Wisconsin Tow Truck Insurance

Wisconsin tow truck insurance requirements

Wisconsin motor-carrier requirements depend on the vehicle and operation. For property transported for hire, WisDOT lists minimum liability limits of $750,000 for vehicles with gross weight over 10,000 pounds and $300,000 for vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less. Confirm the applicable category and any additional requirements for your towing work.

For applicable intrastate operations, the insurance company files Form E with WisDOT. The state also recognizes an insurance filing with FMCSA for interstate operating authority as meeting its intrastate filing requirement. WisDOT motor-carrier insurance requirements.

Your insurer handles the required insurance filing through the WisDOT filing system. Local permits, police rotation and customer contracts may call for higher limits or additional coverage.

What coverage does a Wisconsin towing company need?

• Commercial auto liability: Helps cover injuries and property damage you cause to others in an accident involving an insured truck.
• Physical damage: Helps pay for covered damage to your tow truck, with coverage and deductibles selected for the vehicle.
• On-hook towing: Helps cover damage to a customer’s vehicle while you tow or transport it.
• Garagekeepers legal liability: Helps cover damage to customer vehicles at an insured storage or service location when your business is legally responsible.
• General liability or garage liability: Helps cover certain claims arising from your premises or business operations.
• Workers’ compensation: Helps cover employees’ injuries and illnesses related to their work.

Rollbacks, flatbeds, wheel-lift wreckers and roadside-service vehicles can have different insurance needs. Include storage, repairs, heavy recovery, repossession and multi-car hauling in your application so each service can be reviewed.

Wisconsin workers’ compensation requirements

Wisconsin’s requirements can affect a business with a small staff. The main employee and wage triggers are:

• Three or more employees: Coverage is required on the day you employ the third full-time or part-time person.
• One or more employees with combined gross wages of at least $500 in a calendar quarter: Coverage is required by the tenth day of the first month of the next quarter.

Review owner status and applicable exceptions with your agent. See the Wisconsin DWD employer guidance for the state’s requirements.

Drivers, helpers, dispatchers and office staff should all be included in your staffing review. Independent-contractor status has its own legal criteria; a 1099 alone does not establish it. Wisconsin worker-classification guidance.

Protecting customer vehicles at your storage yard

When a tow ends and a vehicle stays at your lot, garagekeepers coverage becomes an important part of the review. Include every storage location, whether you own the property, rent a yard or share a lot.

Choose limits with the largest number and combined value of vehicles you may hold in mind. Ask how the policy treats fire, theft, vandalism and weather damage, and whether it provides legal-liability, direct-primary or direct-excess coverage. These options respond differently to a loss.

Keeping vehicle-condition records and controlling access to keys and the lot can also help you manage customer vehicles more effectively.

Roadside networks and interstate towing

Provider applications for Agero, HONK, Allstate Roadside, GEICO, AAA and Nation Safe Drivers can include specific coverage and certificate requirements. Auction customers such as Copart may have additional requirements for transporting vehicles.

Send your agent the current instructions from the organization or AAA club you plan to work with. Include any regular trips into Illinois, Minnesota or other states so your travel area and filing needs can be reviewed together.

Wisconsin tow truck insurance cost and discounts

Your rate depends on truck values, drivers, claims history, services, location, travel radius and coverage limits. Insurance for a local roadside operation can differ from coverage for heavy recovery or a business with a storage yard.

Eligible telematics, prior-insurance and multi-policy discounts may help you save. Compare the total premium and deductibles as well as the first payment and installment schedule.