The car on your hook is not covered by your liability policy.

Commercial auto

Vehicles the business owns and the people who drive them for work.

Without it — The wrecker itself is a heavy vehicle in traffic, often on a shoulder at night, which is where this trade’s worst losses happen.

Garagekeepers

Customer vehicles in your care, custody and control. Every repair shop and dealership has the exposure and most standard policies exclude it.

Without it — Vehicles sitting on your lot are property in your care, and general liability excludes damage to them outright.

Motor truck cargo

The freight itself while you are hauling it. Separate from the liability on the truck.

Without it — On-hook coverage is what pays when the vehicle you are towing is damaged in transit. It is not part of your liability policy and it is the claim you will actually have.

General liability

Third-party bodily injury and property damage. It is the line nearly every contract names by default.

Without it — Premises claims at the yard, and anything that happens off the truck, have nothing behind them otherwise.

Workers compensation

Required in almost every state the moment you have employees. Priced on payroll and class code, which is why the class code is worth arguing about.

Without it — Roadside recovery is among the most dangerous work in transport, and struck-by injuries are catastrophic when they happen.

Umbrella & excess liability

Extra limit stacked above general liability, auto and employers liability. Usually the cheapest million dollars on the policy.

Without it — Rotation contracts and municipal work routinely require limits above primary before you can be on the list.

Auto physical damage

Damage to your own tractor and trailer. Primary liability pays for what you do to everyone else and nothing for your equipment, so without this a rollover you caused leaves you paying off a truck you can no longer run.

Without it — A wrecker is expensive, specialized and slow to replace, and liability pays nothing toward your own truck.

Who writes towing, given how few carriers seem to want it?

It is a specialty rather than a corner of commercial auto, and the markets that take it seriously are a short list. Berkshire Hathaway Homestate names tow trucks, wrecker haulers and repossession and recovery vehicles alongside dealerships and service vehicles. National Indemnity treats towing as target business. Lancer writes private towing, roadside assistance, auto clubs and storage yards, though only across Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The reason the list is short is the garagekeepers exposure: you are holding somebody else’s vehicle, which general liability excludes as property in your care, custody and control, and not every carrier wants to underwrite that alongside the driving.

Lancer, and the four states its regional book covers

What is on-hook coverage and do I need it?

On-hook covers damage to the customer’s vehicle while it is attached to your truck or being loaded. You need it because nothing else pays for that: your liability policy excludes property in your care, custody and control, and the customer’s own insurer will subrogate against you. It is separate from garagekeepers, which picks the vehicle up once it is parked on your lot.

What is the difference between on-hook and garagekeepers?

Location, essentially. On-hook responds while the vehicle is in transit on your equipment; garagekeepers responds while it is in your storage. Operators who impound or store vehicles need both, and the limits should reflect what is actually on the lot at once: a full lot after a busy weekend is worth more than most policies are written for.

Do you write police rotation and repossession?

Rotation work, yes, and the limits the municipality requires are usually the binding constraint rather than the rate. Repossession is a separate appetite. The confrontation risk changes the underwriting, and carriers that write ordinary towing frequently exclude it. If any part of your work is involuntary repossession, it has to be disclosed rather than discovered.