If you run a rental business, equipment rental insurance can feel like one of those costs you just can’t control. The premium goes up, you’re not always sure why, and the whole thing feels like a black box. I wanted to open that box up, so I sat down with Michael Bell for episode 111 of The Rental Roundtable.
Michael is the President of Robert Bell Insurance Brokers, and he’s spent 32 years working with rental companies. His father helped build the first insurance program made for our industry back in the early 1980s, so you could say this is in his blood. If anyone can tell you what to look for when you’re picking a broker, it’s him.
Here’s the short version of what I learned: the broker you pick matters more than almost any other insurance decision you’ll make. Let me walk you through why.
Why Your Broker Matters More Than Your Carrier
Most operators think the carrier is the important part of the deal. Michael sees it the other way around. The carrier writes the check after a loss, but your broker is the one fighting for you before and after that ever happens. A lot of that fight goes on where you never see it.
“If they’re a good broker, they’re going to keep the carrier in line. Sometimes we have to create competition.” Michael Bell, President at Robert Bell Insurance Brokers, (13:03)
That’s the work behind the scenes. A good broker reviews your policies, checks your quotes, and pushes carriers to compete for your business so you don’t overpay. For a growing operator, that’s what helps you see around corners. When you’re adding locations, buying more fleet, or starting to deliver, the right broker is asking the questions that keep you covered.
Recommended Resource: The Equipment Rental Cost Calculator & Pricing Guide for Operators
How Rental Insurance Pricing Really Works
One of the most frustrating parts of insurance is watching your premium climb even when you’ve never filed a claim. Michael explained why that happens, and it isn’t personal.
“Insurance is the ultimate redistribution of wealth. We take from the good to help pay for the bad, because we can never charge the bad high enough to make up for it.” Michael Bell, (10:46)
In other words, the operator down the street with a stack of claims is part of the reason your rate went up. You can’t change that. What you can change is everything that’s actually in your control. That’s where safety and controls come in. Michael’s advice is to put your time and money there, because it’s the one lever that moves your cost over the long run.
Clean records help too. When your broker or an underwriter asks what you rent, how you deliver, and how your fleet is holding up, being able to answer fast makes you look like the well-run business you are. This is one place where good software earns its keep.
When your fleet data, delivery records, and rental history live in one clean system like Quipli, those conversations get a lot easier, and Quinn, our AI agent, keeps the day-to-day details from slipping.
Recommended Resource: Rental Roundtable #96 – Damage Waivers Aren’t Insurance. Here’s What That Means
The Real Cost of Shopping on Price Alone
I asked Michael about the biggest mistake he sees rental companies make. His answer was quick: price, price, and price. Now, he’s the first to say price matters. He grew up hearing it from his dad.
“What sells insurance is price, price, and price. What keeps insurance is service, service, price.” Michael Bell, (16:05)
The problem starts when price becomes the only thing you look at. Michael’s point is that you’re buying a policy you will use someday. That part is guaranteed. So the person across the table matters as much as the number on the page. Do you trust them to do the job when a claim actually hits?
The Coverage Gaps That Catch Operators Off Guard
This is where a specialist broker really pays off. A generic agent might not know the right questions to ask a rental operation. A broker who lives in our industry asks what you rent, whether you deliver, and whether you ever haul equipment for others, because those details decide what’s actually covered. Miss one, and you’ve got a gap you won’t find until it’s too late.
“There’s nothing worse than getting a call from a client who says, ‘Hey, Mike, I just had this loss,’ and then telling them it’s not covered.” Michael Bell, (19:34)
Picture how that happens. You buy a policy, then one day you haul a customer’s equipment as a side favor, you get in an accident, and you learn it was never covered. A broker who knows rental heads that off before it ever happens. For a growing operation that wants to avoid costly equipment downtime, that’s the kind of protection you can’t afford to skip.
Recommended Resource: Heavy Equipment Inspection Checklist (with Free PDF & Mobile Tool)
More Than Insurance: Michael’s Childhood Cancer Advocacy
Partway through our conversation, Michael shared something bigger than any policy. In December 2018, his son Jacob was diagnosed with stage 4 rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare childhood cancer. Jacob went through more than 60 chemo treatments and 30 rounds of proton radiation. Today, he’s a six-year survivor in college.
That experience changed how Michael spends his energy. In 2020, he created a childhood cancer awareness decal and started sharing it, free of charge, with rental companies willing to put it on their equipment.
“It was just to create a butterfly effect. I wanted some contractor, some person driving by to see that decal and think about it. That’s all I wanted.” Michael Bell, (25:09)
The idea caught on. Operators like Hawkeye Equipment Rentals, Modern Lift Rentals, and Aaction Rents have put his decals on their machines. Robertson Rent-All in Canada hosts a golf tournament every year to raise money for the cause. Michael isn’t asking for donations. He just wants people to notice, learn, and give a little where they can, especially to local families going through it.
The Advice That Puts It All in Perspective
I like to close every episode by asking for the best advice someone’s gotten. Michael pointed to something his father told him.
“The best life advice I ever got from my father, and I always pass it to my kids, is God never gives everybody the total package.” Michael Bell, (41:35)
For an operator, that’s worth sitting with. When the premium jumps, when a deal falls through, when the day doesn’t go your way, it doesn’t mean it’s the end. You keep plugging along, and things tend to turn around. Michael says his son is living proof of that.
The Bottom Line for Rental Operators
If you take one thing from this episode, let it be this: don’t shop for insurance on price alone. Find a broker who knows rental, who asks the right questions, and who you trust to fight for you when it counts. That relationship protects the business you’ve worked so hard to build.
And if you want the operational side of your business to run as clean as your insurance should, that’s what we build at Quipli. Our equipment rental platform keeps your fleet, your contracts, and your delivery records in one place, and Quinn helps you capture the rentals and follow-ups your team doesn’t always have time for.
When your operation is buttoned up, everything from your next audit to your next renewal gets easier.
