Downtime insurance is probably the most underrated cover in the HGV insurance market. Motor vehicle cover gets the attention. Carriers liability is well-understood. But downtime — the cover that actually keeps your business alive while your truck is being repaired — is frequently skipped or set at an inadequate level.
In the current operating environment, where parts delays for European trucks are running at 8–20 weeks from the manufacturing source, this oversight is increasingly costly. The gap between what operators expect (a few weeks off the road) and what they experience (four to five months) has caught many businesses without sufficient cover.
What downtime insurance actually is
Downtime insurance (also called loss of use cover) pays a daily benefit for each day your vehicle is off the road due to a covered insured event — typically an accident or collision that results in a claim.
It is not the same as breakdown cover. Breakdown cover provides roadside assistance and towing when your vehicle has a mechanical failure. Downtime insurance pays you while the vehicle is being repaired after an accident, regardless of whether a mechanical breakdown was involved.
It is not the same as income protection insurance. Income protection pays you personally when you cannot work due to illness or injury. Downtime insurance pays when your vehicle is off the road — even if you, the owner, are physically available to drive.
You need both downtime insurance (for the vehicle) and personal accident or income protection (for yourself). They cover different scenarios: a broken truck with a healthy driver needs downtime cover; an injured driver with an undamaged truck needs personal accident cover.
Current Scania and Volvo parts lead times
The supply chain disruption that began with Covid-19 and was compounded by geopolitical factors — Ukraine conflict affecting European component manufacturing, Red Sea disruption affecting Asia-Pacific shipping routes — has dramatically extended repair timeframes for European heavy vehicles.
Before 2020, a major mechanical repair on a Scania R-series or Volvo FH typically took 4–8 weeks from incident to completion. In 2024–2026, the same repair is taking 12–20 weeks. Specific components — turbochargers from Volvo's Gothenburg plant, injector sets for Euro VI engines, cab assemblies for post-collision repairs — are on global backorder with waiting times that stretch well beyond what a standard 90-day downtime benefit period covers.
For Japanese trucks (Hino, Isuzu, UD), parts availability remains significantly better. These operators can generally rely on 90-day benefit periods being adequate. But for operators of European makes who have not reviewed their downtime cover recently, the current supply chain reality may mean their maximum benefit period is 4–6 weeks shorter than their actual repair time.
Finance obligations during downtime
One of the most underappreciated aspects of downtime risk is that your finance obligations do not stop when your truck does.
If you are financing a truck at $3,500–$6,000 per month, those payments continue throughout the repair period — even when the truck is earning nothing. For an owner-operator with one truck and one income stream, five months of finance payments during an extended repair ($17,500–$30,000) compounding on top of zero revenue is a serious financial stress.
Your downtime benefit needs to cover at minimum your finance obligations plus living costs. If the daily benefit is set too low — $400/day when your finance alone requires $200/day to service — you will still be under financial pressure even with cover in place.
The right daily rate covers: finance repayments (on a daily basis); any fixed operational costs that continue during downtime (insurance premiums, lease of depot space, phone and administration); and living expenses above what ACC or personal savings can cover.
How to calculate the right daily rate
The daily benefit should reflect your actual net daily revenue. Here is the calculation.
Step 1: Take your average monthly gross revenue from the truck (freight revenue, kilometre charges, whatever you earn from the vehicle).
Step 2: Deduct monthly variable costs that do not occur when the truck is off the road: fuel, oil, tyre expenses, driver wages if you employ a driver, tolls and RUC.
Step 3: The result is your net monthly contribution from the truck.
Step 4: Divide by 22 (typical working days per month) to get your net daily rate.
For most owner-operated artic operations, this calculation produces a daily rate of $1,000–$2,500. Fleet operators calculate per vehicle on the same basis. The daily rate should be reviewed annually as freight rates and operating costs change.
Typical benchmark rates: owner-operated artic (general freight) $1,000–$1,800/day; refrigerated transport $1,200–$2,000/day; logging truck $1,500–$2,500/day; tanker (fuel or dairy) $1,200–$2,000/day.
Benefit periods: getting it right for your vehicle make
Standard policies offer a maximum downtime benefit of 90 days. Review this against your actual exposure based on the vehicle you operate.
For European trucks (Scania, Volvo, DAF, MAN, Mercedes): consider 120–180 day benefit periods. The current parts supply environment makes 90 days insufficient for a significant number of collision repairs.
For Japanese trucks (Hino, Isuzu, UD): 90-day benefit periods are generally adequate. Parts availability from Australasian distribution centres is significantly better than European supply chains.
For specialist vehicles (logging trucks, tankers, refrigerated units): the body repair may take as long as the mechanical repair — and specialist bodybuilders for logging bodies and tanker bodies are limited in number. Factor this into your benefit period decision.
When downtime cover does not apply
Downtime cover pays when the vehicle is off the road due to a covered insured event. It does not cover scheduled maintenance (routine CoF inspections, service intervals), driver incapacity (you are injured but the truck is available — that is personal accident), commercial disputes, or regulatory seizure of the vehicle.
The key question at any claim is: was the downtime caused by a covered insured event (typically an accident)? If yes, the downtime benefit runs from the date the vehicle was taken off the road for repairs. Make sure your insurer and broker have the correct off-road date documented from day one of the claim.
The cost of downtime cover
As a rough guide: a $1,000/day benefit for 90 days adds approximately $800–$1,200 per year to your premium. A $1,500/day benefit for 120 days adds approximately $1,400–$2,000 per year. Against the potential exposure — 12+ weeks of lost income at $1,500–$2,500 per day for a typical artic operation — downtime cover is consistently one of the best value extensions available.
If your current programme does not include downtime cover at the right level for your vehicle make and daily revenue, ask your broker for a quote today. This is the cover that keeps your business alive during an extended repair.
Specialist in heavy vehicle insurance with extensive experience in commercial transport risk management. Connected with specialist HGV brokers across the country.
