Auto Shipping FAQ: Do I Need to Have Personal Insurance?
One of the best things about shipping a vehicle is that it’s pretty lax in terms of what you actually need to have on-hand when you ship it.
Things like registration and insurance aren’t as important as whether or not the car runs or if it’ll fit on the truck – this is because car shippers haul cars for anyone and everyone, and they can’t get tied down in the bureaucracy and the BS of paperwork.
Is there paperwork? Yes, of course, you’ll get receipts and sign inspection reports and bills of lading (contracts) with your carrier, but other than putting your John Hancock on a legal piece of paper, you don’t need much else. This includes personal insurance on your vehicle, and we’ll explain why.
To start, every vehicle that is shipped on an auto transport truck will be fully insured against any damages incurred during transport, including during the loading or unloading of a vehicle.
This is federal law – as long as your vehicle is in custody of your car shipping carrier it’ll be covered, and it’s important that you understand that because some companies have gotten away with insurance scams in the past, and that’s not something that’s tolerated in the auto transport industry. This is a big reason why you don’t need any type of personal insurance if you’re shipping a vehicle.
Of course, it’s not like you can’t have it; if you have an insurance policy on a vehicle you are shipping, that policy will become what is known as a “secondary” policy after the carrier’s “primary” policy.
This is important because if there are any problems during transport that require you to file and insurance claim, you can only file it with the carrier’s insurance company.
Of course, car transporters don’t want you to do that, so they make sure they take good care of the vehicles they ship and do their best to make sure no damage befalls the vehicles they ship. Safer than driving your vehicle on the highway yourself, accidents in the auto transport industry are rare, but they do happen, and are the main reason why insurance is so important.
If you’re interested in shipping your vehicle from or to anywhere in the United States, make sure to fill out our free online quote request form. If you do, you’ll get a free quote to ship your vehicle from us right away. You can also contact us over the phone any time at 800-930-7417 to speak to a representative. They can answer questions, give you a quote, and also place a reservation if you’re ready to. So call or use our free form and see what American Auto Shipping can do for you.
Since 2007 Dave has written all the content and blogs for American Auto Shipping and during this time added the duties of customer support and transport logistics.
He currently resides in Washington with his three kids and their mom and cat. A fan of Marvel movies and good stories, when not shipping cars Dave can be found working on his novel, enjoying a good book or playing some tournament HALO.
