Transport Liability Insurance for Operators
The cover for when your operation injures someone or damages their property at a depot, on site or at the dock.
That takes in public liability, products liability for goods once they leave your hands, and carriers liability for freight in your care.
Transport Liability Insurance for Claims Your Motor Policy Misses
Your motor policy covers a lot, but it does not cover everything you can be held liable for as a transport operator.
A load shifts and damages a loading dock, or a member of the public is hurt at a delivery site. Or a contract pushes another party's liability onto you. None of those is a motor claim, and any of them can run to serious money.
Transport liability insurance covers those claims: public liability for injury and property damage, and products liability for the goods you handle and deliver. It also takes in carriers liability when you move other people's freight. It can cover contractual liability too, which is the risk you take on when you sign a contract.
Paul Cohalan founded All Trucks Insurance. Every broker on the team specialises in transport, so they know where third-party claims come from as well as what the policy says.
Get the Right Transport Liability Cover With Paul
“Most operators think liability is the boring line on the policy, right up until a third-party claim arrives that the motor cover was never going to touch. That is the line that protects the whole business.”
Paul Cohalan
Founding Principal Broker
Call Paul on 1300 78 78 25Backed by Australia's Leading Transport Insurers
We arrange transport liability insurance with insurers that know heavy vehicle and freight risk, under a brokerage licence backed by Steadfast.
Public & products
third-party injury and property damage cover, plus liability for the goods you handle and deliver.
Contractual & principal
cover for what you take on under contracts, and for the principal, meaning the head contractor you work for.
Specialist insurers
transport liability insurers who price your cover on how your operation really runs.
What Transport Liability Insurance Can Include
Most operators need several of these together. These are the ones we arrange most often.
Public Liability
Injury to other people or damage to their property caused by your business, at a depot, on site or at a delivery.
Products Liability
Claims caused by goods you carry, handle, load or deliver after they have left your control, a real risk in freight.
Carriers & Contractual Liability
Your legal liability as a carrier, plus what you take on under carriage contracts, customer agreements and tenders.
Principal's Indemnity
Extends your cover to the principal or head contractor you work for, which many site contracts ask for before you start.
Loading & Unloading Liability
Liability while freight is being loaded, restrained and unloaded, which is a window some standard policies leave out.
Sudden & Accidental Pollution
Clean-up costs and liability from a sudden spill of fuel, oil or part of the load on the road or at a site.
Subcontractor & Chain Liability
Lining up cover across the subcontractors you use, so a gap in their policy does not end up as your claim.
Site & Premises Liability
Liability arising at your yard, depot or warehouse, where visitors, customers and other operators move around your gear.
Cover for the value of the freight itself is a separate policy, called marine cargo or goods in transit insurance. It works alongside your liability cover.
Who Needs Transport Liability Insurance
If your trucks, your people and your freight deal with the public, with sites and with other businesses, you need liability cover. Each operation is set up on its own, around the work you do and the contracts you sign.
Hire-and-Reward Carriers
Operators moving freight for payment, open to claims from customers, the public and the sites they work on.
Owner-Drivers & Subcontractors
Owner-operators who often have to meet a head contractor's liability and indemnity rules to get the work.
Freight Forwarders & Brokers
Businesses arranging transport across carriers, carrying contractual and operator liability along the chain.
Couriers & Last-Mile
Many deliveries a day, with constant contact with the public and with customers' premises at every drop.
Warehousing & 3PL
Operators with visitors, customers and other carriers moving around their premises, forklifts and equipment.
Civil, Heavy Haulage & Site Work
Operators on construction and resource sites with strict principal indemnity and liability conditions.
Don't See Your Operation Here?
Send us your contracts, tell us what you do, and we will set up cover.
Where Operators Get Caught on Liability
These are the liability assumptions we see leave operators paying a claim themselves, and what fixes each one.
Assuming Motor Cover Is Enough
A motor policy carries some liability for the vehicle, but not the public and products liability of running a transport business. Claims that are not about the truck need their own cover.
No Products Liability After Delivery
If goods you carried or handled cause damage or injury after delivery, that is a products liability claim. Without products cover nothing pays it, so make sure it is on the policy.
Contracts That Shift Liability Onto You
Carriage contracts and tenders often push another party's liability onto the operator. If your cover does not match what you signed, that risk is yours, so we check the contracts first.
Subcontractor Chain Gaps
When a subcontractor's cover is thin or has lapsed, the liability can land straight back on you. Ask each subbie for proof of current cover and check it again every year.
Loading and Unloading Exclusions
A lot of liability arises while freight is loaded and unloaded, and some policies limit or exclude that window. We check that loading and unloading is covered before you sign.
Pollution Treated as an Afterthought
A fuel or load spill on a road or site brings clean-up costs and liability fast. Without sudden and accidental pollution cover that bill is uninsured, so ask for it by name.
How We Arrange Your Transport Liability Insurance
We start with the liabilities you carry, and only then talk about price.
1. Understand Your Operation
What you do, where you work, the sites you go onto, and the customers and members of the public you deal with.
2. Review Your Contracts
We read the carriage contracts, tenders and indemnities you have signed and work out what liability you have taken on.
3. Arrange the Right Cover
We arrange public, products, carriers and contractual liability with transport insurers, at limits that match the work.
4. Renewals, Claims & Ongoing
We keep the cover in step as you win new work and sign new contracts, and we deal with the insurer for you when a claim comes in.
What Shapes Your Transport Liability Insurance Premium
There is no flat rate for transport liability. Your premium depends on the work you do and the liabilities you carry. A broker who understands that can explain your business to the insurer in the best light.
We do not put a price on a website. Tell us about your work and your contracts, and we will take it to the insurers and come back to you with a quote.
- The nature of your operation and the work you take on
- The liability limits your contracts and clients require
- Whether you need public, products, carriers or contractual cover, or all of them
- The sites you work on and the public interaction involved
- Subcontractor use and principal indemnity requirements
- Claims history and your safety and handling systems
- Goods you handle, deliver and are responsible for
- Whether you operate across multiple states and jurisdictions
Related Cover
Most operators need more than one policy. Here are the covers they usually add.
Get Your Transport Liability Insurance Sorted
You need transport liability insurance from a broker who knows your work, the sites you go onto and the contracts you sign.
Tell us about your operation and the contracts you work under, and we will come back to you with a quote.
Transport Liability Insurance FAQs
Transport liability insurance covers a transport operator's legal liability to third parties. That takes in public liability for injury or property damage and products liability for goods you deliver, plus carriers and contractual liability. It protects the business when a claim comes from outside, rather than paying for damage to your own vehicles.
A motor policy includes some liability for the vehicle, but it does not cover the full public and products liability of running a transport business. Claims that are not about the truck itself, such as a site injury, damage caused by a load after delivery or a contractual liability, need their own liability cover.
Public liability covers injury to people or damage to property arising from your operations. Carriers liability covers your legal responsibility as a carrier, including for the freight in your care. Cover for the value of the freight itself is a separate policy, marine cargo or goods in transit insurance, and it works alongside carriers liability.
If goods you carry, handle, load or deliver could cause injury or damage after they leave your control, products liability responds. It is a real and often overlooked risk for freight, courier and logistics businesses.
Principal's indemnity extends your liability cover to a principal or head contractor who requires it as a condition of the work. Many civil, resource and large logistics contracts will not let you on site without it.
It should. A lot of liability arises while freight is being loaded, restrained and unloaded, and some policies limit or exclude that window. We check that loading and unloading liability is covered before the policy starts.
Sudden and accidental pollution cover responds to clean-up costs and liability from a fuel, oil or load spill on a road or site. It is an important inclusion for any operator on the road, and one that is easy to miss.
There is no flat rate. Premiums depend on your operation, the limits your contracts require, the covers you need, your sites, your use of subcontractors and your claims history. We work through those with you and take them to the insurers, rather than putting a number on a website.
Yes. We review the carriage contracts, tenders and indemnities you have signed. Then we check that the liability you agreed to carry is insured, at the limits your clients require.
We arrange it with Australia's heavy vehicle and transport insurers, including NTI, Global Transport (Allianz), HMIA, Zurich, QBE and UAA. We do this under a brokerage licence backed by Steadfast.
Compliance Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Please consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) before making any decision.