If you own a single tow truck and provide roadside assistance, it can be easy to assume the insurance attached to your truck covers everything you do.
You may already carry Commercial Auto Liability, On-Hook Coverage, and Garagekeepers Liability. Those are important coverages—but they don’t necessarily protect you from all of the liability exposures that come with operating a roadside-service business.
That’s where General Liability Insurance comes in.
Each Coverage Has a Different Job
Think of your insurance program as several layers of protection.
Commercial Auto Liability generally addresses bodily injury or property damage arising from the ownership, maintenance, or use of your insured vehicle.
On-Hook Coverage is designed to protect customers’ vehicles while they’re being towed or transported by your tow truck.
Garagekeepers Liability can provide protection for customers’ vehicles while they are in your care, custody, or control, subject to the specific policy terms and coverage selected.
But what about liability arising from the services you perform rather than simply driving, towing, or possessing the customer’s vehicle?
That’s an important reason to consider Commercial General Liability (CGL).
Roadside Service Creates Liability Beyond the Tow Truck
A one-truck operation may provide services such as:
- Jump-starting a dead battery
- Changing a flat tire
- Winching a vehicle
- Lockout assistance
- Delivering fuel
- Helping a stranded motorist at their home, business, or roadside location
Every time you step out of the truck and perform work, you potentially create exposures that aren’t necessarily the same as an automobile liability exposure.
Consider a Few Examples
You change a customer’s tire, but the lug nuts aren’t properly secured. The wheel later comes loose and causes an accident.
You perform a jump-start and allegedly damage the customer’s vehicle’s electrical system.
While performing roadside service, equipment you placed on the ground causes someone to trip and become injured.
You accidentally damage property at a customer’s home or business while performing a service call.
A customer claims that work you completed caused damage that wasn’t discovered until after you left.
Depending on the circumstances and the language of your policies, these claims may not fit neatly under Commercial Auto, On-Hook, or Garagekeepers coverage.
A General Liability policy can help address bodily injury, property damage, and completed-operations exposures arising from the business’s operations, subject to the policy’s terms, conditions, and exclusions.
But I Don’t Have a Shop
That’s a common misconception.
General Liability isn’t only for towing companies with buildings, repair facilities, employees, or fleets.
Even if you’re a one-person operation with one truck and no physical location, you’re still operating a business and performing services for the public.
Your liability exposure follows the work you’re doing—not simply the building you occupy.
On-Hook and Garagekeepers Don’t Replace General Liability
This is one of the most important distinctions for a towing or roadside-service operator.
On-Hook: Think the customer’s vehicle while it’s being towed.
Garagekeepers: Think a customer’s vehicle while it’s in your care, custody, or control, depending on how the policy is written.
General Liability: Think your broader business operations and services.
They are designed to address different exposures.
One Truck Doesn’t Mean One Risk
A small towing company can still face a large liability claim.
The size of your operation doesn’t necessarily determine the size of the accident. A single mistake during a tire change, jump-start, winching operation, or other roadside service could potentially result in thousands – or even hundreds of thousands – of dollars in property damage or bodily injury.
That’s why a properly structured towing insurance program should consider the entire operation, not simply the truck.
A Well-Rounded Roadside Service Insurance Program May Include:
Commercial Auto Liability + On-Hook Coverage + Garagekeepers Liability + Commercial General Liability
Depending on the operation, additional coverages such as workers’ compensation, tools and equipment, umbrella/excess liability, or other specialized towing coverages may also be appropriate.
The Bottom Line
If you operate a tow truck, your insurance shouldn’t stop at the truck.
Commercial Auto protects one set of exposures. On-Hook and Garagekeepers help address customers’ vehicles. General Liability helps fill an important gap by addressing liability arising from the broader business operations and services you perform.
Even if you’re a one-truck operation, one uncovered claim can have a significant financial impact on your business.
At SWFL Insurance, we help towing and roadside-service businesses look at the entire operation—not just the vehicle—to identify potential gaps and build an insurance program appropriate for the services they actually provide.
Coverage varies by carrier and policy. All claims are subject to the specific terms, conditions, exclusions, limits, and endorsements of the applicable insurance policy.
