Every commercial truck in Saskatchewan needs trucking insurance. Namely, these vehicles need liability insurance. In most cases, the liability limits your truck must carry will vary based on several factors. Yet, the principle is that you carry enough to insure the risks you pose to others.
Will the coverage from a standard commercial trucking policy work? In some cases, might you need extra liability insurance or umbrella coverage?
What's Umbrella Insurance?
Driving a truck means you present liabilities — risks — to other parties. Those might include your clients and even other drivers. If you were to cause them harm, then you might have to repay them for their losses. Liability insurance exists for such a reason. It will pay others for their damage for which you were responsible.
Yet, liability policies will include limits, and there's no guarantee that damage costs will fall below the limits. That means you might have to pay for remaining damage costs if you exceed the value provided by your policy. Still, if you have an umbrella liability policy in place, you might be able to avoid these excess costs.
Trucking umbrella insurance provides more liability coverage than that provided by an existing trucker's policy. It will also often pay for certain incidents that your standard policy might not insure. Thus, coverage can add more protection for the most severe, unique trucking incidents.
Why You Might Need Umbrella Coverage
Let's look at an example of when umbrella coverage might come in handy.
Your trucking liability policy might only pay a maximum of $1 million for claims. What if you caused a pile-up wreck that resulted in $1,500,000 in damage? That's potentially a $500,000 bill out of your own pocket after the policy pays its maximum of $1 million. ($1,500,000 - $1,000,000 = $500,000). You don't want this fate to befall you.
With an umbrella policy in place, you likely won't have to worry about how you will pay these outstanding costs. Coverage usually offers at least $1 million in protection. Thus, in the above scenario, you'll likely have coverage available for that $500,000 excess bill.
Trucking Liability Requirements In Canada
Most truckers in Canada must carry liability insurance in one form or other. Check with Saskatchewan's SGI for more information.
Don't hesitate to add liability limits to your trucking policy up to the maximum allowable. You might have to have maximum limits on your coverage before you qualify for umbrella coverage. Talk to a Heritage Insurance agent about your qualifications for umbrella coverage. You'll find it both affordable and beneficial.
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