Question
How do you know how much insurance you should carry? When my wife was online looking for qoutes, I was stumped by this question. Is there a minimum and a maximum and what is reasonable?
Answer
This is such a hard question to answer.
My suggestion would be to first read your lease. What is the motor carrier providing? What are you being asked to provide? Do you need to carry a "Non-Business Use" liability (Non-Trucking Liability, Bobtail Liability, Unladen Liability)? Do you need to carry Workers Compensation? Occupational Accident? General Liability? Primary Liability or Cargo?
What about the tractor and/or trailer? What is the value of your equipment? Do you have to protect a loss payee?
The list goes on and on...
Here are a couple of steps to make this process easier. On a piece of paper
1. List the coverage and the amount you are to provide to meet your lease requirements.
2. List the value for each piece of equipment you own (ractor and trailers)
3. Investigate about 3 insurance sources. Talk to other truckers, check the internet, check industry publications.
4. Contact your 3 selections and provide them with the exact same information for quoting. Ask them to make recommendations with explanation for any deviation from your request.
5. After compiling the information regarding the coverage, discuss your findings with fellow truckers for thoughts and opinions on the information in the event you missed something.
6. Contact the agents again and firm up any loose ends. At the same time ask questions pertaining to customer service, such as will you be assigned a particular agent or customer service representative. Who do you contact with billing questions, coverage questions, etc. And most importantly, find out if they do primarily truck insurance and how long.
After you've got all the particulars and are prepared to make a choice, make the selection and when you call to set up the coverage, don't be afraid to ask for explanations.