Light truck insurance sits between a work van policy and a heavy vehicle policy. It applies to the light and medium rigid trucks used by builders, landscapers, furniture businesses, caterers and delivery operators. These trucks are bought for the body on the back as much as the cab, and they are often driven by people who learned to drive in a car. The policy needs to reflect both. For how commercial vehicles are placed generally, see our commercial vehicle insurance page.
What Counts as a Light Truck
In everyday use, “light truck” describes rigid trucks above the size of a van or ute, up to medium rigids. Licence classes for rigid trucks are set by vehicle mass and axle configuration, and some smaller trucks can be driven on a car licence. The thresholds are set by licensing authorities, so check the current requirement against the truck’s compliance plate before a driver takes the wheel.
Driving on the wrong licence is not only a regulatory problem. Policies commonly exclude or restrict claims where the driver was not appropriately licensed for the vehicle. A GVM upgrade can move a truck into a different licence class, so check the licence position after any upgrade, and tell your insurer about the modification.
Declaring the Use
- Trade use. Carrying your own tools, materials and plant to your own jobs.
- Delivering your own goods. Furniture, building supplies, catering or produce sold by your business.
- Carrying for others. Delivering goods owned by other businesses for payment, which is hire and reward use.
The difference matters at claim time. See our guide to hire and reward vs private use. Declare the area of operation too, including any regular interstate or regional work.
Bodies: Pantechs, Tautliners and Trays
The body on a light truck can be a large part of its value, and each type carries its own exposures:
- Pantechs. Box bodies are exposed to low-clearance strikes on awnings, car park entries, drive-throughs, service station canopies and trees. Put the body height on a sticker in the cab.
- Tautliners. Curtains can be slashed by thieves checking the load, and curtain and buckle damage adds up. Check whether curtain damage on its own falls within the policy.
- Trays and drop-sides. Exposed loads can shift or fall. Tie-down practices matter for liability as well as the goods.
- Refrigerated bodies. The fridge unit and its breakdown are a separate question from damage to the body.
Include the body, any crane or hoist, and fitted equipment in the sum insured. A settlement based on a cab-chassis value will not rebuild a truck with a custom body.
Tail-Lifts
- Include the tail-lift in the vehicle description and sum insured.
- Damage to the tail-lift from overloading, misuse or mechanical failure may be excluded or limited.
- Injury to someone using the lift, or goods dropped from it, raises the question of which policy responds: motor, public liability or goods in transit. Loading and unloading is a grey area between policies, so ask how yours deal with it.
- Keep service records and show drivers how to use the lift safely.
Tools and Goods on Board
A motor policy is generally designed around the truck, not its contents. Tools carried for trade work are better placed under tools of trade insurance, subject to its theft conditions. Goods you carry, whether your own stock or other people’s, can be insured under goods in transit insurance. Set the per-vehicle limit for your fullest load.
Drivers
- Stepping up from vans. Drivers new to trucks meet longer stopping distances, greater height and wider turning circles. Induct them before they drive alone.
- Age and experience excesses. Younger or less experienced drivers commonly attract an additional excess.
- Licence checks. Keep copies of licences and check them periodically.
- Employees and contractors. A contractor driving your truck needs to fall within the policy’s driver terms.
Reversing and Tight Access
Light trucks spend their days in places built for cars: suburban driveways, laneways, loading bays behind shops and building sites with a single gate. Low-speed reversing into other vehicles, fences, gates and buildings leads to third party property claims, and each one carries an excess. Reversing cameras, sensors and a spotter on tight jobs reduce them. So does a driver who walks the access before backing in.
Where the Truck Sleeps
Tell your insurer where the truck is kept overnight. A truck parked in a locked yard presents differently from one left on a suburban street or at a driver’s home. If tools or stock stay on board overnight, check the theft conditions on those policies too, because forced entry and overnight conditions commonly apply. Signwritten trucks advertise what is inside, so empty them where you can.
Light Truck Insurance: Single Vehicle or Fleet
A single truck is commonly insured on its own policy. As the business adds vehicles, a fleet policy can bring them under one renewal date and one set of terms, sometimes with automatic cover for newly acquired vehicles within limits. Whether it suits depends on the number of vehicles, the claims history and the mix. See fleet vs individual vehicle policies. Where light trucks run alongside heavier vehicles, our truck insurance page sets out how the heavier end is placed.
Sum Insured, Hire Vehicles and CTP
- Basis of cover. Market value or agreed value, depending on the policy and the truck. Include the body, tail-lift, signage and upgrades.
- Finance. Note any financier as an interested party.
- Replacement vehicle. A replacement truck is harder to find than a replacement car. Check whether the policy offers a hire vehicle benefit and whether it extends to trucks.
- CTP. Compulsory third party cover is arranged through registration in some states and bought separately in others. Check how it works where the truck is registered.
Common Questions
Can I insure a light truck on a car or van policy?
Car and van policies are not generally designed for trucks. Use a commercial motor policy that describes the vehicle, the body and the use.
My driver hit a shop awning. Which policy responds?
Damage to the awning is typically a matter for the motor policy’s third party property section, and damage to your truck body for the own damage section, subject to the excess and wording.
Do I need goods cover if I only carry my own stock?
Your motor policy is generally designed around the truck. Your own stock in transit needs its own cover, such as goods in transit.
Talk It Through
Request a quote or call 1300 983 940 and we will build cover around your truck, its body and what it carries. More on commercial vehicle insurance.
General advice only. This article does not take your objectives, financial situation or needs into account. Consider the relevant PDS and Target Market Determination before deciding on a policy.