Stopped insurance for 2 months, now premium is 24K!! What to do?

Hi All,

Against my advice, my father, who is the O/O decided to cancel his insurance when he went on vacation for 2 months. As a result, his authority was deactivated and now his insurance went up to 24K a year because supposedly, he is being viewed as a new company by the insurance companies despite having almost 20 years experience and having his MC/DOT for over 10 years. He is in FL.

He is now considering working under someone else's authority because paying 2K a month for insurance is just crazy. He doesn't want to have to work ALL the time like he used to just to pay bills. His truck is a bit older, so he prefers to just go up and down the coast from FL to GA/SC/NC.

What can you all recommend? He considered working for Landstar under their authority, but they require Hazmat and English is not his first language, so he probably won't be able to pass the hazmat test. What do you all suggest?

Thank you! Really appreciate any guidance and expertise you all can provide. I've received quotes from several agents and they've all been around the same amount. I'm running out of ideas on how else to help my father here...

Regards!

 

Glockwise, Thank you very much for your response. We honestly didn't know we had to put anything on hold. Our accountant told us that she will be able to re-activate the MC/DOT once he has his insurance again. We still have the same numbers. He used to be insured in WA, but moved over to FL, so we had to get re-quoted for FL. I did some research and it seems that FL insurance is significantly more expensive. So, couple the fact that our authority has been flagged, with the more expensive state, the new premium is a shock to us. Last year, we were paying $8K. So imagine going from $8K to $24K!! I found this helpful link (Which States have the Best Rates for Truck Insurance) that shows insurance rates per state. I told my father he is better off moving to MS as soon as possible because insurance rates there are about $5K. Insurance in FL alone will cost him more than an apartment + insurance in MS for the year.

About his English...he can converse, but hazmat cert is not as simple as you make it out to be. My father is very smart and indeed, with some effort, I have no doubt he could pass, but he knows that he would have to put significant effort into studying and learning, and that's not really the time or energy he has to devote right now. If he could get the test in our native language, I'm sure he could pass with minimal effort. Honestly, I help him significantly. I do all his paperwork and find his loads, while also working full time myself. It's not as easy for non-native speakers as you might imagine. Most of them work with dispatchers/for companies that speak their native language and they usually get screwed big time. I know as it used to happen to my dad all the time until I stepped in and basically started helping him so he could work with American-ran companies that don't screw you and hold your pay.

Anyway, I'm ranting now. It looks like 20-24K is standard for FL and we have no choice but to either run under someone else's authority or suck it up and pay this high premium until he can relocate.

I have a feeling that perhaps the super high premium has more to do with FL than his authority. I just can't believe how expensive FL insurance is. It's crazy to think that they want us to pay 24K.

 

Haha, no, I spoke with both, the accountant and the insurance agent. I figured out the problem. The issue is not really the lapse in insurance (although, yes, that contributed to it), the issue is the fact that we went from being insured in WA to now being insured in FL. FL has ridiculous rates. The insurance agent should have explained that the reason we went from paying 8K to now getting 20-24K quotes is not because of lapse in coverage, but PRIMARILY because we changed states. I finally figured this fact out on my own this afternoon. At least now I have a way to remedy the situation. I am now looking for ways to relocate my father & his company out of FL back to WA or perhaps MS (where rates seem lowest in the nation).