Wisconsin Tow Truck Insurance

Wisconsin tow truck insurance requirements

Wisconsin’s motor-carrier requirements depend on the vehicle and the work it performs. For property transported for hire, WisDOT lists a $750,000 liability minimum for vehicles with gross weight over 10,000 pounds. The minimum is $300,000 for vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less. Confirm the category and any additional requirements that apply to your towing operation.

For intrastate operations that require a filing, your insurer sends Form E to WisDOT. Wisconsin also accepts an insurance filing with FMCSA for interstate operating authority as meeting its intrastate filing requirement. See the WisDOT motor-carrier insurance requirements.

Your insurer uses the WisDOT filing system to submit the required proof. Check local permits, police rotations, and customer agreements too. They can require 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.

Include every service in your application, from roadside calls to storage and repairs. Heavy recovery, repossession, and multi-car hauling can call for a different insurance review from routine work with a rollback or wheel-lift wrecker.

Wisconsin workers’ compensation requirements

A small towing business can still be required to carry workers’ compensation in Wisconsin. The main employee and wage thresholds 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.

We can help you review coverage for owners and any applicable exceptions. The Wisconsin DWD employer guidance explains when coverage must be in place.

Include drivers, helpers, dispatchers, and office staff when you review the business. Wisconsin uses its own criteria to determine independent-contractor status. Paying someone on a 1099 doesn’t settle the question. See the Wisconsin worker-classification guidance.

Protecting customer vehicles at your storage yard

Once you leave a customer’s vehicle at your yard, storage coverage becomes part of the insurance picture. Tell us about every lot you use, including rented or shared locations.

Choose limits based on the most vehicles you could hold and their combined value. We’ll explain how the policy treats fire, theft, vandalism, and weather damage. Legal-liability, direct-primary, and direct-excess coverage can respond differently to the same loss, so it helps to understand those options before choosing.

Keep vehicle-condition records, control access to keys, and secure the lot. These practices help you manage the vehicles customers leave in your care.

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 us the current insurance instructions from your network, customer, or AAA club. Include regular trips into Illinois, Minnesota, or other states so we can account for your operating area and any insurance filings.

Wisconsin tow truck insurance cost and discounts

Truck values, drivers, claims, services, location, travel area, and coverage limits all affect your rate. A local roadside operation may be priced differently from a company with heavy-recovery equipment or a storage yard.

We’ll check whether prior insurance, additional policies, or a telematics program could qualify you for savings. Compare the full premium and deductibles along with the down payment, installments, and fees.