Freight Broker Guide
There is no price list for contingent cargo. Each broker is priced off a written application, so the honest answer is a real quote and the questions that moved it. This page shows one 2026 quote for a small, new freight broker, line by line.
The quote is one quote, not an average, and your number will differ. Below it we explain what each line means, which application answers raise or lower the premium, and what you can change. For what the coverage does, see our contingent cargo insurance page.
This is one 2026 quote for a small, new freight broker, with the name removed. It was placed with Lloyd's of London underwriters through a surplus lines wholesaler and packaged contingent cargo with contingent auto liability. It is not a typical price and not a range. It is what one broker was actually offered.
| Line | Amount | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Contingent auto liability premium | $4,250 | Protects the broker if it is sued over a crash by a carrier it hired and the carrier's own liability does not respond. |
| Contingent motor truck cargo premium | $1,850 | Responds when the carrier's cargo policy does not pay a covered loss, under the contingent policy's own terms. |
| Policy premium | $6,100 | The two premiums above added together. 25% of it is minimum earned. |
| Carrier fee | $1,000 | Fully earned. Not refunded if the policy is cancelled. |
| Wholesaler broker fee | $500 | Fully earned. Not refunded if the policy is cancelled. |
| State surplus lines tax and stamping fee | about $372 | The state's surplus lines tax, about 5% in that state, plus a small stamping fee. |
| Total | about $7,972 | Quote valid 30 days or until the proposed start date, whichever came first. |
Two things stand out. First, the cargo part was the smaller premium. Contingent auto liability, which answers a lawsuit after a crash by a hired carrier, cost more than twice as much. Our contingent auto liability guide explains that coverage. Second, about $1,872 of the total was fees and tax, not premium. When you compare quotes, compare the total you pay to start, not only the premium line, and remember the premium part is a deposit that the year-end audit adjusts.
Contingent cargo is quoted by email off a written freight broker application. There is no online rater and no instant price. The underwriter reads your answers and prices the risk they describe. These are the answers that matter most.
The application asks for your gross receipts for last year, this year and a forecast for next year. Receipts are a measure of how much freight you move, so they are a main input to the premium. A brand-new brokerage gives a forecast instead of history.
You list what you broker by percent. "General freight" or "freight of all kinds" is not accepted. Some freight is more likely to be stolen, spoiled or damaged, so the mix you write down shapes the rate.
The application asks for the maximum and the average value of any one shipment. A broker whose top load is far above its average is a different risk from one whose loads all look alike.
There are yes or no questions on refrigerated loads, hazmat, oversize, final mile and home delivery, household moving, warehousing, installation and autos, including luxury or exotic cars. Each yes is a question the underwriter has to price.
You are asked whether you hand loads to other brokers, whether other brokers hand loads to you, and what percent. Every extra hand on a load is another place it can go wrong.
The application asks what you check before a load is assigned and whether you keep it on record and review it each year: a signed broker-carrier agreement, the carrier's authority, and a certificate of insurance for every line. It also asks whether you use only carriers rated Satisfactory or unrated by FMCSA, and whether you reject carriers whose insurer is rated below A- by AM Best or whose auto liability is under $1,000,000.
Being listed as the carrier on the bill of lading, assigning driver routes, fining carriers or signing shipper contracts that take on carrier liability all move a broker closer to a carrier in the underwriter's eyes.
If you were insured before, the underwriter wants three years of loss runs, any claims or known problems in three years, and any non-renewal, cancellation or decline in five years. A new broker gives the owner's experience instead.
A higher cargo limit costs more than a lower one, and a higher deductible usually costs less. Adding contingent auto liability is a separate premium. In the quote above it was the larger of the two.
Contingent cargo protects the broker, not the carrier. It is not a replacement for the carrier's own cargo policy, and the insurer that pays can pursue the carrier afterward. The contingent cargo vs motor truck cargo comparison lays out who each policy protects.
A surplus lines quote has more parts than a personal auto bill. Knowing them keeps you from being surprised at signing or at cancellation.
The premium on the quote is a deposit. These policies are reported on gross receipts, month by month, and audited at the end of the year. If your receipts run higher than the estimate, the audit adds premium. Whether a lower result returns any of the deposit depends on the policy's minimum premium terms, so ask before you bind. Separately, part of the premium is minimum earned, which means the insurer keeps that part even if you cancel early. In the quote above, 25% was minimum earned, so $1,525 of the $6,100 premium was kept even if the policy was cancelled early. There was no flat cancellation, meaning you could not cancel back to the start date for a full refund.
The carrier fee and the wholesaler broker fee were fully earned. They are paid at the start and not refunded. Ask for every fee in writing before you compare two quotes.
Contingent cargo and contingent auto for freight brokers are written on the surplus lines, or non-admitted, market. The state taxes those policies, and some states add a stamping fee. In the quote above the tax was about 5% in that state. The rate depends on the state, so the same premium can carry a different tax elsewhere.
The quote was valid 30 days or until the proposed start date, whichever came first. After that it has to be re-quoted, and the number can change. If a shipper is waiting on your certificate, do not let a quote expire while you decide.
The only lasting way to pay less is to be a better risk on paper and in practice. Shading answers on the application can lead to a denied claim later. Our guide on a denied contingent cargo claim covers how that happens.
Billing for these policies runs through the agency. You can pay in full, or premium financing is available through a premium finance company. Finance terms depend on the finance company and the policy, so ask for them with the quote.
A new brokerage can be quoted. The application asks for the owner's experience instead of loss history. We send the application and samples of the two documents brokers most often lack, a broker-carrier agreement and an owner experience letter. We also place broker E&O, and we write the BMC-84 bond ourselves. See freight broker insurance for the full package, or go back to the contingent cargo insurance overview.
It depends on the broker's receipts, freight, load values, vetting rules and claims history, so there is no single price. One 2026 quote we placed for a small, new freight broker had a contingent cargo premium of $1,850 and a contingent auto liability premium of $4,250. With fees and surplus lines tax, that package came to about $7,972 to start. The premium was a deposit, adjusted at the annual audit to the receipts the broker actually had. That is one quote, not an average.
Contingent cargo and contingent auto for freight brokers are usually written on the surplus lines, or non-admitted, market. States charge a surplus lines tax on those policies, and some add a stamping fee. In the 2026 quote on this page the tax was about 5% in that state.
Usually not all of it. In the quote on this page, 25% of the premium was minimum earned, the carrier and wholesaler fees were fully earned, and there was no flat cancellation. Read the minimum earned terms on your own quote before you bind.
Yes. A brand-new brokerage can be quoted; the application asks for the owner's experience instead of loss history. We send the application and samples of the two documents brokers most often lack, a broker-carrier agreement and an owner experience letter.
No. The federal requirement for a freight broker is the $75,000 BMC-84 bond or BMC-85 trust. Contingent cargo, contingent auto and E&O are not federally required, but shippers and broker contracts often ask for them.
Yes, premium financing is available through a premium finance company. Terms depend on the finance company and the policy, so ask for them with your quote.
Send us your MC number. We send the freight broker application and the sample documents, then come back with a written quote that shows every premium, fee and tax line.