Your licence is your livelihood
An HGV licence depends on meeting the DVLA's Group 2 medical standards, and those are tighter than the rules for car drivers. Conditions such as a heart rhythm problem, sleep apnoea, insulin-treated diabetes, epilepsy or a decline in eyesight can mean you must stop driving lorries while you are assessed or treated.
For most drivers that means no wages, even if you feel well enough to work. Income protection pays when a medical condition stops you doing your job, so a policy that looks at your ability to drive professionally is worth more to you than one that only pays if you cannot work at all.
What life on the road does to your body
Long hours sitting, irregular meals and broken sleep take a toll over a career. Back and neck problems are common, and so are knee and shoulder injuries from climbing in and out of cabs, coupling trailers, handling straps and sheeting loads in bad weather.
Then there is the road itself. You spend more time on motorways than almost anyone, which puts accidents in the picture. A broken leg or a whiplash injury might keep you out of work for months while your mortgage keeps running.
- Back, neck and joint problems from sitting and lifting
- Slips and falls getting down from the cab or trailer
- Road traffic accidents
- Health conditions that fail the Group 2 medical
Sick pay, agencies and owner drivers
Some large hauliers and supermarket fleets pay company sick pay for a set period. Many smaller firms pay only statutory sick pay, which is a modest flat weekly amount, and agency drivers often get that alone. Owner drivers running their own truck get nothing at all, yet the finance payments on the tractor unit carry on.
Check your contract or ask your transport office what you would get after one week, one month and three months off. Those answers decide how soon you need your income protection to start paying, and how much monthly benefit would keep the household running until you are back behind the wheel.
Life cover for the people waiting at home
Plenty of drivers spend nights away in the cab, and the family at home relies on that wage. Life insurance pays a lump sum if you die during the term, which can clear the mortgage or give your partner an income while the children grow up. Some drivers also add critical illness cover, which pays out on diagnosis of a serious condition listed in the policy.
If your haulier offers death in service, treat it as a bonus rather than the plan. It ends when you change firms, and drivers move between operators often. A personal policy stays with you from one job to the next.
How Hi Tomorrow helps HGV drivers
Insurers sort jobs into risk classes, and that affects both the price and how they judge whether you are too ill to work. Some will assess you against your own job of driving lorries. Others use a wider test. We compare the insurers on our panel and point out the definition each one would use for you.
We also help you set the right deferred period, plan life insurance around your mortgage and family, and fill in the health questions properly so nothing trips up a future claim. Acceptance and terms always depend on the insurer's underwriting.