Truck Insurance Quote Comparison
Commercial & Private Truck Insurance, for 3.5 .. 44 Tonne, One short form – save time & money
Compare Private & Commercial Truck Insurance Quotes
As a truck driver, you are fully aware of the daily risks posed as you go about your business. To legally drive any vehicle in the UK, you will need a minimum of third-party cover. Commercial Truck insurance is available for a full range of vehicles that fall under the umbrella term "commercial utility vehicle".
Multi Quote Time works in partnership with QuoteZone who provide a simple form which once completed is submitted to a specialist panel of brokers. The panel of UK brokers will provide multiple quotes for your UK Truck and HGV insurance requirements.
What is Truck Insurance?
Truck insurance is a policy that provides legal road cover for a business with a fleet of trucks or a sole trader with one truck. It can provide protection if you are in accident, cover starts at third party with fully comprehensive cover also available.
Each insurance policy can be tailored with add-ons to meet your individual requirements. Whether you have a whole fleet of vans or just one, a policy can be tailored to you or your company requirements.
Example of vehicle types covered under truck insurance
We have listed some of the most common vehicle types below, but this is only a small sample of the vehicle types that the panel can provide quotes for.
HGV Insurance: Owner driver of a Heavy goods vehicle and looking for HGV insurance at a reasonable price? The panel can help you compare the market by providing multiple quotes.
Haulage Insurance: A haulage business, legally require road cover for the haulage vehicle or fleet of haulage vehicles. Haulage insurance will provide cover for your vehicles, but not the goods being hauled. Goods in Transit insurance (GIT) can be bought as a separate policy or included in the vehicle insurance policy.
Types of Truck Insurance
Like most insurances, there are different policies add-ons depending on your requirements. Below we've mentioned some of the most common coverages you are able to purchase for these types of vehicles.
Best Insurance Policies for Different Truck Types
The panel can provide comparative quotes for all truck types. Below we have listed typical trucks found on UK roads.
Flat Bed Truck Insurance - Because flatbed trucks typically transport large and expensive goods, it is particularly necessary to get a flawless insurance policy in case anything happens during transportation. We recommend you get extensive contents cover depending on the value of goods you transport.
Heavy Goods Vehicle Insurance - The type of cover included in HGV insurance is normally quite broad, such as including third-party, fire and theft, comprehensive, contents cover and public liability insurance.
Tipper Truck Insurance - As a bare minimum, you should be looking for at least comprehensive insurance when it comes to covering a tipper truck.
Recovery Truck Insurance - Most but not all recovery trucks are owned by large corporate companies and therefore, we recommend fleet insurance if you fit into this category.
Refrigerated Truck Insurance - It's important to consider contents insurance in the unlikely event of your refrigerated van malfunctions and possibly spoiling the goods.
Dropside Lorry – A popular choice with a delivery business. A dropside lorry will speed up the delivery process.
Commercial Truck Insurance
If you are operating your truck on a commercial basis, be aware of the CPC training requirements that you must fulfil and renew keep up todate.
If you’re trying to insure someone below the age of 25, consider adding a telematics system and in-cabin cameras. These type of devices can help lower the premiums that are associated with higher risk younger drivers.
It’s important to cover yourself with the right policy, but it’s also essential to purchase affordable insurance for the work you’re doing.
Typical Truck Insurance Exclusions
Care needs to be applied when you are purchasing truck insurance. This is to ensure you’re covered for your requirements while not clashing with the exclusions that the insurer lays out. Failing to follow the exclusion rules may result in your cover being invalidated. We have listed some of the more typical exclusions below:
7 Ways to reduce your truck insurance premium?
1 Telematics
Telematics: What is telematics, and can it reduce my annual or monthly premiums? Simply put, a device is added to your truck and yes, it can reduce your premium. The purpose of the device is to record data on the driver and will include at least the following:
2. Driver background checks
Driver background checks. Drivers that have a history of claims will increase your premium as they will be seen as an added risk. In addition, drivers under 25 will incur a higher premium based on the increased risk of accidents. So, whilst the young driver may be one of the better drivers, the underwriter sees all young drivers as extra risk.
3. Reduce admin costs
Reduce admin costs. Simply arranging one annual payment will lead to fewer overheads for everyone. The resulting lower costs can be passed on to you in terms of a lower premium.
4. Truck Fleet Insurance
Fleet cover should be considered if you have 2 or more trucks. Instead of purchasing individual insurance for each truck, you’ll be able to insurance all work vehicles under one policy. Insuring vehicles through a fleet policy should lead to savings over the traditional one vehicle, one policy route.
5. Tighten up on security
Tighten up on security. Making your vehicles secure and safe will help to bring down your insurance premiums. If possible, provide safe and secure parking. Add additional safety devices (insurance approved) such as immobiliser, GPS tracking devices. Taking these steps will be a step in reducing your overall insurance costs.
6. Named Divers Only
Do you need any driver cover? If possible, limit your policy to named drivers. However, if your business model requires driver flexibility, then an any driver fleet insurance policy will meet that requirement.
7. Compare truck insurance Cost with Multiple Quotes
Get quotes from multiple sources and compare these police in terms of inclusions and exclusions. Quotes can easily be tailored to an owner-operator's individual needs, providing the necessary cover to ensure you are not at financial risk as a result of an incident involving your work vehicle. Having your trucking business covered with adequate protection can let you get on with running your business without concerns for possible future claims against you or one of your drivers.
The policy can also be tailored to cover goods in transit, personal liability and loss of earnings. Depending on the type of business, you may also wish to cover tools, machinery, cargo and goods transported or held in storage.
Truck Insurance FAQ's
Under 25 truck insurance is available, but expect to pay a higher premium than drivers over 25. This is because statistics show that people under 25 are more likely to cause accidents and are therefore considered “high risk”
However, installing telematic devices that will monitor younger drivers can help reduce these premium. They monitor certain aspects of driving such as their breaking, acceleration and average speed, by doing this they can determine the young drivers risk profile.
You can also offer additional driving courses such as Pass Plus to your under 25 drivers. Being able to supply a certificate of further learning to your insurance company shows a professional attitude to improving your workforce driving skills and should help reduce your overall insurance costs.
The UK panel of insurance brokers can provide truck insurance quotes to both those that hold and those that do not hold an operator's licence.
Insurance quotes are available for farm vehicles and includes tractor insurance UK plus other commercial vehicles, examples those that are used within construction.
Trucking Terms Explained
Gross Vehicle Weight: The weight of a vehicle and its load.
Train Weight: The weight of a vehicle, a trailer and its load. PLATED WEIGHT.
Plated Weight: Either the design weight limit given on a manufacturer’s plate or the legal weight limit given on the Department’s plate
Draw Bar Trailer available for carriage and reward
Articulated Truck A tractor unit with a semi-trailer attached where part of the load is borne by the drawing vehicle. Articulated Lorries (Artics) are the main vehicle category to transport goods by road. This combines a tractor unit with a trailer using a turn-table device. Artics have different types of trailers, some of the most common are listed below:
Flatbed trailer - Most versatile and can be used for almost any kind of cargo, one disadvantage is that the goods need to be protected from the elements and theft.
Tilt trailer - Similar to the flat bed trailer, but with a removable canopy.
Curtain side - Most common vehicle for road haulage and comes with a rigid roof and rear doors. The sides are PVC curtains that can be drawn back for easy loading and unloading.
Box trailer - Boxed rigid unit, with loading through back doors. A must for long haulage or for valuable goods.
Road train - a rigid vehicle at the front, which pulls a trailer behind it.
Low-loaders - Can be used for transporting heavy machinery and other outsize goods. Set low to the ground for easy loading.
Swap-body system -Not common and have been designed to accommodate standard cargo containers.
Horsebox insurance is slightly different to commercial truck insurance, if you need horsebox insurance then please read our guide on horsebox insurance in the UK.
Non claims bonus that you earned under a previous truck insurance policy can be easily transferred. On the question of transferring a bonus earned under a different vehicle category will depend on the individual broker.
Comprehensive insurance policies will normally cover damage caused by the stock being transferred.
Quotes are available for non holders of an operator's licence. However, If the vehicle is over 3.5 tonne and is used to carry goods as part of a business or trade, legally you will need an operator's licence. Please note the rules in NI and UK vary, please check this link for the latest up-to-date information on operators' driver licence requirements.
