-for hire motor carriers, which truckers insurance doesn’t cover. Motor carrier liability insurance policies include bodily injury liability and property damage liability as well as other coverages available through MCS 90 endorsement.

Non Trucking Liability Insurance Cost

• The cost of non trucking liability insurance is $31 a month or $372 a year for a $1 million coverage.

For further reference, we included a table showing the cost of the best non trucking liability insurance companies.