Insurance for the vehicles that are not freight trucks

Tow trucks, medical transport vans, buses, limos, couriers, and movers are regulated at three levels at once: the FMCSA if the work crosses state lines, a state agency for the permit and its insurance condition, and a city or county for local registration and rotation lists. We explain what each level requires, cite the rule it comes from, and show what to ask a licensed agent who writes this class of vehicle.

Tow truck insurance

Start here

Towing is the first operation type on the site, national page first, then Texas.

Three regulators, one operation

The federal floor is narrow on purpose. The financial responsibility rules in 49 CFR Part 387 apply to for-hire motor carriers transporting property in interstate or foreign commerce, and the schedule of limits sets $750,000 for nonhazardous property in a vehicle rated at 10,001 pounds or more (49 CFR 387.3 and 387.9, as of 2026). A tow operator who never leaves the state, a medical transport van, or a church bus sits outside that rule and inside a state one.

The state layer is where the requirement usually lives. Texas permits every tow truck individually under Occupations Code Chapter 2308, and the statute itself names the liability and cargo insurance each permit type must show. The local layer sits underneath: the same chapter lets a political subdivision require registration of a tow truck that performs a nonconsent tow in its territory, which is how city rotation lists and impound contracts come to carry their own conditions. Our Texas tow truck insurance page walks all three for one state.

Who we help

Operation types this site covers. Find yours, or read the transport types hub for who each page is written for and the regulator that defines the class. Texas operators can go straight to the Texas hub. If your question is about running more than one vehicle rather than about one kind of vehicle, start with fleet insurance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who regulates a tow truck: the FMCSA or the state?
Both can, and a city or county may add a layer. The federal financial responsibility rules in 49 CFR Part 387 apply to for-hire carriers moving property in interstate commerce with vehicles rated at 10,001 pounds or more. A tow operator working inside one state answers to that state’s permit agency instead; in Texas that is the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation under Occupations Code Chapter 2308. Texas also lets a political subdivision require registration of any tow truck that performs a nonconsent tow inside its territory.
What does “fleet” mean on this site?
Any operation whose vehicles are not freight trucks: tow and recovery, non-emergency medical transport, ambulance, limo and livery, charter and school buses, church vans, couriers, movers, waste haulers, logging trucks, and heavy equipment. Commercial truck fleets hauling freight belong to our sister site InsuredTruck.com, and we do not duplicate its pages here.
What is the difference between on-hook and garagekeepers coverage?
On-hook responds to damage to a vehicle you do not own while you are towing or hauling it. Garagekeepers responds to damage to a customer’s vehicle left in your care, which for a tow operation means the storage lot. The two are separate exposures, and the Texas towing rule names the first one directly as “cargo or cargo on hook” coverage on the permit.
Does this site quote or sell insurance?
No. We publish sourced information about what specialty transport operations carry and what each regulator requires, and we explain how to vet a licensed agent who writes this class. Every policy is placed by an independent licensed insurance professional. Where a quote request service is available it is described on the page that offers it.