Answers to Your Truck Insurance Questions

Q. I am an owner operator that has just signed a new lease with XYZ Trucking. The motor carrier’s lease contract states that I pay $1,500 for damages I cause to their trailers, $1500 for cargo damages I cause, and $1,500 for property damages caused by my negligence while operating under the carrier’s authority. Can I purchase insurance to cover this?

A. Yes. Great West’s Motor Carrier Deductible* endorsement is designed to handled this situation. Since all these damages can be sustained in one loss, the limit of insurance you must purchase would be the total of all three coverages: $1,500 physical damage deductible for the trailer, plus $1,500 for the cargo deductible, and $1,500 for the property damage to others deductible for a total of $4,500.

Q. I just signed a new agreement with a transportation broker. The broker’s contract requires cargo coverage with a minimum limit of $100,000. It also requires that the cargo policy not exclude dishonesty coverage. Does the cargo insurance provide this coverage?

A. The cargo limit must be insured at the $100,000 limit as per the contract. Great West Broad Form Cargo* does exclude dishonesty coverage. However, this exclusion can be deleted by purchasing Great West’s Infidelity and Dishonesty Coverage and paying the additional premium to purchase this coverage.

Q. I do some truck repair work for the owner operators that are attached to my fleet. I also repair trucks from others occasionally. Does my truck insurance provide coverage for the trucks I repair in my shop?

A. There are multiple issues here. First, you would need to have a commercial general liability policy to cover the liability for the truck repair on your premises and for the work you will be performing for others. If your current policy does include these coverages, the truck repair class would be added and appropriate premium charged for the expected amount of revenue this new venture would generate.

Your current truck policy would also need to have hired and non- owned coverages to provide auto liability coverage needed in the event you would operate someone else’s vehicle in your care, custody, and control. To provide coverage for the physical damage on the equipment while it is in your shop for repair, you would need to add Great West’s Garagekeepers* endorsement to your current truck policy. You must select a limit of insurance as well as a per auto/per occurrence deductible. The garagekeepers endorsement will also provide coverage for property of others in their care, custody, and control, which provides coverage for potential cargo you may have while the equipment is in your shop for repair.

Q. I just bought a brand new 2004 Peterbilt Tractor. It came with a fax machine, cell phone, satellite tracking system, and stereo system. Do I need to purchase any additional insurance for this equipment in my tractor?

A. Possibly. If you insure your truck for physical damage coverage, certain specific electronic equipment will be covered regardless of whether or not they are permanently installed at the factory or after the truck leaves the factory, while other electronic equipment will not be covered if it is installed after it left the factory. You can obtain coverage for the equipment that is not covered by buying Great West’s Electronic Equipment Coverage*. The equipment would be subject to the same perils you tractor is insured against and must be permanently installed for coverage to apply. You would need to list these items to be covered under this endorsement and their value.

Q. I have a loan pay off of $75,000 on my tractor. If I have an accident that would total my tractor, would my physical damage insurance pay the loan value even if the tractor’s actual value was less than what I owed at the time of the loss?

A. No. Great West’s physical damage policy would only pay the actual value of the equipment at the time of the loss. However, you can add *Great West’s Finance Value endorsement to your policy to protect you from the difference in the actual equipment value and the amount you actually owe the bank. It must first be a covered loss under the physical damage coverages of your policy. The coverage is limited to the actual amount you owe on the equipment, excluding any additional monies you may have borrowed beyond the financing of the unit itself. A similar endorsement is available for the difference in lease value and actual value if you lease your equipment.

Q. Is there any way I can get insurance for trip leases? I only do them once in a while. My agent tells me that my insurance excludes auto contracts and agreements I may sign.

A. Your agent is correct. Your truck insurance only provides coverage for “insured contracts.” To add these types of contracts as “insured contracts” under your policy, your agent needs to add the applicable coverage form.

If you sign a trip lease hold harmless agreement when “tripping” to another trucker, Great West’s Commercial Auto Extension* endorsement is the answer for those incidental situations that can occur in a motor carrier’s operations. This endorsement provides the coverage for this trip lease situation, as well as when you sign a hold harmless contract for the loan, lease, or rental of a truck with the driver, to another motor carrier.

Track Your Insurance Claims

Did you know that you can check the status of a claim through Great West Casualty Company’s web site? Simply go to the web site: www.gwccnet.com, and click on Client Portral on the blue side bar menu and enter your user id and password. If you do not already have a user id and password, click the Request Signon link in the blue menu and complete the required information.

Once you have your user id and password and log in, click on Policy Information on the yellow menu bar. You will see four tabbed folders. Roll your mouse over the Claims tab to see the options available to you and select claims list by policy. This will list all your claims in the lower window. Select the claim you are interested in and double click on it. This will provide the claim detail face sheet. You can also see the current status of the claim and the draft history related to the claim.

* All policy terms, conditions, definitions, and exclusions apply to this coverage. Please see your agent for exact provisions.