Operating your own trucking company with a fleet can be hard enough without having to worry about insurance for each one of your vehicles. Whether it’s 2 or 200 vehicles, maintaining and updating your insurance for each truck can be a very time-consuming task. You can save yourself time and money with the right commercial fleet insurance policy. Read on to find out how what fleet insurance is, what it covers, and policy factors to consider.
How Does Fleet Insurance Work?
With fleet insurance, you can protect all of your vehicles and equipment conveniently with one overall policy. As long as you have 2 or more vehicles with your business, you can obtain some form of fleet insurance which then acts as a policy over every one of your vehicles.
Essentially, instead of creating an insurance policy for each individual car and driver, you get a single policy that covers a fleet. This saves time when it comes to renewals and will likely save you money compared to the alternative.
What Does Fleet Insurance Cover?
Commercial fleet insurance works the same way as other insurance policies where they provide protection in the case of any accidents no matter whose fault it is. Take a closer at the in-depth details that fleet insurance will cover.
Bodily Injury
Bodily injury coverage refers to any injuries or even death that are a result of an accident when your business is at fault. Whether it is someone who works for your company or someone unrelated to you they will be covered. Always check with your insurance provider and insure you have this coverage in case you need medical or legal defense.
Property Damage
Property damage coverage only covers damages done by your vehicles. If one of your vehicles does damage to another person’s property, your fleet insurance policy will cover their damage. Keep in mind this does not cover damage done to your property by others. An example would be that one of your trucks runs over someone’s mailbox, this is the coverage you would use.
Combined Single Limit (CSL)
A combined single limit, which is also known as CSL, condenses your policies by combining the limit from a property damage policy and a bodily injury policy. This makes it even easier to have one total policy instead of needing multiple.
What Number of Vehicles is Needed for Fleet Insurance?
While a fleet is technically anything with 2 or more vehicles, there are usually 2 separate types of fleets that you can have which are large and small. Both are determined by the number of vehicles in your fleet.
Small Fleets
Small fleets are going to be held by small to medium-sized businesses. There won’t be many vehicles but the average small fleet could be anywhere from 2 to 50 vehicles. This can feel like a lot depending on the size of the company. Most owner-operators will likely be functioning with small fleet insurance options that can cover all types of vehicles.
Large Fleets
Large fleet insurance options are going to be applicable primarily to larger businesses. While the categorization of fleet size can vary based on the insurance provider, a large fleet can be anywhere from 50 vehicles to thousands of vehicles.
How Much Does Fleet Insurance Cost?
Like regular insurance, you cannot find a base amount to expect when looking for commercial fleet insurance. There is a multitude of influential factors such as the industry, vehicle type, vehicle usage, history of the driver, number of vehicles, and much more. One of the most expensive types of fleets to insure is larger trucks, like a semi-truck, because of their price and expected high mileage being driven often.
Is Fleet Insurance Cheaper Than Regular Insurance?
When you first see the number for your fleet insurance, it can feel somewhat daunting but when you compare it to individual policies of single-vehicle policies, this will save you money overall. You’re protecting every single one of your assets and covering all of your drivers with one policy. Compared to maintaining and organizing all of the policies alone you will be saving time and money.
What Are the Advantages of Fleet Insurance?
There are many ways that fleet insurance provides advantages for its users such as just simplifying the process into one lump policy. Doing this makes it easier to keep track of especially when it comes time for renewal.
With all fleet vehicles being under one policy, it can make adding on new drivers and additional vehicles much easier. That combined with cheaper prices from the combination of all your vehicle insurance are the biggest benefits from using a commercial fleet policy.
How Do I Choose the Right Fleet Insurance?
Managing a fleet is a very large responsibility and finding the right insurance can be difficult especially when you need to list the information regarding your fleet to even get a quote. There are companies that specialize in commercial fleet insurance and they can assist you in getting the right policy for your business.
5 Factors to Consider with Fleet Insurance
To help make the decision process easier, you can use this list of factors of what to look for in your fleet insurance policy.
Collision Coverage
You want to make sure that anything you come in contact with and possibly damage is covered. Yes, you will have a deductible but it will be much lower than paying for expensive repairs or replacements in the long run. If the brakes on a truck go out and it results in a collision that involves multiple cars in front of you, your company would be responsible for the damages. With collision coverage, you would be able to soften the blow to your finances exponentially.
Comprehensive Coverage
You will want to make sure that comprehensive coverage is part of your policy. While most policies are based on repairs and damages to others, comprehensive coverage is what helps you with damages done to your property other than a collision. This could be damage from weather, vandalism, theft, or anything that wasn’t your fault. If your policy does include comprehensive coverage, be sure you understand what types of damage will be covered.
Uninsured Motorist Coverage
Uninsured motorist coverage is important to have because it protects anyone that is not in the driver’s seat. With some jobs, having a second or third person in the car can be a necessity. You want to make sure that they are safe and covered with your insurance in case of any unfortunate accidents.
Working With a Specialist
Insurance can be confusing, especially when you are using commercial fleet insurance. Make sure you find an insurance company, provider, and agent that understands the trucking industry and your needs. Specialists can help you learn about coverage you may have overlooked and make sure that there’s no stone left unturned.
Policy Management
Keeping up with everything regarding your policy such as any claims, new quotes, or payments can be super easy depending on your provider. Setting your fleet insurance up with auto-pay will reduce the risk of unpaid premiums, lapsed coverage, and fees.
Insurance Isn’t an Issue
Fleet insurance coverage can save you time, money, and headache. Once you link up with the right commercial trucking insurance specialist and get the perfect coverage, you can rest assured knowing your assets and crew are safe on the road.
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