Insurance Question regarding Owners son.

[erictree]

If the owners son wants to work for the family business, but the insurance company is refusing to add them to the commercial drivers insurance because they are 18 what can be done? i cant really just sit here and watch money be lost because im not allowed to drive 10 minutes down the road and 10 minutes back.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

If the owners son wants to work for the family business, but the insurance company is refusing to add them to the commercial drivers insurance because they are 18 what can be done? i cant really just sit here and watch money be lost because im not allowed to drive 10 minutes down the road and 10 minutes back.

How is money being lost?

 

[gary courtney]

If the owners son wants to work for the family business, but the insurance company is refusing to add them to the commercial drivers insurance because they are 18 what can be done? i cant really just sit here and watch money be lost because im not allowed to drive 10 minutes down the road and 10 minutes back.

In those 10 minutes you are involved in an accident,your fault or not you will really see what money lost is like!

 

[no tree to big]

What is the reason you won't be added? Age? Traffic offenses?

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[ATH]

A) How did everybody get there before you were not driving company trucks? Why doesn't that still work?
B) I asked my insurance agent if adding a young driver would kill my rates. They said "No - you give us the name/DL info. Our clearinghouse checks the driver's record. They'll either say yes or no. The only time it is a 'no' is if there is something significant on the record." So...there is either more to the story than just being 18, or the owner needs to decide if it is worth shopping for a new policy.

 

[mike515]

So...there is either more to the story than just being 18, or the owner needs to decide if it is worth shopping for a new policy.

Agreed. I don't think it even costs me anything to add new drivers as long as they have decent records. I assume the rationale is that regardless of how many drivers we have, we only have so many trucks on the road. So the liability "exposure" is the same for the insurance company. Our rates increase when we add trucks....not drivers.

 

[arathol]

If the owners son wants to work for the family business, but the insurance company is refusing to add them to the commercial drivers insurance because they are 18 what can be done? i cant really just sit here and watch money be lost because im not allowed to drive 10 minutes down the road and 10 minutes back.

So, all your work is being done 10 minutes from the shop?

 

[erictree]

How is money being lost?

enough to make it a headache knowing how close we are to being able to get more equipment to jobs

 

[erictree]

What is the reason you won't be added? Age? Traffic offenses?

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age

 

[erictree]

So, all your work is being done 10 minutes from the shop?

yes, literally 90% of our calls all come from a 10 minute radius of our shop. very fortunate to have gotten to this point because before we had to drive 30+ minutes to most work.

 

[erictree]

A) How did everybody get there before you were not driving company trucks? Why doesn't that still work?
B) I asked my insurance agent if adding a young driver would kill my rates. They said "No - you give us the name/DL info. Our clearinghouse checks the driver's record. They'll either say yes or no. The only time it is a 'no' is if there is something significant on the record." So...there is either more to the story than just being 18, or the owner needs to decide if it is worth shopping for a new policy.

answer to a is not enough employees to drive all the equipment to jobs. and B the insurance is refusing not because of any bad records but because I am a "new" driver. because i got my license a month ago, but i have a ton of drive time clocked already from driving under a permit with a passenger. i honestly think shopping for a new policy is right because from what im hearing on this thread whats happening to us isnt normal

In those 10 minutes you are involved in an accident,your fault or not you will really see what money lost is like!

your not wrong, thats why im not driving until they insure me !

 

[SS396driver]

There is the problem your a new driver I highly doubt another insurance company will insure you on a commercial policy .

What type of vehicle would you be driving ?

 

[Ian178]

10 minutes? Have him shuttle the insured driver, bid the extra time into the price.

10 minutes is nothing. I can't get anywhere in 10 minutes.

 

[ATH]

...i honestly think shopping for a new policy is right because from what im hearing on this thread whats happening to us isnt normal...

certainly worth a few calls around. I've had 18 year olds drive, but never such a new driver. that may be different???

 

[erictree]

There is the problem your a new driver I highly doubt another insurance company will insure you on a commercial policy .

What type of vehicle would you be driving ?

just a 1 ton dump towing a small trailer with the mini skid, or maybe a smaller chipper for now until i complete classes and get my cdl. seems like a small rig but its huge to have another truck on the job

 

[erictree]

certainly worth a few calls around. I've had 18 year olds drive, but never such a new driver. that may be different???

Could be because im viewed as a risk because most new drivers are huge threats, or it could just be Massachusetts regulations like usual

 

[mike515]

Maybe it's where you live but I generally just call our agent to add drivers. I give them the name and DL number and that's about it. They are added the day I want them added. They don't even ask me who has CDL's (everyone does) or which trucks require a CDL. And this is a very established insurance company. So I would definitely make a few calls just to see exactly what's out there and maybe find out if your state has some other type of regulations than other parts of the country. This certainly shouldn't be very complicated when you don't even have a CDL yet. You're driving super light stuff.


Edit to say: Our daughter is 18, she's our last one at home, she's still on our normal insurance and she costs us a small fortune to have on our policy. And she's never had and accident or a ticket. But that's a personal policy.

 

[fishdrivel]

certainly worth a few calls around. I've had 18 year olds drive, but never such a new driver. that may be different???

I lived down the street from a high school in an affluent area in North Carolina.
Every year I would see kids with new cars and new drivers license driving down my street exceedingly carefully. White knuckles, driving slow, eyed glued to the road ahead!
2 weeks later, I'd see the same kids driving down the same street with a carload of giggling teens.
They'd have one hand on the steering wheel, one hand on the radio, they'd be looking into the back seat and having a conversation with those sitting back there. In 2 weeks they were now expert drivers.

Listening to a nice young man talking about being 18 with "a lot of driving experience "and the rig is only a truck and trailer with equipment on it.
That is something that can do a lot of damage. It could kill a lot of people 10 minutes from the shop.
Insurance nightmare.

I remember my youngest at 18 years old. She was complaining about State Farm ripping us off. How much money they are making on us!
I replied, Are they? In 2 years we have hit 5 deer. We have had 2 cars stolen. We have totaled 3 cars. Seriously!

 

[arathol]

the insurance is refusing not because of any bad records but because I am a "new" driver. because i got my license a month ago, but i have a ton of drive time clocked already from driving under a permit with a passenger. i honestly think shopping for a new policy is right because from what im hearing on this thread whats happening to us isnt normal

Nobody is going to look at any drive time with a permit as being relevant as there is zero documentation to prove it. As far as any insurance company is concerned, you have been driving for less than a month, period. There is no way any credible insurance carrier will insure you as a driver in a commercial setting. In fact, you might find that you'll need to be 21 to qualify for such insurance since that is the age requirement for most CDL holders.
What sort of stuff are you driving exactly ? I'm not asking for the generic "1 ton dump and trailer" reply, but specifics, as in size and weight....Your "1 ton with trailer or chipper" isn't exactly light stuff, especially if you are loading it up with wood or wood chips. Depending on what size the truck is, a good load of wood and a trailer with a small skid steer could be getting close CDL territory....

 

[CacaoBoy]

what can be done?

The insurance company can have its own standards for coverage as long as the standards do not violate rules of the state insurance commissioner. If one company will not add a driver to a policy then the options are:

• Find a different insurance company that will provide the desired coverage
• Arrange for a covered driver to do the driving
• Wait until you are acceptable to the insurance company
• Ignore the law and the insurance company and take your chances driving without insurance coverage.

That's pretty much it. When I was 18 I occasionally drove a dump truck and a tow truck for jobs I worked, but times have changed.