The average person will probably not know what MCS-90 is, even if they already know a bit about insurance. That is because MCS-90 is a clause that only applies to individuals who are in the commercial trucking industry. The other category of person who knows what it is will probably be those who work within the commercial trucking insurance industry.
MCS-90 is more critical than some people think, and it’s helpful to know about it, even if you’re not in the commercial trucking or insurance industries. That’s because if a commercial truck driver hits you or your vehicle, the MCS-90 insurance clause can determine whether you can receive financial compensation or not.
Let’s talk about this concept in more detail.
What Exactly is MCS-90?
If you want to know what MCS-90 is, the first thing you should know is that it’s what the insurance industry calls an “endorsement” to a commercial auto insurance policy. A commercial trucking company might have this policy, for instance.
Nearly every commercial trucking or freight company must have the proper vehicular insurance policy if they want to operate safely. You can think of an “endorsement” like an add-on to the existing policy. Any motor carrier moving freight around the country for pay will look into getting a policy and make sure that it’s paid up before allowing their truckers onto the road.
They’ll need the policy, particularly when conducting interstate commerce, meaning they can move their freight via trucks through different states. An MCS-90 endorsement allows a trucking company to go about its business. When the company has this endorsement, that enables them to conduct interstate commerce with relative ease.
What Happens if a Trucking Company Operates Without an MCS-90 Endorsement?
It’s vital for a commercial trucking company with an insurance policy to have that MCS-90 endorsement tacked on. If they don’t have it, and various governing bodies find out about it, they can hit that trucking company with fines.
It’s a public liability issue. The MCS-90 doesn’t do anything to add coverage to a trucking company’s insurance policy. Instead, it’s there as an amendment to a standard or common insurance policy. It basically guarantees to the public that the trucking company’s policy will put up a minimum coverage amount if that truck injures you at all.
This clause only kicks in if you were not the one driving the truck. Assuming you were the other driver, or a commercial truck struck you when you were crossing the street, this minimum monetary amount will pay for your injuries. That will happen even if the standard insurance policy would not otherwise cover the commercial truck that caused the accident.
Why Does This Matter So Much?
The reason it’s essential for a company conducting interstate commerce to have that MCS-90 clause is that if one of their drivers ever hits you or your vehicle for any reason, you’ll have that money in reserve to cover your injuries. The rest of the policy might have exclusions built in that won’t let you collect money after an accident due to some technicality. It’s the MCS-90 clause which states that the trucking company must have the funds to cover any medical bills, not to mention pain and suffering from PTSD, loss of companionship, etc.
The MCS-90 endorsement means that the insurance company will be legally on the hook for any injuries the driver causes for any reason. Since a commercial trucker might doze off at the wheel and hit you or do so during a road rage incident, you’ll be glad this addendum exists.
As for trucking companies, if they want to operate safely and conduct interstate commerce, they’d better know just as much about this MCS-90 clause as you do. If they neglected to get a policy with that clause, they can get in a lot of trouble.
Why Would the Insurance Company Add this Addendum?
You might wonder at this point why the insurance company would add the MCS-90 clause since they might have to use it to pay out a lot of money after an accident. The reason is that a trucking company will pay their insurance company more if they add that clause to the policy.
This means the insurance company is getting more money and hoping a trucking accident never happens. If it does, though, they must pay out according to that clause. As a driver on the road with enormous trucks, you should be happy to hear that.
