Five things cut a Georgia contractor's truck insurance: deductibles, old-truck collision, the driver list, the radius, and shopping. What you should not cut is the liability limit. Georgia's legal minimum of 25/50/25 is far below the $1,000,000 nearly every contract requires. Who this is for: Georgia contractors with one to fifteen trucks and vans whose auto renewal keeps climbing.
The short version
- Georgia requires only $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident, and $25,000 property damage. Your contracts require $1,000,000. Save elsewhere.
- Deductibles, collision on old vehicles, driver records, and radius are the four levers that move a contractor fleet price most.
- Uninsured motorist coverage is included on every Georgia policy unless you reject it in writing. Decide on purpose, not by default.
- Coverage for vehicles you rent, or that your employees drive for work, costs a few hundred dollars and most contracts ask for it. Do not skip it to save money.
- Only drop collision on trucks you own outright. A lender or lessor requires it, so dropping it breaks that agreement.
What does Georgia actually require on a contractor's trucks?
Georgia's minimum auto liability limits are $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for injuries, plus $25,000 for property damage. A plumber hauling his own pipe is covered by that same minimum. Higher state limits only apply if you haul other people's goods for pay, which makes you a for-hire carrier under the Department of Public Safety's rules.
So the state floor is low. Your contracts are the real requirement, and they almost always say $1,000,000 combined single limit, which is one number for injuries and property damage together. Do not shop below that. For trucking-specific rules, see Georgia trucking minimum liability limits.
Where are the savings on a Georgia contractor fleet?
These are illustrative national figures, not Georgia rates. Your vehicles, drivers, garaging location, and insurer set the real numbers.
| Lever | What it does | Illustrative saving on a five-vehicle fleet |
|---|---|---|
| Raise deductibles | Moving from $500 to $2,000 on collision and comprehensive | About 10% to 20% of the physical damage premium |
| Drop collision on old trucks | A truck worth $6,000 rarely earns its collision premium. Check the title first: if a truck is financed or leased, the lender or lessor requires collision and comprehensive, and dropping it breaks that agreement. This lever only applies to vehicles you own outright. | About $600 to $1,500 per old vehicle |
| Clean up the driver list | One driver with a recent DUI or two at-fault accidents can raise the whole fleet | Often 10% to 25% of the liability premium |
| Correct the radius | Local work within 50 miles costs less than statewide | About 5% to 15% if you were rated wrong |
| Shop the fleet | Insurers' appetite for contractor autos varies widely | Often 10% to 20% between the best and worst quote |
What should I keep, even if it costs more?
- The $1,000,000 liability limit. It is what your contracts require, and what your umbrella's schedule of underlying insurance assumes. If your auto limit is lower, the umbrella does not drop down to fill the difference. You pay that layer yourself, on top of failing the certificate check.
- Hired and non-owned auto. It protects your business when someone is hurt or property is damaged by a vehicle you rented, or by an employee driving their own car on your errand. It does not repair that employee's car and does not cover them as the owner. If you are a sole proprietor, your own pickup is generally not a non-owned auto either, so it needs a commercial auto policy of its own.
- Uninsured motorist coverage, on purpose. Every Georgia auto liability policy includes it at the 25/50/25 minimum unless you reject it in writing, and you can raise it toward your liability limit. It pays your people when the other driver has no insurance.
Does Georgia's 2025 tort reform lower my truck insurance?
Not yet for contractor fleets, as far as anyone can show. Governor Kemp signed SB 68 and SB 69 on April 21, 2025. One change makes a person's failure to wear a seatbelt admissible in Georgia auto cases starting January 1, 2026, which insurers expect to reduce some injury verdicts. Georgia's insurance commissioner announced personal auto rate cuts late in 2025 and credited the reforms in part. Those cuts are personal auto. Whether commercial fleets follow is not known, so shop now rather than wait.
What should I send the broker?
A vehicle list with year, make, model, value, and where each is parked overnight. A driver list with dates of birth and license numbers so records can be pulled. Your radius and what the trucks carry. Three to five years of claims. Your contracts' insurance sections. With that, a licensed Georgia broker can shop the fleet to several insurers in a few days. For the rest of your policies, see how to find cheaper contractor insurance in Georgia, and for the national list see cheaper commercial auto insurance for contractors.
What this looks like in real life
Illustrative example. It is typical of what we see and is not a promise of how any specific situation would be handled.
The setup: A plumbing contractor in Gainesville runs five vans and pays about $14,800 a year for commercial auto with $1,000,000 liability. Two of the vans are 2013 models worth about $7,000 each. All five carry collision with a $500 deductible. Seven employees are listed as drivers.
What went wrong: One listed driver has a DUI from two years ago and no longer drives for the company, but was never removed. The policy rates the fleet at a statewide radius, though every job is within 40 miles of Gainesville. Nobody has shopped the fleet in four years.
What it cost: Illustrative numbers from a licensed Georgia broker: removing the former driver saves about $1,600. Raising deductibles to $2,000 saves about $900. Dropping collision on the two old vans saves about $1,300. Correcting the radius saves about $700. Shopping the corrected fleet to three insurers finds one about $1,100 lower still. Total about $5,600 a year, or 38%, with the $1,000,000 liability limit untouched.
The fix: Not one dollar came from the liability limit the contracts require. It came from a driver who no longer drives, two vans not worth insuring for collision, and a radius nobody checked.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How can I find cheaper commercial auto insurance for contractors in Georgia?
Raise deductibles, drop collision on old trucks, remove drivers with bad records, correct your radius, and have a licensed Georgia broker shop the fleet. Keep the $1,000,000 liability limit your contracts require.
Q: What is the minimum auto insurance for a contractor's truck in Georgia?
The same as any Georgia vehicle: $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for injuries, and $25,000 for property damage. Higher state minimums apply only to businesses that haul other people's goods for pay.
Q: Can I carry the Georgia minimum to save money?
You can legally, but your contracts almost always require $1,000,000, and so does your umbrella insurer. Carrying the minimum fails the certificate check, and the umbrella will not drop down to fill the difference. You would pay that layer yourself.
Q: My contract wants coverage for rented trucks and employees' own cars. What does that cost?
Usually a few hundred dollars a year. It protects your business when a rented vehicle or an employee's own car causes harm on your errand, and most Georgia general contractors list it in the insurance section. It is not a place to save.
Q: Do I have to carry uninsured motorist coverage in Georgia?
It is included on every Georgia auto policy unless you reject it in writing. You can carry the 25/50/25 minimum or raise it toward your liability limit. Decide the amount deliberately instead of accepting the default.
Q: Will Georgia's tort reform make my fleet cheaper?
Possibly over time. Personal auto rates were cut in late 2025 and the reforms were credited in part, but that is personal auto. No commercial fleet data has followed yet, so shop now instead of waiting.
How Morrow helps
Morrow is a licensed independent commercial insurance brokerage that works with contractors and trades every day. Finding the driver, deductible, and vehicle list fixes hiding in a Georgia fleet renewal, then requoting it, is one of the most common things we do.
- Free contract review. Send us the contract or bid documents and we mark up the insurance section in plain English, whether or not you buy anything from us.
- Free, instant certificates. Clients issue their own certificates of insurance online in about a minute, any hour, any day, at no charge.
- Markets you cannot reach online. One application, shopped across many insurance companies for general liability, workers comp, auto, umbrella, and pollution coverage.
One more thing. This article is general information and is not legal advice or a statement of coverage. Your contract and your policy wording control in every case. Requirements vary by customer, by state, and by insurance company, so have a licensed advisor review your own contract and your own policy before relying on any of it.
Last updated: Reviewed by the Morrow commercial lines team. Last updated September 2026.