Illinois Tow Truck Insurance Requirements

What insurance does Illinois require for tow truck registration?

The Illinois Secretary of State handles your tow truck’s registration and plates. Its insurance checklist calls for the following coverage. Where you see a combined single limit, or CSL, that amount applies to covered injuries and property damage from the same accident.

Scroll sideways to view the full table.

Start with these registration requirements, then check the work you plan to accept. ICC rules, police rotations, and customer contracts may call for higher limits or additional coverage. The state’s VSD 552 form explains the limited registration exceptions.

Garage liability and garagekeepers cover different risks

Garage liability helps cover certain injury and property damage claims arising from your business operations. Garagekeepers legal liability applies to covered damage to customer vehicles at your repair or storage facility when your business is legally responsible. Your policy’s terms and exclusions determine how each coverage applies.

If you have no repair or storage facility, you may qualify for the garagekeepers exception. The separate $500,000 garage liability requirement still applies.

Our Illinois tow truck insurance guide explains the coverage options available for your business.

Prepare your certificate of insurance

Your certificate of insurance, often called a COI, summarizes the coverage your agent or insurer has arranged. You’ll submit it with your registration paperwork. The information needs to match your policies because a certificate does not add or change coverage.

Before you submit your certificate, check the business information, vehicles, limits, and dates. The sample below shows where to find those details.

View the full-size sample COI image

Check these details on your COI

1. Certificate date. Check the date in the upper-right corner. It must be within 90 days of your registration or renewal transaction.
2. Your business name and address. Both need to match the information on your vehicle registration.
3. Your vehicles. Check the year, make, model, and VIN for each truck. Policy numbers belong in the separate policy-number fields.
4. Coverage and limits. Confirm that the certificate shows the required insurance and that coverage is active. Where appropriate, your agent can use the state’s accepted statement confirming that the policy meets the insurance requirements.
5. Certificate holder. The Secretary of State must be listed. Being a certificate holder does not automatically make that office an additional insured on your policy.
6. Policy dates and cancellation notice. Review the expiration or continuous-coverage wording and the 30-day cancellation notice with your agent.

You’ll need insurance evidence for each vehicle. The Secretary of State’s VSD 404 checklist explains the certificate details, including policy numbers and cancellation wording.

What if your policy renews on a date other than December 31?

Your certificate can show a December 31 expiration for the current registration year or state that coverage is continuous. If your policy renews on another date, ask your agent to confirm the wording your insurer can provide. The sample uses “Continuous Until Cancelled.”

That wording must be supported by your insurer. It does not change your policy’s payment obligations or cancellation terms.

Complete the Illinois insurance affirmation forms

VSD 941: confirming your tow truck’s insurance

The vehicle owner or authorized signer completes and signs the Tow Truck for Hire Insurance Affirmation, known as VSD 941. Submit it with your certificate to confirm that the truck meets the insurance requirements. Use the annotated guide to review the form, then complete the official blank PDF linked below.

View the full-size VSD 941 annotated image

Get the official blank VSD 941 form

The Secretary of State may ask for updated proof if it has reason to believe a truck is uninsured or underinsured. VSD 941 allows two calendar days to provide that evidence. If it isn’t supplied, the state may revoke the truck’s registration until compliance is confirmed.

VSD 552: when a coverage exception applies

If your business qualifies for one of the exceptions below, VSD 552 explains why that coverage does not appear on your certificate. The form applies to these specific situations.

Scroll sideways to view the full table.

List each affected vehicle and include the authorized signature, printed name, and date. The signer confirms the information under penalty of perjury. If your business is an LLC or corporation with no other employees, have its workers’ compensation requirements reviewed separately. VSD 552 specifically names a sole proprietor, and ICC rules or customer contracts may still require coverage.

View the full-size VSD 552 annotated image

Get the official blank VSD 552 form

Does your towing business need ICC approval?

That depends on what you tow, who requests the service, and where the tow takes place. Some operations need ICC operating authority in addition to truck registration. Describe your services to the ICC, including vehicle transport, removal of unauthorized vehicles, and storage, so you can confirm which program applies.

When an ICC program requires an insurance filing, your insurer sends proof of coverage directly to the commission. That filing serves a different purpose from the certificate you provide for truck registration, so you may need both.

Transporting vehicles for hire: Public Carrier Certificates

If you transport property for payment between locations in Illinois, you may need a Public Carrier Certificate. Towing has its own classifications and exceptions. Confirm how the ICC classifies your work before choosing the application and insurance filings.

Scroll sideways to view the full table.

This schedule applies to the ICC’s ordinary, non-hazardous property category. Different cargo can carry different requirements. Form K is a cancellation notice, rather than another type of insurance.

A qualifying non-relocation towing business may not need a separate cargo filing when Form E also confirms the required coverage for vehicles in its custody. If Form E excludes that protection, separate proof is required. We can ask your insurer to review whether this exception applies and confirm that your policy provides the required towing coverage.

Removing unauthorized vehicles from private property

If you remove unauthorized vehicles from private property, the ICC’s relocation towing program may apply in participating counties. The program uses Forms E and H for proof of insurance and Form K for cancellation.

The relocation towing law sets minimums of $100,000 for injuries to one person, $300,000 per accident, $50,000 for other property damage, and $15,000 per relocated or stored vehicle. You still need to meet the higher insurance requirements for your tow truck’s registration. We’ll review both when arranging your coverage.

Towing damaged or disabled vehicles: Safety Relocator registration

If you tow damaged or disabled vehicles in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Will, or Winnebago County, review the ICC’s Safety Relocator requirements and any applicable exemptions. The location of the tow matters, even when your business is based elsewhere.

The application is Safety Towing Registration Form SRR-1. Your insurer submits the insurance evidence through the ICC portal. Under Rule 1715.410, Forms E and H provide proof of coverage, and Form K is used for cancellation.

Rule 1715.430 sets minimums of $100,000 for injuries to one person, $300,000 per accident, $50,000 for other property damage, and $15,000 per relocated or stored vehicle. The coverage must remain continuous until cancelled. These amounts do not reduce the higher limits required for tow truck registration.

Before accepting work that requires ICC authority, confirm that your approval is active through the ICC Motor Carrier and Towers Search. We can coordinate the insurance filings with your insurer. The ICC must approve the authority itself; buying insurance or submitting an application does not activate it.

Check your customer contracts and operating area

Police rotations, roadside networks, and other customers may require higher limits or additional coverage. Send us their written requirements before you accept the work so we can compare them with your policy. If your routes cross state lines, federal insurance and operating-authority requirements also need to be reviewed.

You can read more about roadside-network insurance requirements and towing filings and operating authority in our related guides.

Illinois tow truck insurance questions

Do I need garagekeepers if I don’t have a tow yard?

You may qualify for the VSD 552 exception if you have no repair or storage facilities. Let us know every location where you keep customer vehicles so we can review your situation. You still need the separate garage liability coverage.

Do I need workers’ compensation for one employee?

Yes. Illinois requires workers’ compensation when you have an employee, including someone who works part time. The registration form’s exception is for a sole proprietor with no other employees.

Do I need on-hook coverage if I own my tow truck?

Yes, if you tow customers’ vehicles. The exception concerns who owns the vehicles being towed. It applies when your business only tows its own vehicles, regardless of who owns the tow truck.

Does my policy have to renew on December 31?

No. Your certificate can show a December 31 expiration for the registration year or state that coverage is continuous. Your insurer must support that wording, and the policy’s cancellation terms still apply.

Which certificate should I submit with my registration?

Submit a current certificate issued by your agent or insurer for your business, policies, and vehicles. The sample on this page helps you review the details; it isn’t proof of your insurance.