The time has come to get truck insurance. Maybe you’ve been waiting in dread of this day for a long time. Truck insurance doesn’t sound very riveting or fun. Plus, the different coverages and terms can get overwhelming. When you get truck insurance quotes, the agent assisting you will ask a few questions – that’s so they can get the most accurate quote possible and understand what coverages you will need. There are a lot of different factors that influence your rates.
Anyways, we’ve put together a list of some of those questions to help you get prepared to go through the quoting process.
1. What kind of trucks do you have?
The year, make, and model of your trucks matters to your insurance because the amount of coverage you need depends on how much it would cost to replace them if they were wrecked. Year, make, and model helps your agent determine the value of your vehicles, whether you have semi-trucks, flatbeds, or tow trucks. They’ll also ask for the Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) of your trucks so they can check that your vehicles are properly registered.
2. What’s the situation with your drivers?
The number of drivers you have influences your rates. The agent will probably ask for your drivers’ birthdates. The age and experience of your employees influence your rates. Young truck drivers may cause your rates to be higher because they don’t have as much experience driving trucks.
The agent may also ask for the drivers’ license numbers of all your drivers. The Motor Vehicle Records of your drivers make a difference to your rates because if a driver has speeding tickets or accidents on their record they’re more of a risk to insure.
3. Has your business had any tickets or accidents in the past few years?
As we mentioned above, tickets and accidents are seen as indicators of risk. The agent will probably ask you if you’ve had tickets or accidents within the past few years (they’ll give you a specific time range, such as three years.) They may also ask to see loss runs for your business – loss runs are basically a history of claims filed against your insurance policies.
4. How long have you been in business?
If your business has been around for a long time, that gives the insurance company more data to look at. And they like having plenty of numbers and information to go over. If you’ve been around for a while and you have a good, fairly clean loss record, you could see lower truck insurance rates.
However, if you’re a newer venture, we can still help you find affordable truck insurance. Some carriers are okay with working with newer businesses because they have clean loss records. So, you don’t have to give up on getting cheap truck insurance quotes just because you haven’t been around forever.
5. What kind of company do you operate?
The agent may also ask if your business is a sole proprietorship, an LLC, or if you’ve incorporated. It’s one of those details that carriers like to know.
6. What kind of work do you do?
The type of business you run matters to your rates. Insurance companies will be interested in knowing what cargo you transport and who you’re hauling it for. What you do influences the amount of cargo insurance you need.
7. What’s your radius of operation?
The agent will also want to know where you’re driving and how far you’re going. They’ll want to know if you’re interstate or intrastate (meaning if you cross state lines or if you stay in one state.) Your location and destination all factor into your truck insurance quotes.
8. Do you have any contracts?
Having contracts can change the way your business is classified from an insurance standpoint, so the agent may ask if you have any. Contracts can require that you carry certain amounts of insurance to get the job. And those requirements are helpful for the agent to know.
So, we know that might seem like a lot of information to supply, but there are a lot of factors that go into determining truck insurance rates. Our team’s goal is to make insurance as easy as possible, so don’t worry about the truck insurance process getting overwhelming. That’s not how we roll. We also don’t believe that insurance has to take forever, so we’ll get you those quotes fast. And all you have to do to get started with truck insurance quotes is fill out our online form or give us a call today.