The short answer
Towing company insurance combines commercial auto for the tow trucks with cover for the vehicles you handle: on-hook protection while a car is towed or carried, and garage keepers cover while it sits in your yard or impound lot. It also addresses roadside service work, injuries at collision scenes and the insurance clauses in police or municipal tow contracts. A licensed broker who writes towing can assemble these around your trucks, drivers and calls.
- Light-duty operators handling breakdowns, private property tows and roadside calls
- Medium and heavy-duty recovery companies working highway collisions
- Operators with an impound or storage yard for police and municipal tows
- Roadside assistance providers doing boosts, lockouts, tire changes and fuel delivery
- Owner-operators adding a second or third truck
2 licensed brokers in the network handle this. In Alberta, Canada, a request for towing company insurance can be offered to up to three of them, chosen because they are licensed for this line and place. They are test brokers while we are in demo.
See the brokers → Outside Alberta, Canada you can prepare and save a request today; sending opens place by place. Brokers answer with their own quotes. Broker.insure does not quote, advise or take commission.
01 / What it covers
The parts worth understanding
Tow truck auto cover
Liability and physical damage for flatbeds, wheel-lift units and heavy wreckers, rated for towing work. Insurers usually want each truck's class, its boom or bed type and the names of the people who drive it.
On-hook cover
Damage to a customer's vehicle while it is attached to your truck or loaded on the deck: a strap that slips, a car that rolls off, or a collision on the way to the shop. The truck's own auto policy often leaves this out unless it is added.
Garage keepers for the yard
Protection for vehicles held in your impound or storage lot against theft, vandalism, fire and hail. Ask whether the limit applies per vehicle or per location, and how many vehicles the limit assumes are on site.
Roadside service work
A scratched door from a lockout tool, the wrong fuel delivered, or a boost that damages a car's electronics. Ask which part of the program responds when damage happens away from the hook.
Scene and highway exposures
Working a collision on the shoulder brings risks to your operators, passing drivers and the vehicles being recovered, plus fluid spills and debris. Ask how spill clean-up and pollution are treated, since many liability forms restrict them.
Contract requirements and the yard
Police, municipal and motor club agreements often set minimum liability limits, ask to be named on the policy and require notice before cancellation. General liability also covers visitors hurt while collecting belongings at the yard.
02 / Get ready
Bring this, and expect these questions
Gather
- A truck schedule with year, make, model, vehicle identification number, bed or boom type and gross weight rating
- A driver list with licence classes, hire dates and a current driver abstract for each
- Your call mix: private tows, roadside calls, collision scenes, police rotation and heavy recovery
- Impound or storage yard details: address, fencing, lighting, cameras and the most vehicles held at one time
- Any police, municipal or motor club agreement, with its insurance clause
- The highest-value vehicles you typically tow, such as luxury cars, motorhomes or loaded trucks
- Loss history for trucks, towed vehicles and the yard over the past several years
- How you record a vehicle's condition at pickup, such as photographs or a condition form
A broker will ask
- How many trucks do you run, and what is the heaviest vehicle you can recover?
- Which kinds of calls make up most of your work?
- Do you hold police or municipal tow contracts, and what insurance do they require?
- How many vehicles sit in your yard on a busy day, and how is the yard secured?
- Who drives your trucks, and how do you check their records before hiring?
- Do you document each vehicle's condition at pickup, and how?
- Do you work highway collisions at night or during winter storms?
- Has a towed vehicle, a customer or a stored car been damaged or stolen in your care?
Not sure of an answer? Leave it. "Not known yet" is a fine answer, and a broker will help you fill it in.
03 / Build your request
Answer a few questions. Get your own list.
Pick what fits. Your answers shape the list beside them, and they are saved to your request as plain facts a broker can read. "Not sure yet" is always a fine answer.
04 / Three situations
See which one sounds like yours
A light-duty operator joining a police tow rotation
A three-truck towing company in central Alberta wants to join its city's police tow rotation. The application asks for higher liability limits than it carries today, garage keepers cover on its lot and the city named on the policy.
First steps. Send the broker the full application or contract, with its insurance section marked. Ask which requirements the current program already meets, what would need to change, and how long it would take to issue the certificate the city wants to see.
A low car damaged on the deck
A flatbed driver loaded a lowered sports car late at night, and the front bumper cracked against the ramp. The owner has sent photos and a body shop estimate, and the operator is unsure whether the truck policy or something else responds.
First steps. Gather the driver's pickup photos, the tow invoice and the owner's estimate, and report it promptly. Ask the broker whether the program includes on-hook cover, what deductible applies, and whether loading methods for low vehicles could affect how future claims are viewed.
A hailstorm over the impound yard
A summer hailstorm hit an open storage yard holding about forty vehicles from police tows and private impounds. Several owners now want their dents repaired before they will pay the storage fees owed to the operator.
First steps. Photograph every vehicle and keep the yard log for that day. Ask the broker whether garage keepers cover on the yard includes hail, how the per-location limit compares with the vehicles on site, and how vehicles whose owners never return are handled.
05 / Words you will hear
The jargon, in plain words
- On-hook cover
- Protection for a customer's vehicle while it is attached to or carried on your truck. It pays for damage during the tow that the truck's own policy typically leaves out.
- Garage keepers
- Cover for vehicles owned by others that sit in your care, such as in an impound yard. Forms differ on whether they pay only when you are at fault.
- Driver abstract
- An official record of a driver's licence status, convictions and suspensions from the provincial licensing authority. Insurers read it before accepting each tow operator.
- Rotation list
- A system some police services and municipalities use to assign tows to approved operators in turn. Joining usually means meeting stated insurance and equipment conditions.
- Additional insured
- A person or organization added to your policy so they are protected for claims arising from the work you do for them, often required by a tow contract.
06 / Common mistakes
What trips people up
- Assuming the tow truck's auto policy also pays for damage to the car on the hook.
- Letting the yard fill with more vehicles than the garage keepers limit was set for.
- Hooking a vehicle without photographing its existing damage first.
- Signing a municipal or motor club agreement before checking its insurance clause with the broker.
- Hiring a driver without pulling a current abstract, then learning the insurer will not accept them.
- Treating lockouts and boosts as risk-free, when they produce frequent small damage claims.
Ready when you are
Turn this into one clear request.
Save it, add what you know, and choose when to send it. A licensed broker who handles towing company insurance takes it from there.
07 / Questions people ask
Straight answers
What is on-hook towing insurance?
On-hook cover pays for damage to a customer's vehicle while it is being towed or carried on your truck, for example if it falls from the deck, is marked by straps or is hit during the tow. It is distinct from the liability cover on the tow truck itself and is often added separately. Ask the broker how its limit and deductible apply per vehicle.
Do I need garage keepers insurance for an impound lot?
If you hold vehicles that belong to others, garage keepers cover protects them against covered losses such as theft, vandalism or fire while they are in your care. Whether it pays only when you are legally liable, or regardless of fault, depends on the form chosen. Ask the broker which applies to your yard and how the limit is set.
What insurance do police and municipal tow contracts require?
Requirements vary by municipality and police service. Contracts commonly set minimum liability limits, ask for garage keepers cover on the storage lot, require the contracting body to be named on the policy and expect notice before any cancellation. Read the specific contract and have your broker confirm in writing that each clause can be met before you sign it.
Are tow operators licensed in Canada?
It depends on where you work. Some municipalities license tow trucks and their operators, and in some provinces, including Ontario, tow operators now need a provincial certificate that carries insurance conditions. These rules have been changing, so check with your province and municipality, and tell the broker which licences you hold, since insurers may ask to see them.
How do driver records affect towing insurance?
Insurers look closely at each driver's abstract because tow operators spend long hours on the road, often at night and in poor weather. Some insurers set minimum ages or experience, or decline drivers with recent serious convictions. Give the broker every driver's details before they start, and ask what the program requires before a new hire takes a truck out alone.
Does towing insurance cover roadside service calls?
Many towing programs include cover for roadside work such as lockouts, boosts, tire changes and fuel delivery, but the limits and conditions vary. Damage from a lockout tool or a wrong fuel delivery can be treated differently from damage that happens on the hook. Ask the broker to walk through how each type of call you take is covered.
General information, not insurance advice. Broker.insure is a directory and request service: it is not an insurer and does not quote, bind or advise. Policy terms, availability and what is required where you live depend on your situation and on licensed professionals. Updated 2026-10-31.