Insurance Claims After an Accident With a Commercial Truck

A claim after a crash with a commercial truck follows the same basic path as any auto claim. You report it, you document it, you negotiate the damages. Three things are different, though, and they change how you should handle it: the insurance behind an interstate trucking company is usually far larger than a private driver's policy, more than one company may be responsible for what happened, and federal rules require the carrier to keep records about the crash that no ordinary motorist has to keep.

The limits are set by federal rule, not by the driver

Federal regulation says no motor carrier may operate a vehicle until it has obtained and has in effect the minimum levels of financial responsibility the rules require. The schedule in 49 CFR 387.9 sets those floors according to what is being hauled:

• $750,000 for a for-hire carrier in interstate or foreign commerce hauling non-hazardous property, where the vehicle has a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more
• $1,000,000 for oil listed in the hazardous materials tables, and for hazardous waste, materials or substances that fall outside the highest category
• $5,000,000 for the specific bulk hazardous materials the rule singles out, including certain bulk explosives and hazard zone A materials

Two cautions go with those numbers. They are federal minimums for carriers operating under federal jurisdiction, and plenty of carriers buy considerably more than the minimum. A truck operating only within one state follows that state's own rules instead, which can be far lower. The size of the policy behind the truck that hit you is a question to answer, not an assumption to make.

The proof of coverage is public information

This is the most useful thing a claimant can know and one of the least widely known. Under 49 CFR 387.7, a carrier has to keep proof of its required financial responsibility at its principal place of business. That proof takes one of three forms: an MCS-90 endorsement issued by an insurer, an MCS-82 surety bond, or a written federal authorization allowing the carrier to self-insure.

The same rule then says something worth quoting to anyone who stonewalls you. That proof of minimum levels of financial responsibility is considered public information and must be produced for review upon reasonable request by a member of the public. You are not asking for a favor when you ask who insures the truck.

The MCS-90 endorsement matters for a second reason. It is the mechanism by which an insurer stands behind public liability up to the federal minimum, which is part of why a coverage argument between a carrier and its own insurer does not automatically become your problem.

More than one party may owe you money

A crash between two private cars has a driver and an insurer on each side. A truck crash can involve several potentially responsible parties, and which one is on the hook shapes which policy pays:

• The driver, who may be an employee or an owner-operator running under someone else's authority
• The motor carrier whose operating authority the truck was running under
• A separate owner of the tractor, or a separate owner of the trailer
• A company that loaded or secured the cargo, where a load shift is involved
• A maintenance or repair contractor, where a mechanical failure is in play

You do not have to untangle that yourself. But it explains why the first adjuster who calls may not speak for everyone involved, and why an early offer can land before anyone actually knows the full picture.

Records the carrier is required to keep

Federal rules put obligations on the carrier that work in a claimant's favor. Under 49 CFR 390.15, a motor carrier must maintain an accident register for three years after the date of each accident. The register has to list the date, the city or town and the state where it happened, the driver's name, the number of injuries and fatalities, and whether hazardous materials were released. It also has to include copies of all accident reports required by state or other governmental entities, or by insurers.

The same rule requires carriers to make all records and information pertaining to an accident available to authorized investigators, and to give reasonable assistance in any investigation. Three years sounds like a long time until a claim drags. Put the carrier on notice in writing early, asking that crash-related records be preserved, rather than assuming everything will still be there when you need it.

What to do in the first days

• Get the police report number and the name of the investigating agency before you leave the scene
• Write down the carrier's name and USDOT number from the door of the tractor, plus the trailer number
• Photograph the scene, both vehicles, the cargo and any skid marks before anything is moved
• Report the crash to your own insurer promptly, even when you are clearly not at fault
• Get medical attention and have it documented, because injuries that surface days later are harder to connect afterward
• Send written notice to the carrier asking that records relating to the crash be preserved

Be careful with the recorded statement and the early offer

The carrier's insurer will usually ask for a recorded statement quickly. Your own policy generally obliges you to cooperate with your own insurer. You are not under the same obligation to another party's insurer. Ask what the statement will be used for, and if anyone was injured, consider getting advice before you give one.

The same caution applies to a settlement offered before your treatment is finished. Once you sign a release, injuries discovered afterward are generally your problem rather than theirs.

Why these claims take longer

Higher limits attract more scrutiny. There may be an internal investigation by the carrier, a state or federal inquiry, and several insurers working out who owes what before anyone makes a serious offer. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners notes that what counts as prompt and reasonable claim handling can vary from claim to claim, and that the standards are set state by state.

If your claim stops moving with no explanation, your state insurance department accepts complaints and charges nothing for it. A complaint creates a record, and a record often restarts a stalled file.

The bottom line: treat a truck claim as a bigger, slower version of an auto claim with more parties inside it. Confirm which carrier the truck was running under, remember that its proof of insurance is public information you are entitled to ask to see, put the carrier on written notice to preserve records, document your injuries properly, and be slow to sign anything while the picture is still forming.