What are pollution insurance and haz-mat insurance?
Pollution and haz-mat insurance are designed to help cover costs of cleaning up the environment following an accident.
Pollution insurance:
Pollution coverage can help cover your business for the expenses it’s legally obligated to pay to clean up the environment following an accident. Cleaning up after a truck accident can be extremely expensive, which is why pollution coverage is so important. Pollution and environmental damage can often be excluded under general liability insurance, another reason that this coverage is worth considering.
Picture this. A truck driver is cruising along, and they get going too fast. They don’t notice a sign warning that the road curves sharply and don’t slow down. They run off the road; fortunately, they aren’t hurt. But they crash into a shallow stream that runs alongside the roadway, and their load spills into the water. Pollution insurance can cover the costs of your obligation to clean up and protect the environment.
Hazmat insurance:
If you haul hazardous materials - for example, medical waste, gas, propane, or other chemicals considered to be “hazardous” - you may be required to consider hazardous materials insurance (or hazmat insurance.) Like pollution coverage, this can help cover the costs of cleaning up the environment if somehow your trucking business were to endanger the environment by spilling your load.
Limits for hazmat insurance (the maximum amount that the insurance carrier will pay out) can be as high as $5,000,000. That’s because hazmat hauling is strictly regulated by the government due to the high potential for disaster. You may be required to carry a certain amount of insurance in order to operate your business, so it’s important that you have the hazmat insurance you need.
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Do I need haz-mat insurance for my business?
Trucking is not without its risks. Anything can happen on the road, including car accidents. Liability insurance and cargo insurance might be the first types of coverage that come to mind when you think about insuring your trucking operation, but you may want to consider pollution insurance to make sure that your business is fully protected from the fallout of a potential accident. Environmental cleanup gets very expensive very quickly.
Understanding the cost of pollution insurance:
- What you’re hauling: Your loads and the type of business you run will affect your pollution insurance rates.
- Accidents and tickets: Accidents and tickets are both seen as signs that you’re a higher risk to insure, so if you have speeding tickets or accidents on your record you may end up paying more for your truck insurance.
- Your truck: The year, model, and make of your truck also has an effect on how much you’ll pay for pollution insurance.
- How many trucks you have: The size of your fleet can impact your rates.
- Your drivers: The age, experience, and driving records of your drivers all can have an effect on your pollution insurance rates.
- Your radius/Location: Where you’re operating and how far you drive are both details that the insurance company will want to know.
- How long you’ve been in business: If you’re an established, mature business with few claims or losses, you’ll probably get a better rate for your insurance.
Get multiple pollution insurance or hazmat insurance quotes.
Our team of transportation insurance agents can help you find the pollution/haz-mat insurance you need to protect your business. We can help you shop around for your insurance, which means that you can rest assured that you’re getting the best rate for your insurance. We like helping trucking businesses save money, and we also like making insurance easy. We’ve worked with plenty of trucking businesses, so we understand the risks you face and the insurance you need. Whether you have tow trucks, flatbeds, auto haulers, dump trucks, or pretty much any other type of truck you can think of, we can help you with your trucking insurance. To get truck insurance quotes for your business, all you have to do is fill out our online form or give us a call today.
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