Insuring tippers, refrigerated trucks and cranes

Tippers and civil contracting

A tipper spends part of its day travelling and part unloading. Explain what material it carries, where tipping takes place and whether you also do excavation or other contracting work.

Ask how the policy treats overturning during tipping, damage caused while operating and liability for the work. These questions are more useful than asking only whether the provider “covers tippers”.

Mining-site access deserves its own description. Surface deliveries and work in an underground mine should not be treated as the same activity. The quiz asks a follow-up when mining work is selected.

Refrigerated transport

The truck, refrigeration equipment and goods can each suffer a different kind of loss. A collision might damage all three. A temperature change might spoil the load without a road accident.

Give the broker the goods carried, temperature requirements and equipment details. Ask which events the cargo section covers and whether equipment breakdown, spoilage and loading are included. Check any recording or maintenance conditions in the proposed wording.

NTI identifies refrigerated freight as a task where driver experience and vehicle configuration can affect its standard driver conditions. That is a reason for a detailed discussion, not a blanket rule about all refrigerated operators.

Livestock transport

Motor cover on a livestock truck is different from cover for injury to or loss of the animals. Ask about the species, loading and unloading, and whether the proposed cover responds to accidental damage or your liability as a carrier.

Tell the provider about the trailer configuration and driving task. If you subcontract any part of the journey, check how responsibility for the animals is handled in the contract and policy.

Tow trucks and recovery

Your truck’s damage cover does not by itself answer what happens to a customer’s vehicle while you recover, tow, carry or store it.

GT’s Driveline TMD describes an optional hook liability extension. Ask when that protection starts and ends, what equipment is covered and whether recovery operations differ from straightforward transport. Do not assume every stage of a job is included under one extension.

If vehicles are kept at a yard after recovery, include that activity in the insurance brief as well.

Crane trucks and mobile plant

A truck-mounted crane has road risks and working risks. Ask about damage to the equipment, liability while lifting, the goods being lifted and the ground or property affected by the operation.

UAA’s Industrial Special Plant range includes mobile cranes, with road risk and plant cover options. NTI and GT also offer plant-related cover, while Zurich includes plant in its motor range. Product scope and the selected sections matter more than the category name.

Describe multi-crane lifts and any unusual locations. Ask the broker to show where each important activity is covered rather than relying on a general description such as “fully insured”.

Wet hire and dry hire

Wet hire generally includes an operator; dry hire does not. Tell the broker which arrangement you use, who controls the equipment and what the hire agreement says about damage and liability.

UAA lists an optional dry hire extension. GT’s TMD treats hire without a driver or operator as requiring acceptance and a schedule entry. Neither should be read as automatic cover for any hire contract.

For the broader distinction between motor, cargo and liability sections, read what truck insurance covers.