A recovery operator's largest exposure is not the truck. It is the vehicle on the back of it, which belongs to somebody else and is in the operator's custody from the moment it is loaded until it is delivered.
On hook and in trade, the covers that matter
Motor insurance covers the recovery vehicle and third party liability on the road. The casualty being carried or towed is somebody else's property in your care, and needs specific cover, usually described as on hook or vehicles in trade. Limits are set per vehicle and in total, and an operator who occasionally recovers a high value or prestige car needs a limit that reflects that rather than the typical casualty. Storage of casualties at the yard is a further question, since the exposure continues after the journey ends.
Roadside work is the injury risk
Recovery happens at the side of live carriageways, at night, in weather, near people who have just had an accident. That is one of the more dangerous working environments in the transport sector, and employers' liability is rated accordingly. Insurers ask about high visibility equipment, lighting, scene protection procedures and training, and about whether the operator works on motorways, where the requirements and the exposure are both higher.
Driving customers' vehicles
Recovery work frequently involves driving a customer's vehicle, onto a bed, off it, or short distances at the scene. That is a motor exposure on a vehicle the operator does not own and is not insured on, and it is covered by a motor trade road risks element rather than by the recovery truck's own policy. Operators who assume their own motor cover reaches it are usually wrong, and the claim is a collision in a car belonging to a customer.
Contracts, clubs and what they require
Much recovery work comes through motoring organisations, insurers and police contracts, each of which sets its own insurance requirements, often naming limits for on hook, public liability and employers' liability together with response and equipment standards. Those contracts are the practical source of the cover levels an operator needs, and an operator bidding for one should read the insurance schedule before pricing the work.
Questions people ask about recovery truck insurance
Is the recovered vehicle covered by the truck's insurance?
No. A casualty in your custody needs on hook or vehicles in trade cover, with limits per vehicle and in total.
Am I covered driving a customer's car at the scene?
Only through a motor trade road risks element. Your own vehicle policy does not extend to driving vehicles you do not own.
What do recovery contracts usually require?
Stated limits for on hook, public liability and employers' liability, alongside response and equipment standards set by the motoring organisation or insurer.