Texas Commercial or Owner Operator Truck Insurance: Uninsured and Underinsured Motorists

You are a hard-working tow truck, commercial or owner operator truck driver with insurance and an excellent driving record in Texas.

However, even professionals such as yourself get into accidents, often the fault of another motorist. Defensive driving skills will only help so much because you can’t control what other drivers do. In addition, many motorists on the road are either uninsured or underinsured. An Insurance Research Council study showed that one in eight motorists in the USA are uninsured.

This is only the tip of the iceberg because there are even more underinsured motorists on our roads. These are people who don’t have sufficient insurance to cover all the damages they might owe you in an accident. Why are there so many uninsured and underinsured motorists? The current economy is not booming which means many individuals save money by getting bare bones insurance or not getting it at all.

Those who suffer the most from this are the commercial or owner operator tow truck drivers in Texas working either as employees or as independent contractors for motor carriers.

Many of these carriers lack adequate workers’ compensation benefits, medical, or uninsured motorist insurance. Unfortunately, the independence of many owner operator truck drivers means they lack the workers’ compensation benefits guaranteed to almost every person employed by a company with more than three employees.

Of all the individuals that use the nation’s highways, the commercial tow truckers or owner operator truck driver has the most exposure to uninsured or underinsured motorists. This is due to the fact that their job requires long hours on the road. These hard-working people also have the most to lose because their very livelihood depend on their health and the condition of their tow truck rig. Both of these are threatened by uninsured or underinsured motorists. Although you can take these people to court, many don’t have the money to pay for your damages. Lack of money is the reason for their inadequate insurance in the first place.

This is why you should include uninsured and underinsured motorists insurance as a part of your Texas tow truck, commercial or owner operator truck insurance policy. It will provide coverage for damages that you are legally entitled to from an uninsured or underinsured third-party who is at-fault for an accident. For more information about this, please contact us.