We typically work with personal car insurance but have affiliates that offer commercial vehicle insurance. To find out what type of insurance may help you cover your wife to ride with you in your truck we contacted the Tennessee Insurance Division of the Department of Commerce and Insurance to see if they had any recommendations.

This TN insurance regulator's office representative said that you have a problem which is basically two fold - cost and responsibility. They said the reason your trucking company has probably quit any program that covered your wife, or other riders, is the cost. The cost of Liability for the rider (your wife) has probably become exorbitant and they can no longer afford to cover this type of cost in the current economic climate.

The other problem then becomes responsibility or liability. With a passenger in a commercial truck the company takes on specific liabilities that are complex to explain. Even if you obtain an insurance policy to cover your wife as a passenger there is still the responsibility the company takes on for an innocent passenger. If you were to be involved in an accident and your wife is injured, regardless of who is at fault, the company you drive for is on the hook to pay as well typically due to state laws.

The TN Division of insurance representative said you need to discuss this fully with your company before you try to locate a policy for your wife or any passenger you would have with you. To begin looking you will have to get with an Independent Broker who can find a specialty line company who will write what you need. Just be sure to clear with your company first and make sure it is in writing first.

CarInsurance.com does have some affiliates that offer commercial truck insurance. You can click here to see if they can offer you the insurance you need for your wife after you get the okay from your trucking company and getting information on them about what type of policy they would require you to have in order to allow your wife to ride with you once again.