Updated August 23, 2010
COPYRIGHT US PILOT CAR.COM 2004/2010
General Information
regarding
Pilot/Escort Vehicle Insurance
and other Liability Issues
Disclaimer: We are not an Insurance Agent or Insurance Broker nor are we making recommendations to use one insurance company over another. The information that we supply on this page is being done as a service to aid the Pilot/Escort Industry.
As you look at the insurnace requirements of the various States, to have an insurance policy that would allow you to provide services in all States, you will need to have an automobile policy with coverage in the amount of $1M in liability insurance. Specifically, Pennsylvania and Colorado require the most, Utah and Oklahoma also have requirements for insurnace but less than the $1M. Many of the trucking companies require that you have $1M insurance coverage as well.
Many Pilot/Escort Drivers over the years have stated that they have discussed this issue with their insurance agent and have been told that they would be covered in the event of an accident with a personal automobile insurance policy, which they currently have -
In meetings that we have held with various Insurance Carriers, it has been specifically stated, that the work operation that is being undertaken should be stated on the Declaration page of the Insurance Policy or within the application that was completed when making the request for insurance. If this work operation is not specifically noted, and in the event of an accident, the Insurance Carrier could refuse to cover the incident.
We would recommend that you obtain the proof of coverage in written form - if your agent is willing to put this in writing, this will eliminate any problems for you in the future. On the other hand, if your agent will not state that you have coverage in writing - then you probably do not have insurance coverage that will protect you in the event that you have an accident while providing Pilot/Escort or a Flagging Operation. This could put all of your personnal assets at risk in the event of an accident!!
Currently - we know of a couple of insurance companies that will provide Pilot/Escort Vehicle insurance coverage. Some of these companies are AIG (America Insurance Group), Progressive, Hartford and if you reside in the Southern States, Deep South has provided this type of insurance. Height Pole coverage is now a common issue for Progressive to include on the policies, however, this coverage will only provide coverage for the damage that the height pole causes, not the damage to the load or other structures..
Insurance Broker familiar with Pilot/Escort Work Operations - Updated April 8, 2010
As we receive information from the Pilot/Escort Industry regarding Brokers or Agents that are knowlegable in the Pilot/Escort industry, we will post this information:
Insurance Brokers for Other States
Two Types of Insurance to address the Pilot/Escort Opearations
There are two work operations that go on during a load movement. One where the Pilot/Escort is using the vehicle to provide notice to the motoring public of the potential hazard caused by the over-dimensional load. The other is the work operation that is undertaken to control traffic such as flagging. Under a Flagging operation, a pilot/escort automobile insurance policy will not provide any coverage for the pilot/escort driver when he/she assumes a flaggers duties, makes a error in judgement and an accident/incident occurs. The same holds true for a height pole operation where the pilot/escort driver makes an error in judgement and the load sustains damage or another incident based on the decision of the pilot/escort driver, an automobile insurance policy will "NOT" cover a pilot/escort driver in the decisions made during the load movement. The only potential type's of insurance that would potentially address this type of coverage are; "General Liability or Prefessional Insurance Policy". These type's of policies will cover you personally in your decisions but not all General Liability policies will provide this coverage or protection if the work operation is not disclosed and documented for this type of risk by the insurance carrier.
Notice:
RSA Network Inc. currently holds the copyrights to all training materials utilized within these presented courses. The manuals and documents inlcuding by not limited to the PowerPoint Presentations, Video and Audio inlcuding on-line renewal documents and electronic media are registered with the Library of Congress and have been updated in 2009. Any use of these materials by any party other than RSA constitutes an enfringement of these rights and is expressly prohibited without prior written consent. Copyrights are valid for the life of the author plus 75 years and will be enforced.