Excellent article good read and so true! We are in a mess as Brokers and we are being treated by our clients as though this is our fault. We have no solution at the present time and I don’t know when and if this is going to get better..
It would be wiser to raise your deductibles than pay out of pocket to the claimant. The towing companies need better risk management in shop. Hire qualified drivers and ask your agent to run MVR or do it yourself annually. Develop weekly meetings to make sure all the precautions are taken and don’t be afraid to express your concerns to your drivers that they may lose their job if premiums are raised.
Seems like an opportunity for AAA’s captive insurer to step up and support solid risk improvements coupled with insurance capacity for one of their primary services that members pay for… increased towing costs nationwide will increase dues… better to act sooner than later AAA.
I don’t feel sorry for carriers that lose money, due to their greed and attitudes that don’t involve adequate premiums for the risks they’re willing to insure. You can’t insure bad risks using preferred premium levels. It doesn’t really take a genius to figure out what a great tow truck operation looks like–experienced drivers with almost perfect MVR’s, very low driver turnover, very well maintained equipment, management that are really safety minded and won’t hesitate to get rid of problem employees, an acceptable 5 year claims record, etc. Progressive couldn’t figure things out, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
Steve,
I can’t help but think but what a mess towers are in. It is so involved that I could put you to sleep. The law in Illinois states that compnies with employees must have worker;s comp. However the brokers tht tow for theinsurance companies are generally not required to have it. This creates a playing field hat is not level.
Much of the towing in the US eventually gets billed to the insurance companies, but they want to keep their expenses low so the insurance comapnies many times only contract with the cheapest tow firms. Any towing company that has the proper, safe equipment, with well trained drivers are mostly all the proper insurance and licenses are generally thouoght of by the insurance compaines as being overpriced.If these rates go up as this article indicates, the tow rates must also go up as the money must come from somewhere to cover the cost of higher insurance,
Here in AZ, we don’t deal with any insurance companies looking for towing companies to partner with. We’ve found it to be more of a headache than anything else, and in most cases, we don’t make enough on the job for it to be worth our time. We’ve found that simply taking care of local people that call us and growing our reputation has been super beneficial for us.
This is a great article, thank you. I am truly feeling this as we are in renewal and we cannot find anyone to write towing anymore. We had a rough year. One year out of 9 where we had 2 total losses. I have to say though that I truly know that what is hurting us is fraudulent claims. Everyday we get at least one person trying to claim “damage” that they know we did not do. My drivers take pics of vehicles prior to towing and upon arrival and there have been times where it is clear as day that the damage was pre existing, yet these insurance companies charge us on the claim. It is UNFAIR and there is no one out here defending us. It is imperative that we get help defending ourselves. People are mad that they got towed and they are seeking revenge. I was told by an agent at a large carrier that they just quickly settle these claims because it takes too many resources for a small claim. It is WRONG and UNFAIR!
I just got hit by Progressive for $20K per truck! I always hire older drivers with clean records but we still have wrecks. Sometimes we get the blame when not at fault. Anyone got any ideas can’t afford to go out of business Bought 4 new trucks last year
Thanks for putting this out there. Things aren’t so terrible in my Michigan city, business has been decent but when you are in a winter climate, and a college town, there’s a lot of opportunities to go around.
ATIG will not pay a small 1800.00 claim for one of it’s repossession companies who failed to obey a federal judge’s orders. A repossession company that doesn’t seem to have a proper lot to store their cars. Address on corp papers is a residence and the storage address on the condition report is a vacant field. The folks I have dealt with at ATIG are some of the rudest (including Chip) in the industry.
Excellent article good read and so true! We are in a mess as Brokers and we are being treated by our clients as though this is our fault. We have no solution at the present time and I don’t know when and if this is going to get better..
It would be wiser to raise your deductibles than pay out of pocket to the claimant. The towing companies need better risk management in shop. Hire qualified drivers and ask your agent to run MVR or do it yourself annually. Develop weekly meetings to make sure all the precautions are taken and don’t be afraid to express your concerns to your drivers that they may lose their job if premiums are raised.
Seems like an opportunity for AAA’s captive insurer to step up and support solid risk improvements coupled with insurance capacity for one of their primary services that members pay for… increased towing costs nationwide will increase dues… better to act sooner than later AAA.
I don’t feel sorry for carriers that lose money, due to their greed and attitudes that don’t involve adequate premiums for the risks they’re willing to insure. You can’t insure bad risks using preferred premium levels. It doesn’t really take a genius to figure out what a great tow truck operation looks like–experienced drivers with almost perfect MVR’s, very low driver turnover, very well maintained equipment, management that are really safety minded and won’t hesitate to get rid of problem employees, an acceptable 5 year claims record, etc. Progressive couldn’t figure things out, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
Steve,
I can’t help but think but what a mess towers are in. It is so involved that I could put you to sleep. The law in Illinois states that compnies with employees must have worker;s comp. However the brokers tht tow for theinsurance companies are generally not required to have it. This creates a playing field hat is not level.
Much of the towing in the US eventually gets billed to the insurance companies, but they want to keep their expenses low so the insurance comapnies many times only contract with the cheapest tow firms. Any towing company that has the proper, safe equipment, with well trained drivers are mostly all the proper insurance and licenses are generally thouoght of by the insurance compaines as being overpriced.If these rates go up as this article indicates, the tow rates must also go up as the money must come from somewhere to cover the cost of higher insurance,
Here in AZ, we don’t deal with any insurance companies looking for towing companies to partner with. We’ve found it to be more of a headache than anything else, and in most cases, we don’t make enough on the job for it to be worth our time. We’ve found that simply taking care of local people that call us and growing our reputation has been super beneficial for us.
This is a great article, thank you. I am truly feeling this as we are in renewal and we cannot find anyone to write towing anymore. We had a rough year. One year out of 9 where we had 2 total losses. I have to say though that I truly know that what is hurting us is fraudulent claims. Everyday we get at least one person trying to claim “damage” that they know we did not do. My drivers take pics of vehicles prior to towing and upon arrival and there have been times where it is clear as day that the damage was pre existing, yet these insurance companies charge us on the claim. It is UNFAIR and there is no one out here defending us. It is imperative that we get help defending ourselves. People are mad that they got towed and they are seeking revenge. I was told by an agent at a large carrier that they just quickly settle these claims because it takes too many resources for a small claim. It is WRONG and UNFAIR!
DId you find anyone to insure you? We can get insurance but I don’t know if we can afford it. Progressive will write us for $20K per truck.
I just got hit by Progressive for $20K per truck! I always hire older drivers with clean records but we still have wrecks. Sometimes we get the blame when not at fault. Anyone got any ideas can’t afford to go out of business Bought 4 new trucks last year
Thanks for putting this out there. Things aren’t so terrible in my Michigan city, business has been decent but when you are in a winter climate, and a college town, there’s a lot of opportunities to go around.
ATIG will not pay a small 1800.00 claim for one of it’s repossession companies who failed to obey a federal judge’s orders. A repossession company that doesn’t seem to have a proper lot to store their cars. Address on corp papers is a residence and the storage address on the condition report is a vacant field. The folks I have dealt with at ATIG are some of the rudest (including Chip) in the industry.