Commercial Truck Insurance

A basic or standard commercial truck insurance policy for freight and logistics owner-operators and trucking companies includes the following mandatory types of coverage:

• Third-Party Liability: Third-party liability is designed to cover expenses and losses that cause injury or death to another person or damage to someone else’s property following an accident or collision with your commercial truck.
  
  It covers an injured person’s medical and rehabilitation expenses or other costs if a person is killed in an accident with your commercial vehicle, and it provides financial support for repairing or replacing other people’s property, including their vehicle, a building, and attached structures to a building, such as a fence.
  
  All Canadian provinces require a minimum amount of third-party liability coverage. For instance, Ontario mandates $200,000, though increasing this amount is an option. Many owner-operators and trucking companies opt for third-party liability coverage ranging from $1 million to $5 million.
  
  If you are sued by a third party following an accident with your commercial truck, third-party liability coverage may pay for your legal defence expenses and settlements or judgments up to the policy’s coverage limit.

• Accident Benefits: Accident benefits provide mandatory no-fault coverage for medical, rehabilitation, and income-related expenses for drivers and passengers who are injured in a vehicle-related accident, regardless of who caused the accident.
  
  It pays for your medical and rehabilitation expenses if you’re injured in an accident with another vehicle or a stationary object (such as a traffic light).
  
  Accident benefits feature four benefits:
  
  1. Income replacement, non-earner, and caregiver benefits covers a portion of your lost income if you are unable to work because of injuries you sustain following an auto accident, income for an injured person who isn’t employed (a non-earner) but suffers an inability to carry on a normal life, and additional support for caregivers to assist you if your injuries prevent you from functioning normally.
  
  2. Medical rehabilitation and attendant care benefits to cover expenses that are not covered by a provincial health care plan.

  3. Death and funeral benefits provide a specific amount of funds to your spouse and family if you are killed in an auto accident, and financial support to cover your funeral expenses.
  
  4. Miscellaneous benefits cover other losses or damages you suffer following an accident, such as damages to prescription eyewear, clothing, and medical devices.

• Direct Compensation-Property Damage (DCPD): DCPD is a mandatory portion of a commercial auto insurance policy in some Canadian provinces.
  
  It covers damage to your vehicle and its contents following an accident when another driver is at fault or partially at fault, when the accident occurs in a province with DCPD rules, and companies in that province insure both drivers.  
  
  DCPD essentially allows a driver not at fault for an accident to file a claim for repairs to their vehicle with their insurer directly. It allows for a faster claims handling process without having to pursue compensation from the at-fault driver’s insurer legally.

• Uninsured Auto: Uninsured auto covers damages to your vehicle following an accident with an at-fault uninsured driver, a driver of a stolen vehicle, or an unknown driver who commits a hit-and-run.
  
  It’s designed to cover your medical costs, rehabilitation, lost income, and death benefits if you or an employee is injured or killed in an accident caused by an uninsured driver. Some provinces also allow uninsured auto to cover damages to your vehicle, minus a deductible.

There are optional coverages to consider including in a commercial truck insurance policy, such as:

• Collision or Upset Insurance: Collision or upset insurance is an optional coverage you can add to a commercial truck insurance policy.
  
  It pays for repairing or replacing your vehicle if it’s damaged or a total loss resulting from an accident or collision with another vehicle, stationary objects (street lights, guardrails, a wall), or if your truck rolls over, regardless of who is at fault for the accident.
  
  You usually are required to pay a deductible before an insurer pays to repair or replace your vehicle up to its actual cash value at the time of the collision.

If you don’t have collision coverage in your commercial auto policy, you are responsible for paying for damages to your vehicle resulting from a collision.

• Comprehensive Insurance: Comprehensive insurance is an optional coverage that’s designed to protect your truck from damages caused by natural disasters (windstorms, hail, flood, lightning strikes), fire and explosions, falling objects (debris, a tree branch), and unexpected or unavoidable collisions with wildlife that darts out in front of you while driving.
  
  You typically need to pay a deductible before an insurer pays to repair or replace your vehicle following one of these incidents.

• All Perils Insurance: All perils coverage bundles collision and comprehensive insurance together.
  
  It includes coverage for collision damage to your truck (regardless of who is at fault), damage caused by fire, flood, extreme weather, falling objects, theft, vandalism, and damage caused by a hit-and-run or collisions with wildlife.  
  
  It also covers theft of your truck by employees or family members.

• Specified Perils Insurance: Specified perils coverage covers perils or damages that are specifically named in the policy. It is a more limited, lower-cost version of all-perils insurance.
  
  Common perils that can be included in specified perils insurance include fire, explosions, extreme weather (hail, windstorm, lightning strikes, flood), and theft.