Ten reasons to insure a truck properly

The ones about being allowed to work

Your contracts require it. Head contractors, freight platforms and depots specify liability limits and ask for certificates before you start, so cover is often the difference between having work and not.

Your finance requires it. A financed truck almost always carries a condition to keep comprehensive cover in place, and letting it lapse is a breach of the loan as well as an exposure.

Site access requires it. Warehouses, ports and construction sites will not let an uninsured vehicle through the gate.

The ones about what goes wrong

A private policy will not respond once you are paid to carry goods, which is the single most common reason a truck claim is declined. The freight is not covered by motor cover at all, and a load can be worth more than the vehicle.

A truck off the road stops your income entirely if it is your only one. Third-party damage from a heavy vehicle is far larger than from a car, and injury claims larger still. And your own injury stops everything, which no motor policy addresses.

The ones people only appreciate later

A broker argues a disputed claim on your behalf rather than leaving you to it. Cover arranged properly at inception avoids the disclosure problems that cause most declines. And a clean, documented insurance history is an asset when you come to grow, refinance or sell the business.