Truck & HGV Insurance
Truck and HGV insurance covers goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes gross weight: tippers, grab lorries, flatbeds, box vans, lorry loaders with cranes, and the rest of the heavier vehicles a business runs.
What Truck And HGV Insurance Covers
Most of the trucks we insure belong to trade and construction firms carrying their own materials, plant and waste, rather than to hauliers working for hire. That distinction matters to the insurer, because carrying your own goods and carrying other people's for payment are rated as different risks.
A truck can be insured on its own or on a fleet policy alongside the firm's vans and cars. Either way the questions are heavier than for a van: the operator licence, the drivers' entitlements, what the vehicle carries and what equipment is fitted to it.
What Truck & HGV Insurance Covers
The vehicle, third party to comprehensive
Accidental damage, fire and theft for the truck itself, or third party cover where a vehicle's value does not justify comprehensive.
Third party injury and damage on the road
The compulsory part, and the expensive end of any HGV claim. A loaded truck in a collision causes far more damage than a van, which is why the third party section drives most of the premium.
Fitted equipment
Tipping bodies, grab arms, cranes and tail lifts, which can be worth as much as the chassis and need declaring with their values.
Breakdown and recovery for heavy vehicles
Recovering a loaded HGV needs heavy recovery, which costs far more than a van tow. Check what the policy includes and whether the load is covered while it waits.
Fleet or single vehicle
A truck can be insured on its own or on the same fleet policy as your vans and cars, with one renewal date for all of them.
Where The Cover Stops
Wordings differ between insurers, so treat these as the usual position rather than as universal fact. Where one of them matters to you, it is worth checking on your own schedule before you need to.
Using the vehicle as a tool
Many motor policies exclude liability while a vehicle is working as a machine rather than being driven: a crane arm lifting, a grab loading, a tipper body raised. That gap needs closing with public liability that covers the operation.
Carrying goods for other people
Own goods cover does not extend to haulage for payment. If the truck ever carries for hire or reward, it must be declared and the operator licence must match.
Drivers without the right entitlement
A driver without the right licence category, or without a current Driver CPC where it is needed, can leave a claim in dispute.
The load itself
The motor policy covers the vehicle and third parties, not the goods on it. Loads need goods in transit cover.
Operator Licences And Why The Insurer Asks
In Great Britain, a business running goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes generally needs an operator licence. A restricted licence covers carrying your own goods; a standard licence is needed to carry goods for other people for payment.
Insurers ask which one you hold because it tells them how the vehicle is used. A restricted licence holder declaring haulage work, or a vehicle used for hire and reward without the right licence, is a problem at claim time as well as with the regulator.
Tell us the licence type and the number of vehicles authorised on it, and say if you plan to start carrying for others.
Tippers, Grabs And Crane Arms
The claims that set truck premiums in construction are often not road collisions. Tipper bodies raised under power lines or bridges, crane arms striking overhead structures, and loads dropped during lifting are common, expensive, and easy to fall between policies.
The motor policy covers the vehicle being driven. Whether it also covers liability while the crane or grab is working depends on the wording, and many exclude it. Public liability can pick it up, but only if the insurer knows the lifting work happens.
If your trucks lift, tip or load mechanically, say so at the start. It is the one detail that most often decides whether a claim is paid by somebody or by nobody.
How To Choose A Truck And HGV Insurance Broker
HGV cover is a narrower market than van insurance, and plenty of brokers can only reach a scheme or two. The questions below show quickly whether a broker understands the risk.
Do they ask what the vehicle does when it is parked?
Tipping, lifting and loading are where many truck claims happen. A broker who asks only about mileage has missed them.
Do they ask about your operator licence?
Restricted or standard, and how many vehicles are authorised. It decides how the vehicle should be rated.
Can they put the trucks and vans on one policy?
Most firms with a truck also run vans. One fleet policy with one renewal date is usually simpler than separate HGV and van policies.
Have they asked about the load?
Materials, plant and waste on the back need goods in transit cover, which the motor policy does not provide.
We are an independent broker authorised and regulated by the FCA. We insure trucks for trade and construction firms, on their own or alongside their vans on one fleet policy, and we ask about tipping, lifting and loading before we quote.
What Moves The Price
Every policy is priced on the business behind it. These are the things that move the premium:
- Gross vehicle weight and body type
- Fitted equipment: cranes, grabs, tipping bodies, tail lifts
- Own goods or hire and reward use
- Where the trucks are kept overnight
- Drivers' ages, licence history and points
- Claims history across all your vehicles
We are a broker, so we take it to several insurers rather than quoting one. Call 02382 000820 for a quote.
What We Need To Quote
- Registration, make, model, gross weight and value for each truck
- Body type and any fitted cranes, grabs or tail lifts
- Operator licence type and authorised vehicles
- What the trucks carry and whether any work is for hire
- Drivers' details, licence categories and Driver CPC
- Claims in the last five years
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this policy.
- Motor fleetYour trucks, vans and cars together on one policy.
- Haulage insuranceIf the trucks carry goods for other people for payment.
- Plant coverMachinery carried on the back, and hired in plant on site.
- Tradesman insuranceThe trade version of this, with tools and van cover built around it.
- All trades A to ZCover written for your specific trade rather than the general product.
- Talk to a brokerTell us what you do and we will say which of these you actually need.
Common questions
What counts as an HGV for insurance?+
A goods vehicle over 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight. Above that weight the driver needs a category C1 or C entitlement and the operator generally needs an operator licence.
Can I put a truck on the same policy as my vans?+
Yes. Trucks, vans and cars can sit together on one fleet policy with one renewal date, which is how most trade firms with an HGV insure it.
Does truck insurance cover the crane or grab?+
The equipment itself can be insured as part of the vehicle if it is declared with a value. Liability while it is working, lifting or loading, is often excluded from the motor policy and needs covering under public liability.
Do I need different insurance to carry other people's goods?+
Yes. Carrying goods for payment is hire and reward, which needs declaring on the motor policy and a standard operator licence. The goods themselves need carriers liability or goods in transit cover.
Who insures tipper trucks for construction firms?+
Commercial motor insurers, usually through brokers, since tipper risks are rated on the work the vehicle does as well as the vehicle. CoverTrade arranges tipper and HGV cover for UK construction and trade firms. Call 02382 000820.
Other cover we arrange
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