Truck, tail and ramps
Damage to the vehicle, the hydraulic tail, folding ramps and winch, which are often listed as items in their own right.
Beaver Tail Truck Insurance
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Beaver Tail Truck Insurance
Cover for beaver tail trucks moving excavators, forklifts and hired plant.
A beaver tail truck exists to load machinery that cannot drive itself onto a flat deck. Excavators, skid steers, scissor lifts and forklifts are winched or driven up the sloped tail, and most incidents happen in those few minutes rather than on the highway. The truck, the loading gear and the machine sitting on the deck are three separate exposures.
What is it?
A beaver tail is a rigid truck with a fixed deck that slopes down at the rear, usually with folding ramps and a winch, so plant can be loaded close to ground level. They are commonly built on Isuzu, Hino, Fuso and UD chassis from around eight tonnes GVM upward, and are run by plant hire companies, civil contractors and machinery dealers.
What does beaver tail truck insurance cover?
Machinery on the deck
Plant belonging to a customer is generally not addressed by the motor section and usually needs carriers or specified-item cover.
Loading and unloading
Third-party injury or property damage arising while a machine is being winched on or driven off the tail.
What affects the cost?
- GVM and deck length
- Whether machines carried are owned or customer-owned
- Value of the highest-value machine ever carried
- Driver experience loading and restraining plant
- Where the truck is kept overnight
Worth raising on the call
- Damage to the machine you are carrying is the exposure most often missed, and it sits outside standard motor cover.
- Winch, ramps and tail hydraulics should be listed if you want them treated as insured items.
- If you tow a plant trailer behind the truck, confirm how the trailer and its load are treated.
Claims we are commonly asked about
Excavator slides off the ramp
A five tonne excavator tracks up the tail on a wet morning and slides sideways off the ramp, damaging the machine, the ramp and the tail hydraulics. Because the machine belongs to a hire customer, the claim splits between the motor section and whatever addresses plant in your care.
Skid steer shifts under braking
A skid steer is chained but the restraint angles are wrong and the machine moves forward under heavy braking, striking the headboard. The customer's machine, the deck and the restraint gear are all damaged in one event.
Winch rope parts during loading
A winch rope fails while dragging a non-runner forklift up the tail and the machine rolls back into a vehicle parked behind the truck. That third party damage is a liability question sitting separately from the damage to the truck and the winch.
Worth confirming in the wording
- Worth confirming whether customer-owned or hired-in plant sitting on the deck is addressed, and at what limit, since the motor section generally speaks to the vehicle only.
- Worth confirming whether the winch, folding ramps and tail hydraulics are listed as insured items rather than assumed to be part of the vehicle value.
- Worth confirming how damage occurring while a machine is being loaded or unloaded is treated, because loading is frequently dealt with separately from transit.
Common questions
Does my truck policy cover the machine on the back?
Generally not. Motor cover typically responds to the truck itself, while a customer's excavator or forklift on the deck is usually addressed through carriers or goods in transit cover, or by specifying the item. Operators carrying customer plant commonly arrange both, and the split is set out in the policy terms.
Do I need extra cover if I only carry my own plant?
Usually yes, but of a different kind. Your own excavator or forklift is normally insured under mobile plant or contractors plant cover, and whether that cover continues while the machine is being carried or loaded is worth checking. Some plant policies limit cover during transit.
What licence does the driver need?
It depends on the GVM of the truck, with heavier beaver tails typically requiring a medium or heavy rigid licence under the national scheme. Insurers also commonly apply their own conditions around driver age, experience and licence class, so it is worth checking both the licensing rules and the policy conditions.
What does beaver tail truck insurance cost?
It depends rather than sitting at a set price. The main drivers are the GVM and deck length, whether the machines carried are your own or customer-owned, the value of the highest-value machine you ever carry, driver experience with loading and restraint, and where the truck is kept overnight.
General information only. Cover, limits and exclusions depend on the PDS, TMD, eligibility, underwriting and the policy terms. See truck insurance for the wider picture.
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