Skip Bin Trucks
Skip loader trucks with lifting arms for placing and collecting skips at homes, building sites and businesses.
Transport & Logistics
Waste & Skip Bin Truck Insurance
Insuregroup arranges insurance for waste collection, recycling and skip bin businesses across Australia: skip and hook-lift trucks, compactors, the bins themselves and the liability that comes with placing them on other people's property.
- Licensed & Regulated Broker
- Steadfast Group Member
- 100+ insurance markets
- 2014
- Broking Since
- 5,000+
- Policies Arranged
- 100+
- Insurance Markets
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- Waste & Skip Bin Truck Insurance
Insurance for Waste, Recycling and Skip Bin Operators
Insuregroup arranges insurance for waste collection, recycling and skip bin businesses across Australia. We work with owner-operators running one hook-lift or skip truck, and with fleets doing commercial, residential and construction waste work.
Waste trucks lift, tip, compact and park bins on other people’s property and on public roads. Those exposures sit across your motor policy, your liability cover and your equipment cover, so they need to be set up to work together. We look at how your business runs and compare options across our network of insurers.
Vehicles and Equipment We Help Insure
Hook-Lift and Roll-On Roll-Off Trucks
Trucks that winch or hook large bins and containers onto the chassis for construction and commercial waste.
Rear, Side and Front Lift Compactors
Collection trucks for general waste, recycling and organics on residential and commercial runs.
Tippers and Grab Trucks
Tippers carrying spoil, green waste, demolition material and recycled product. See tipper insurance and dump truck insurance.
Bins, Skips and Containers
The bins themselves, which spend most of their life away from your yard. They can often be insured as equipment, with cover while on hire at customer sites.
Yard Plant
Loaders, excavators, forklifts and sorting equipment at your depot or transfer station. See machinery and equipment insurance and excavator insurance.
What to expect
Risks Specific to Waste and Skip Bin Work
- Lifting and hydraulics. Arms, hoists and hooks can fail or strike overhead wires, structures and vehicles. Damage to the lifting gear itself may need separate breakdown cover.
- Bins on public land. A skip placed on a road or footpath can be hit by a vehicle or cause a pedestrian injury. Many councils require a permit, and some ask for proof of public liability cover.
- Damage at customer sites. Driveways, kerbs, lawns and underground services can be damaged by heavy trucks and bins.
- Fire in the load. Waste loads can catch fire, for example from batteries or hot ash thrown into a bin, and a fire can spread to the truck.
- Tipping and rollover. Uneven ground at sites and tip faces raises the risk of a truck or bin tipping over.
- Hazardous materials. Asbestos, chemicals and contaminated soil are often excluded or restricted under liability policies unless arranged specifically.
- Pollution. Leaks of fuel, hydraulic oil or leachate can lead to clean-up costs and claims from third parties.
- Frequent stops and reversing. Collection runs involve constant stopping, reversing and working near pedestrians.
Covers to Consider
Truck Insurance
Comprehensive, fire theft and third party, or third party property cover for each vehicle, with the lifting gear and body declared as part of the sum insured. See truck insurance Australia and fleet insurance.
Public and Products Liability
Covers your legal liability for injury and property damage arising from your business, including bins placed at customer sites and on public land. Check the limit against council permits and customer contracts. See public liability insurance.
Bins and Equipment Cover
Cover for skips, bins and containers against theft, fire and accidental damage, including while on hire.
Machinery Breakdown
Cover for sudden breakdown of hydraulics, compactors and lifting equipment, which a motor policy may not include.
Business Interruption
Cover for lost income when an insured event takes a truck or your depot out of action. See business interruption insurance.
Depot and Transfer Station Cover
Buildings, contents and stock at your yard or recycling facility. See business insurance.
What to expect
Information Insurers Will Ask For
- A vehicle list with the body type, lifting equipment and sum insured for each truck
- The number and value of bins, skips and containers
- The types of waste you collect, and whether any is hazardous, asbestos or contaminated
- Whether bins are placed on public land, and your council permit arrangements
- Driver details, licence classes and training on lifting equipment
- Depot address, overnight storage and fire protection
- Your claims history for the past five years
What to expect
Ways to Reduce Risk and Support Claims
- Keep lifting equipment serviced and inspected, and keep the records
- Train drivers on overhead wire clearances and safe bin placement
- Use reflectors, lights or barriers on bins placed on public land, in line with permit conditions
- Photograph the site and the bin position on delivery and collection
- Tell customers what cannot go in a bin, and record any refused loads
- Store bins and trucks in a secure yard overnight where possible
Good records also help when an insurer is assessing a claim. See why maintenance records matter during truck insurance claims.
Before you buy
Common Exclusions
- Asbestos, contaminated or hazardous waste unless specifically covered
- Gradual pollution, as opposed to sudden and accidental events
- Wear and tear and gradual deterioration of trucks, bins and hydraulics
- Use or drivers not declared to the insurer
- Damage to the load being carried, unless transit cover is in place
Always read the Product Disclosure Statement for the full terms. We can explain which exclusions apply to your work and what can be added.
Request a quote
Get a Waste or Skip Bin Truck Insurance Quote
Tell us about your trucks, bins and the waste you handle. A broker will compare options across our network of insurers and explain the differences in cover so you can decide. You can also start with our truck insurance quote form.
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Your Broker
Stirling Sanderson, Principal Broker
Stirling set up Insuregroup in 2014 after many years as an insurance underwriter and broker. He oversees the day-to-day broking, negotiates with insurers for clients and helps with claims, for everyone from single-truck owner-drivers to large fleets of trucks and heavy plant.
- Qualifications
- Bachelor of Business, majoring in Insurance; Diploma of Financial Services (Australian Institute of Insurance and Finance)
- Experience
- Licensed authorised broker for over 10 years
- Authorised Representative No.
- 453069
Insuregroup have been very professional and prompt in dealing with the management of our insurances for the last 3 years.
Questions We Get Asked
Frequently Asked Questions
What insurance does a skip bin business need?
Most skip bin businesses need truck insurance for each vehicle, public and products liability, and cover for the bins themselves. Many also consider machinery breakdown for lifting gear and business interruption.
Are my skip bins covered by my truck policy?
Usually not while they are off the truck. Bins and skips can often be insured as equipment, including while on hire at customer sites.
Does public liability cover a bin placed on the road?
Public liability can cover your legal liability for injury or property damage caused by a bin on public land, subject to the policy terms. Many councils require a permit for this, and some ask for proof of cover.
Is asbestos covered?
Asbestos and other hazardous or contaminated waste are often excluded or restricted under liability policies. If you handle them, tell us so we can look for cover that fits.
Does truck insurance cover damage to the lifting arm or hydraulics?
Accidental damage to lifting equipment may be covered if it is included in the truck's sum insured. Sudden mechanical breakdown is usually a separate machinery breakdown cover.
What if a fire starts in a load?
Fire damage to the truck is generally covered under comprehensive or fire and theft cover, subject to the policy terms. Declare the types of waste you carry so the insurer rates the risk correctly.