Heavy Duty Mechanics
Garage Insurance
Coverage for heavy duty mechanics servicing trucks, trailers, and equipment, whether you work mobile, run a fixed-location shop, or do both.
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Heavy-duty mechanic insurance protects a mobile or shop-based repair business against its biggest exposures. Damage to the customer unit in your care, the tools and diagnostic gear that make up your rig-up, and a repair that comes back on you after you leave. You might run mobile, from a fixed shop, or both, and what you work on drives the coverage. A licensed highway truck, an unlicensed dozer on a mine site, a bus, or a unit that has to pass a CVIP inspection each carry different rules and risk. A generic auto or small-business policy was never built for a customer unit worth six figures in your care. Velocity builds these programs for heavy-duty and mobile mechanics across Alberta.
The Exposure
Risks you face.
Heavy duty mechanics sit between commercial auto, equipment coverage, and field liability. What you work on, and where, changes the exposure, and none of it is covered by a generic auto or small-business policy.
Damage to the customer unit in your care
When a client’s excavator, genset, truck or trailer is in your hands for repair, damage to it during the work is your responsibility, and a standard liability policy leaves it out. Heavy equipment is worth far more than a car, and a single incident can mean a six-figure claim.
Dropping or crushing a unit while hoisting or lifting
Cranes, hoists and vehicle lifts are their own exposure. If a customer unit is damaged while being hoisted or lifted, crushed or dropped, liability is not automatically provided. That is specific coverage that has to be added. Work involving cranes and draglines is often excluded outright, so the wording has to match what you do.
A repair that comes back on you later
A unit you serviced fails weeks later and takes down a job or causes further damage. That exposure follows your work long after you’ve left the site, and a basic policy rarely responds.
Your rig-up, tools, and diagnostics
Your scan tools, torque and hydraulic equipment, welders and hoses are your rig-up. A break-in at the yard, theft off an open site, or a rollover on a lease road can wipe out your ability to earn overnight.
Liability on someone else’s active site
You work around crews, traffic and other contractors, where a third-party injury or property damage can become a major claim and the site owner expects your policy, not theirs, to cover it.
Licensed vs unlicensed units, and specialty work
Working on licensed highway trucks, buses and CVIP-inspected units carries rules and risk that off-road equipment like mine trucks and dozers does not. Get the coverage wrong for the units you service, or let the contract paperwork run slow, and it can cost you the job before you turn a wrench.
The Protection
Coverages we recommend.
Garage & Garagekeepers Liability
No coverage on this page matters more. Garagekeepers pays when a customer’s vehicle or equipment is damaged while it is in your care for service, something a standard general-liability policy leaves out. We write it to match whether you work mobile, in a shop, or both.
Hoisting & Lifting Liability
Liability for a customer unit damaged while being hoisted or lifted, dropped or crushed on a crane, hoist or vehicle lift, is not automatic and has to be added. We make sure the wording covers the lifting you do, and flag where cranes and draglines are excluded.
Commercial General Liability
Injury or property damage you cause a third party on the sites you work, with protection that continues against a repair that fails after you have left, and it is the policy site owners ask to see.
Contractors Equipment (Your Rig-Up)
Theft, damage and loss cover for the scan tools, torque and hydraulic gear, welders and diagnostics that make up your rig-up, on site, in transit and in storage.
Commercial Auto
The service truck itself, covered for both liability and damage to the vehicle. The tools and equipment it carries are protected separately, so they are covered whether the loss happens on the road or off it.
Business Interruption
If a covered loss to your shop, truck or key equipment stops you taking work, this replaces the income and covers the fixed costs.
Coverages shown are general examples, not a description of any specific policy. Policy coverages widely vary and should be confirmed with your broker.
Licensing, and how your coverage fits Alberta’s rules
What you work on decides more than the price. Heavy Equipment Technician is a designated trade in Alberta, so the skilled parts of the work must be done by a certified journeyperson or a registered apprentice under supervision. On top of the trade certification, AMVIC licensing applies to automotive businesses working on licensed motor vehicles, highway trucks and buses, while work on unlicensed, off-road equipment like mine trucks, dozers, and construction equipment does not carry the same AMVIC requirement. Units that need a CVIP inspection, and large passenger vehicles like buses, call for extra care in both the work and the coverage. Insurance does not replace any of this. It protects you for the customer unit in your care and the injury or damage your work can cause. And because sites ask for proof of insurance and to be added to your policy before you turn a wrench, we turn that paperwork around fast so it never costs you the job.
Why heavy duty mechanics choose Velocity
We understand field and shop service. Your premises can be a truck, your rig-up and the units in your care matter as much as any building, and the contracts you sign with GCs and operators dictate the limits and wording you need. We know the difference between working on a licensed truck, an off-road dozer, a bus, or a CVIP unit, and we make sure the hoisting, lifting, and garagekeepers wording matches the work you do. Certificates issued fast when a site asks, and most operators go from first conversation to bound coverage within a few business days.
How Pricing Works
What drives your premium
- What you work onLicensed highway trucks and buses, CVIP-inspected units and off-road equipment each carry different rules and risk, so the types of units you service are a major driver of price.
- Services you performWelding, hydraulic and driveline work, and any hoisting or lifting carry more risk than light diagnostic or maintenance work, so the kind of jobs you take on moves the premium.
- Mobile vs shop & travel radiusWorking from a service truck across lease roads and busy job sites adds exposure a fixed shop does not, so how far you travel and how much work is mobile affects the price.
- Rig-up & mobile equipment valuesThe total value of the scan tools, torque and hydraulic gear, welders and diagnostics in your rig-up sets how much contractors equipment coverage you need and what it costs.
- Service vehiclesEach service truck adds commercial auto exposure for the vehicle itself, so the size and value of your fleet moves the price.
- Care, custody & controlThe value of the customer units in your care while you repair them drives the garagekeepers limit you need, and heavy machinery worth six figures raises it.
- Claims history, limits & deductiblesA clean record lowers your price while past liability or equipment claims raise it. A larger limit adds premium. A larger deductible removes some of it and hands you more of the first loss.
Common Questions
Questions ownersreally ask.
Is the customer’s equipment covered while I’m repairing it?
Only with the right coverage. A standard general-liability policy leaves out property in your care, which is exactly what a customer’s unit is while you work on it. Garagekeepers coverage fills that gap, paying when the equipment in for service is damaged. For heavy equipment worth six figures, nothing on your policy matters more.
If I drop or crush a customer’s unit on a lift or crane, is that covered?
Not automatically. Liability for a customer unit damaged while being hoisted or lifted, crushed or dropped on a hoist, vehicle lift or crane, is specific coverage that has to be added, and work on cranes and draglines is often excluded. We review the lifting you do and make sure the wording responds to it rather than leaving a gap.
What’s the difference between garage liability and garagekeepers?
Garage liability covers injury or damage you cause someone else while doing the work, on your premises or theirs. Garagekeepers covers the customer’s vehicle or equipment itself while it is in your care for service. A complete mechanic’s program usually needs both, because they respond to different claims.
Does it matter whether I work on licensed trucks or off-road equipment?
Yes, a great deal. AMVIC licensing applies to automotive work on licensed motor vehicles like highway trucks and buses, while unlicensed, off-road equipment such as mine trucks, dozers and construction equipment does not carry the same requirement. Buses and units needing a CVIP inspection call for extra care too. The types of units you work on drive both the rules you follow and the coverage you need, so we build the policy around what you service.
Are my rig-up and tools covered off-site and on the truck?
Yes, through contractors equipment coverage. It follows your scan tools, hydraulic and torque gear, welders and diagnostics on the job site, in transit and in storage, where a standard business property policy usually stops at the shop door. It is separate from your auto policy, so your rig-up is protected whether a loss happens on the road or off it.
Does my policy cover a repair that fails later?
Your liability coverage can respond when a unit you serviced fails after you have left and causes further damage. Like any trade, the policy is not a warranty on your own work, but it can pay for the resulting damage. The wording is worth reviewing for the kind of repairs you do.
The site won’t let me on without proof of insurance and being “added” to my policy. Why?
General contractors and operators want proof your coverage is active and that it extends to protect them for claims arising from your work, along with minimum limits. It is routine, and we issue the paperwork quickly so it never holds up a job.
Built for the truck, the rig-up,and the units in your care.
Tell us what you service and where you work, and we’ll build coverage around your truck, your rig-up, and the units in your care. Most operators are bound within a few business days.
Not ready to switch? Book a 15-minute coverage review instead
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