Towing Insurance Questions
 

Wasn't sure if this is the right place or not but it is towing related so here goes. I am in the early stages of starting a towing and recovery business. We are in a small town that currently has two other companies with medium-duty rollbacks. Unfortunately both companies specialize in body work and tow on the side for extra money. When these shops are busy doing bodywork, they won't answer the phone for towing calls. I worked for the only local towing business that only did towing until the owner retired and decided to try to step into his place. I waited for the right truck and found one locally, a 1996 International 4700 with 19ft. aluminum bed and wheel lift for $3200. It supposedly had engine trouble but ran and drove fine, no issues yet. Also had a new FICM and injectors.

My question goes out to all of you that tow, what are reasonable insurance rates for a rollback and good insurance companies to go with? Any companies to stay away from? I am located in SW Missouri. My cousin is an insurance agent but I want to shop around for the best rate.

P.S. If this is the wrong place for this topic, I'll gladly move it. Thanks for your help.

I would ask the owner you worked for. It would be a start. Lots of variables in what is required etc.

I would have no idea. Commercial insurance is what you need. Call the major companies and see what you come up with.

I looked into getting a flatbed tow truck last year when I thought I would give car flipping a try. Found out that Progressive was the only one who would insure it (1985 Ford F350 with a 19ft flatbed) and they wanted $2,600 for a 6 month policy. That was too steep for me, so I went with a F350 CC dually, and a flatbed trailer, and put a winch on it. I am sure there are others out there who offer commercial insurance, but I know Allstate, Geico, and AAA are not one of them.

Jim

edit: Just noticed the insurance quote was wrong, it is fixed now. LOL.

Your going to have to go to a business policy and a company that offers them. When I was in business(not towing)I had my Insurance through a Nationwide Company called Allied in our state. We also had everything else through Allied but it made no difference on the business policy because it was all by itself and handled by a different branch of the company. You are exposing them to more liability so the rates are higher and so will the liability limits. In this day and age it's all about covering your ass or should I say assets. I would find a independent agent that handles business policies not your everyday homeowners tuff. You will get audited every year and that will set your rate for the next year and you may even have to pay more for the year before if you had a real good year and exposed them to more liability. Being in business for yourself isn't cheap and there's a lot of things that have to go into setting your rates so you can make a profit and you will find insurance is a big part of your overhead, you may also be asked for proof of insurance before you are put on any lists of businesses that offer your service.

Denny

Insurance is a huge part of business expenses. I can honestly say that it contributed to the closure of one small business a partner and I tried to get up and running. Don't overlook the potential requirements for licensing, tax collection (and the license to even collect the taxes), among other things. That all said, I wish you success! This country is in dire need of more enterprising small business owners.

When I first retired I got into delivering stuff - kinda by accident - first trip was a favor to a friend - owns a tractor shop - needed a tractor delivered from NJ out to Long Island.

Hey - I was new at being retired and figured - easy money - I had a 2500 cummins back then - so I did it. When I delivered the tractor - got talking with the guy and he had a boat out at the tip of long island he needed brought back to his house - again - ok some nice extra cash and I liked going different places. Picked the boat from a marina - they said hey leave us your name and number in case we need any other boats delivered - few weeks later I got a call to take a boat from long island to Alaska.

I drover all over the country - about 1 trip a month - saw all of the good old USA on someone else's dime. loved it - insurance company told me if i wanted coverage it was $6,000 a year. I had to stop - that would have made it a job.

The reason I even asked the insurance company - a buddy doing the same thing had an accident - Allstate insurance would not pay for his truck - said even if someone is just giving you gas money - they consider him towing for hire and he needed commercial insurance. His truck was totaled and he was not paid.

The point is - you need good insurance and sometimes it can be the deciding factor if a business can be successful.

Keep us posted what you do