Great West Casualty review: trucking coverage and claims

What Great West Casualty is and how buying works

Great West traces its roots to 1936, when founder Joseph A. Morten began helping truckers obtain operating authority. Great West Casualty Company was created in 1956 and joined the Old Republic Insurance Group in 1985, according to its history page. It says it now insures more than 60,000 trucking companies.

The company is a Nebraska corporation based in South Sioux City, NAIC company code 11371. Its legal disclosures say it is licensed in every state and the District of Columbia except Hawaii, but its quote page, as of November 2026, says it does not currently serve Alaska, Hawaii, Massachusetts or New York.

You cannot buy a policy online. Great West says it partners with more than 200 independent agencies that specialize in truck insurance; you submit a quote request and an agent contacts you. Its site says policies are issued by Great West Casualty Company, Old Republic Life Insurance Company and Old Republic Union Insurance Company.

AM Best affirmed Great West Casualty Company’s Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior), with a stable outlook, on April 11, 2025, as part of a ratings action covering the Old Republic insurance companies.

Coverage it offers and for whom

Great West writes only trucking insurance and says its products serve operations “from one truck to 1,000.” Its product pages list the lines below.

For bulk carriers, Great West says it insures hazardous and non-hazardous haulers, that its tanker cargo form covers misdelivery such as fuel emptied into the wrong tank and that it can meet the financial requirements for hazmat filings.

For freight brokers, it offers auto liability and cargo, coverage naming the broker as an insured on a carrier’s policy and a second-level endorsement above the carrier’s limits. For freight forwarders, Great West says it makes the FMCSA liability filings and issues an MCS-90 endorsement where appropriate.

Owner-operator coverage and Choice Coverage Plus

Great West writes owner-operators under their own authority and under permanent lease. Its owner-operator page notes the $750,000 minimum auto liability for interstate carriers and says many shippers and brokers require $1,000,000. For leased drivers, it points out that the motor carrier’s liability policy does not cover damage to your truck, and offers physical damage, non-trucking use and equipment coverage to fill that gap.

Choice Coverage Plus is a bundle of endorsements for operations with 1 to 9 units, priced by Great West at $20 a month per power unit. Its deductible falls 25% for each consecutive loss-free policy year, up to a $1,000 reduction, and resets after a paid physical damage or cargo loss.

Great West says several parts of the bundle are excess over other insurance for the same loss, so check what your existing policies already cover.

Payment plans, risk financing and telematics

Apart from Choice Coverage Plus, Great West publishes no typical premiums. Its payment options page describes reporting policies that turn an annual premium into monthly payments based on gross revenue, mileage or the number of power units in operation. Smaller carriers with nine or fewer units, less than $1 million in revenue and fewer than 1 million miles can use installment plans instead.

Larger fleets can choose guaranteed cost, large deductible or retrospective rating plans. Great West says large deductibles start at $75,000 for workers’ comp and $25,000 for truck insurance, and it offers PowerTech Elite, a member-owned captive for fleets with better-than-average loss histories.

Its InsightDriven program pays $300 per truck a year for sharing camera-based telematics data and $150 for ELD-only data, for up to 99 units. You need primary liability with Great West on an active guaranteed cost policy; large deductible policyholders are not eligible.

Who it suits and who it may not

Based on what Great West publishes, it is built for:

It may not fit if your business is not a trucking operation, since Great West describes trucking as its only focus. As of November 2026 its quote page excludes Alaska, Hawaii, Massachusetts and New York, and its workers’ comp excludes the monopolistic states of North Dakota, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming. Its agent-only model also does not offer same-day online purchase.

• For-hire motor carriers, from one truck to large fleets, wanting liability, cargo, physical damage and workers’ comp from one trucking insurer
• Owner-operators, leased or under their own authority, who want breakdown and equipment cover bundled
• Tank and bulk haulers, freight brokers and freight forwarders that need specialty forms or filings
• Larger fleets interested in large deductibles, retrospective rating or a captive

How claims and service work

Great West says claims service runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, at 800-228-8040 in the United States and Canada, and asks you to report claims within 24 hours. It says in-house adjusters handle physical damage and cargo claims, each claim gets an assigned adjuster and it uses its own aircraft when needed to reach an accident scene.

When you file, Great West asks for the date, time, location and description, contact details, police report details and photos, plus bills of lading and driver logs where relevant. Its free mobile app lets you track claims, print ID cards, request certificates of insurance and pay bills, and its risk control team offers on-site safety recommendations and an online safety video library.

What to compare and ask before buying

Ask your agent these questions so you can compare a Great West quote with others on equal terms:

• Which Great West or Old Republic company issues each policy
• Whether Great West writes your state, commodity and radius
• How the premium is billed: by revenue, mileage or units, or in fixed installments
• Which commodities, exclusions and loading terms apply to the cargo form
• Whether Choice Coverage Plus overlaps coverage you already have
• Whether you qualify for InsightDriven, and how a large deductible compares with guaranteed cost
• Who makes your federal and state filings, such as the MCS-90

How it fits with getting several quotes

Because Great West sells only through independent agencies, its quote usually arrives alongside quotes from other insurers the same agent represents. Trucking premiums vary by state, commodity, radius, driver records, loss history and limits.

Ask for every quote with the same liability and cargo limits, deductibles and endorsements so the numbers are comparable. A broker such as Florin can compare trucking quotes from several insurers on those terms.