Why speeding tickets have such an impact on your tow truck insurance rates

It’s not exactly a big secret that tow truck insurance rates have been on the rise lately. Many insurance companies see tow trucks as being too risky to insure, so plenty of carriers have backed out of the tow truck insurance game. At any rate, it’s important to improve safety at your business – by doing so, you can save money on your tow truck insurance rates. Certain things can cause your insurance rates to skyrocket, and one of those things is speeding tickets. Why are speeding tickets such a big deal? We can explain why your tow truck insurance rates can be so affected by speeding tickets.

Insurance companies and risk.

Risk, as defined by an insurance company, is your chance of having a loss or claim. So, the more risk your business presents, the more likely you are to experience some sort of loss that the insurance company would then have to pay. That’s why you will most likely have to pay more for your insurance if you’re a “risky” client or business (and the struggle with tow trucks in particular is that wrecker and towing businesses are always viewed as risky, no matter what.) That’s also why the application for insurance may seem like it’s extremely thorough – the insurance company is trying to get a picture of how much risk you present and their odds of having to pay out a claim.

Speeding tickets and insurance rates.

When an insurance company evaluates your business to decide if they want to insure you or not, they’re looking to see what risks you have in your day-to-day operations and how much risk you present. They’re figuring out how likely it is that you will have a claim. And if they look at your drivers’ motor vehicle reports (MVRs) and see that there are speeding tickets in the recent past, they will view that as being an indicator of risk. They believe it makes you more likely to have an accident. And, as we said above, that means you will probably end up paying more for your insurance. It’s not that the insurance company wants to make you pay more just because they can – they’re setting their price based on risk.

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The difference in price.

Now. You’re probably wondering exactly how much speeding tickets will cause your rates to go up. There are many different factors that affect how much tow truck insurance costs – it’s not just speeding tickets. Keep that in mind as we give you some numbers as examples. These are ballpark estimates, not concrete prices because every business is different.

  • A rural tow truck business with one wrecker or tow truck can pay about $1,000 a year for insurance.
  • A metro-based tow truck business with one rollback or wrecker can pay about $6,000 a year for tow truck insurance.
  • A business with tickets and/or accidents on its record can pay about $20,000 a year for tow truck insurance. (Accidents are also seen as indicating a higher-risk business.)

Of course, that’s not to say that your insurance is automatically going to jump to $20,000 a year if you have one speeding ticket. But it’s important to be mindful of why speeding is so dangerous for tow truck companies.

The tortoise and the hare.

Towing is a high-pressure job. You want to finish the job quickly so you can move on to the next. That’s understandable – you’re in the business to make a profit. But doing the job safely and taking your time can pay off when it comes to your tow truck insurance. Remember the moral of the story of the tortoise and the hare – slow and steady wins the race.

We can help you save on your tow truck insurance.

Looking to save money on your tow truck insurance? We can help. We know that you don’t want to overpay for your insurance, so our mission is to help towing businesses like yours save money by shopping around for their tow truck insurance rates. All you have to do to get tow truck insurance quotes is fill out our online form or give us a call today – whatever works for you is fine by us.

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