HGV drivers: the medical, the licence and the cover that fits

Driving for a living carries a specific and underappreciated risk. The DVLA medical standards for vocational licences are stricter than for ordinary ones, and conditions that would barely register elsewhere — certain cardiac events, insulin-treated diabetes, sleep apnoea, some eyesight changes — can cost you the entitlement to drive professionally while leaving you perfectly able to do other work.

The Group 2 medical standards

HGV and bus licences are known as Group 2 licences, and they carry higher medical standards than an ordinary car licence. Drivers must complete a medical report when they first apply, and then renew it at regular intervals as they get older — typically from age 45 and then more frequently later in their career. Drivers also have a legal duty to tell the DVLA about any notifiable medical condition between renewals.

The list of notifiable conditions is long, and some of them are common in middle age. Heart conditions, strokes and mini-strokes, epilepsy or seizures, diabetes treated with insulin, obstructive sleep apnoea causing excessive sleepiness, and certain eyesight problems can all lead to a Group 2 licence being suspended or revoked, sometimes for a set period and sometimes permanently. In many cases the driver could still hold a car licence and could do plenty of other work.

Why the definition of incapacity matters

This is precisely where the definition of incapacity earns its keep. Own-occupation income protection pays if you cannot do your specific job. Weaker definitions ask whether you could do any suitable job, or whether you can perform a list of basic daily activities — tests a driver who has lost a medical will usually fail, because there is nothing wrong with their ability to walk or write.

Some insurers offer own-occupation cover to professional drivers; others offer only a suited-occupation or work-tasks definition. The premium difference is often modest compared with the difference in what you could claim, so it is worth comparing carefully. Our article on own occupation versus work tasks explains the definitions in more detail.

Waiting periods and benefit periods

The other detail worth checking is the waiting period. Professional drivers commonly carry a minimum wait of around three months on standard income protection. Owner-drivers with no sick pay behind them should compare that against shorter-wait alternatives, and should make sure the benefit is calculated on real earnings rather than a nominal salary figure.

Employed drivers should check their contract. Some employers pay full sick pay for a period; others pay only Statutory Sick Pay of £123.25 a week. Knowing when your employer's payments would stop helps you set a waiting period that starts exactly when it is needed, which keeps the premium down.

Life insurance and critical illness cover

Life insurance is generally available to HGV drivers on standard or modestly loaded terms. Long hours, irregular meals and time spent sitting do mean insurers will look closely at weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and smoking status, so your general health will often influence the price more than the job itself.

Critical illness cover pays a lump sum on diagnosis of specified conditions such as heart attack, stroke and cancer. Several of these are also conditions that could cost you your vocational licence, so critical illness cover can complement income protection for drivers. It will not, however, pay out for every condition that leads to a licence being revoked, such as sleep apnoea or less severe heart rhythm problems.

Questions to ask before you buy

• Which definition of incapacity would apply to me as a professional driver?
• What is the minimum waiting period for my occupation, and does it match my sick pay?
• How would my earnings be assessed if I am an owner-driver?
• Would the policy pay if I lost my licence for medical reasons but could do other work?
• What happens to the cover if I stop driving and change career?

Owner-drivers and agency drivers

Owner-drivers and agency drivers face the biggest gap, because they usually have no sick pay at all. If you run your own truck, your costs — finance on the vehicle, insurance, operator licence fees — continue even when you cannot drive, so the income you need to protect may be higher than your take-home pay suggests. Agency drivers paid by the shift may also find their earnings vary from year to year. Insurers will generally base a self-employed driver's benefit on taxable profit from recent tax returns, so it is worth understanding how that figure will be calculated before you choose the level of cover. Business expenses protection or a separate policy to cover vehicle finance may also be worth considering.

Next steps

Our HGV driver page and HGV driver's guide cover the options in more detail. If you have already been quoted a high price or declined online, a specialist broker can often place the case with an insurer that takes a more measured view of professional drivers.