Your truck is your livelihood, your home away from home. As such, you want to provide the best protection you can, so you don’t lose everything in the event of an unforeseen occurrence. Accidents sometimes happen, natural disasters like tornadoes or hurricanes do occasionally damage vehicles, and fires, theft, and vandalism are unfortunate realities. Trucking physical damage insurance coverage helps pay to repair or replace your truck in these unforeseen circumstances and keep your life from coming to a complete standstill.
What would happen if you were involved in an accident or someone decided to help themselves to your rig today? Without proper insurance protection, you would have to pay out of pocket to repair or replace your truck. Would that be financially possible for you? To help you understand the need for physical damage insurance we’re going to explore the following topics:
- The 5 best trucking physical damage insurance companies
- What is physical damage insurance for semi trucks?
- What does semi truck physical damage insurance cover?
- Is physical damage insurance required by law?
- How much does semi truck physical damage cost?
The 5 best trucking physical damage insurance companies
There are around 3.6 million truckers on the road in the US. With that many people relying on trucking for their livelihoods, good commercial truck insurance is a necessity. We’ve looked at several of the insurance companies providing commercial truck insurance, and these four are our favorites.
- Progressive: Best overall with over 40 years of experience
- Simply Business: Best for comparison shopping and best value
- Sentry: Most trucking expertise. Affiliated with several trucking groups. Available in all 50 states
- EIB Direct: More coverage than federal limits. Specialty is high-risk policies for truckers
- Commercialinsurance.net: Best for an extensive network of knowledgeable agents
Progressive: Best overall with over 40 years of experience
If you want a completely online experience when buying your insurance, Progressive may be the choice for you. They collect your information and return a quote through their website. If you like the coverage amounts and the rates, you can even complete your purchase right there on the site.
If you’ve ever seen a commercial for Progressive’s automobile policies you know they are known for bundling services. They extend their bundles to their commercial policies, and bundling helps you get discounted rates in some states. Progressive has been in the commercial insurance business for more than 40 years, and they have earned their place as the largest commercial truck insurance seller.
Simply Business: Best for comparison shopping and best value
Simply Business isn’t a traditional insurance company. Rather, they are a broker for insurance policies. They collect your information and match that with the best policies they can find for your situation. You can input your information online, and then an agent will contact you for a follow-up.
Simply Business works with multiple companies; their agents give you the choices they’ve found that are the best fits for you. Because they work with multiple companies, they often offer better rates than other companies. If you want to easily comparison shop for policies, consider Simply Business for your insurance needs. Should you choose to work with Simply Business, you can use their online resources to manage your policies after you purchase them.
Simply Business earns a great customer satisfaction rating of 4.1 out of 5 on Trustpilot, which is much higher than their insurance provider peers.
Sentry: Most trucking expertise. Affiliated with several trucking groups. Available in all 50 states.
Sentry sells insurance policies through independent agents, and commercial truck insurance policies are only handled by those who specialize in trucking. The coverage offered by Sentry is available in all 50 states. Sentry specializes in working with owner-operators or companies with only one truck. They do offer policies for fleets as well, but their specialty is working with small companies.
Sentry has been in the commercial trucking insurance business since 1904. They offer a wide range of coverages, and they work to customize your policy to your needs. Sentry doesn’t sell its insurance online. You will have to contact an agent to get quotes and create the policy that best fits your situation.
EIB Direct: More coverage than federal limits. Specialty is high-risk policies for truckers
Evolution Insurance Brokers (EIB Direct) is not as well-known as some of the other trucking insurance companies. However, their specialty is the reason they made our list. They provide insurance policies for truckers who are considered high-risk. These could be truckers who routinely haul hazardous materials, or have a driving record that is less than stellar.
The high-risk policies do tend to be more expensive than other policies, so don’t look for bargain basement pricing with these policies. EIB Direct does seem to be more costly than other companies. Keep that in mind when you are comparing them to other companies.
Commercialinsurance.net: Best for an extensive network of knowledgeable agents
Commercialinsurance.net is a broker specializing in business insurance. They partner with an extensive network of agents who specialize in business insurance and are extremely knowledgeable in this field. Commercial truck insurance is one of their main areas of focus.
However unique your situation is, you can trust that commercialinsurance.net will find you an agent specializing in the situation like yours and this agent will find you the best coverage at the most affordable price.
What is physical damage insurance for semi trucks?
Physical damage insurance for your semi truck consists of the comprehensive and collision coverages provided by your insurance company. It covers any damages that are incurred in an accident or other mishap. Collision insurance covers the damage that happens if you wreck your truck. Comprehensive insurance covers the damage caused by other issues like fire, theft, or vandalism.
Deductibles for physical damage insurance vary with the company, but most start at $500. Some companies offer add-on coverages for things like towing, storage, electronic devices, and personal belongings. Some also offer gap coverage which would pay the remainder of your loan—minus your deductible—should your rig be totaled and not assess at the value you still owe.
What does semi truck physical damage insurance cover?
Trucking physical damage insurance provides coverage for your semi truck while you are driving the truck for both business and personal purposes. Semi truck physical damage insurance covers the following damages:
- Damages caused by collisions with another objects
- Damages caused by one of the following comprehensive events:
- Fire or explosion
- Windstorm, hail, earthquake, flood
- Theft, vandalism, and more
You can also add on other optional coverages such as:
- Storage: This will pay for the storage fees if your truck needs to be in storage for some time waiting for the garage to be ready to work on it.
- Towing: This will pay for towing cost when you need to tow your truck to a garage nearby for reparation
- Gap coverage: This coverage will pay off the loan if your truck is totaled and the appraised value is less than the payoff amount.
Is physical damage insurance required by law?
The law doesn’t require that you have physical damage insurance for your semi truck. However, if the truck is financed, your lienholder likely will require this coverage. Because of the distances you travel, it’s a good idea to consider physical damage insurance even if you aren’t required to have it. Think of it as protection for your livelihood—not just your truck.
How much does physical damage insurance for your semi-truck cost?
The cost of semi truck physical damage varies, depending on the value of the semi truck at the time of buying insurance. It is usually calculated as a percentage of the truck value, around 2-5%, or $1,000 – $3,000 a year.
Deductibles impact the cost. The higher the deductibles are, the lower the premiums are.
Different insurance companies will provide you with different rates. Be sure to shop around to find the cheapest price for your coverage.
Final thoughts
With more than 100 companies that provide commercial truck insurance, it could quickly become confusing trying to weed through all the policies and coverage add-ons. We’ve highlighted four of the best trucking physical damage insurance companies. While all are different, each one has a valuable offering in the commercial truck insurance industry.
It isn’t required that you have physical damage insurance for your truck. However, we advise that you consider it as a way of protecting your livelihood. Even if your driving record isn’t the best or you haul hazardous materials, there are policies available for you. Compare the rates and offerings for yourself to make the best selection for your situation.
