Commercial Car insurance
Commercial Auto insurance can vary based on
1. the specific needs of a business,
2. the types of vehicles used (such as trucks, vans, cars, or specialty vehicles), and
3. the level of coverage required.
It's essential for businesses to have this insurance to protect their assets and mitigate potential financial risks associated with using vehicles for commercial purposes.
Do you have specific questions about Commercial Car insurance or need help finding the right coverage?
Get Help With Insurance, Inc. can quote your insurance with several carriers that that provide insurance coverage for liability, vehicles and much more.
Vehicles driven by employees or used for business activities, such as visiting clients or making deliveries, usually need commercial auto insurance.
Food trucks and other food service businesses like restaurants and meat or ice cream vendors depend on their commercial vehicles. Most food trucks have expensive equipment attached to them that a commercial auto policy can cover.
Contractors need commercial auto coverage for things like transporting various tools and supplies and traveling between job sites. These are business-related activities that need the additional protection of a commercial policy.
Any vehicle used to transport people for a fee must be insured by a commercial auto policy. This includes taxis, limousines, and non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) vehicles. Some ridesharing vehicles might require commercial coverage.
We offer protection whether you own a wrecker, rollback or roadside repair vehicle.
Commercial Auto Coverages
- Bodily injury liability coverage – pays for bodily injury or death resulting from an accident for which you are at fault and provides you with a legal defense.
- Property damage liability coverage – provides you with protection if your car accidentally damages another persons property. It also provides you with a legal defense.
- Combined single limit (CSL) – Liability policies typically offer separate limits that apply to bodily injury claims for property damage. A combined single limits policy has the same dollar amount of coverage per covered occurrence whether bodily injury or property damage, one person or several.
- Medical payments, no-fault or Personal Injury Coverage – usually pays for the medical expenses of the driver and passengers in your car incurred as a result of a covered accident regardless of fault.
- Uninsured motorist coverage – pays for your injuries and, in some circumstances, certain property damage caused by an uninsured or a hit-and-run driver. Under insured motorist coverage is also included. This is for cases in which the at-fault driver has insufficient insurance.
- Comprehensive physical damage coverage – pays for damage to or replacement of your car from theft, vandalism, flood, fire, and other covered perils.
- Collision coverage – pays for damage to your car when it hits or is hit by another object.
- Garagekeepers- covers losses to non-owned autos in the insured’s possession while the insured is attending, servicing, repairing, parking or storing them.
- Legal liability garagekeepers coverage only covers a loss when a tech or mechanic is legally liable for a loss. For example, if a mechanic forgets to set a parking brake on a car, and the car rolls into a toolbox, the mechanic is legally liable for this loss, therefore the coverage will come into play and pay out. The downside to this coverage is exposed when there is a loss that a shop is not legally liable for. For example, a car is being worked on overnight, the mechanic locks the car and parks it inside of the garage, and a thief breaks into the shop at night, damaging the car in the process. Because the mechanic did everything to protect the vehicle, they are not legally liable for the loss; therefore the vehicle owner’s insurance will have to pay for the claim or the shop will have to front the cost of the damage in order to protect the rapport with their clients.
- Direct primary coverage, on the other hand, will be the first and primary coverage that pays out a claim; regardless of fault or the party that damaged the vehicle. Direct primary coverage allows for a shop owner to take responsibility for a loss, regardless of who caused it. As a body shop or auto repair shop, customers are trusting that their vehicles will be kept safe and protected; but accidents do happen. It’s important to provide your business, as well as your clients, the most broad protection and peace of mind that their vehicle will be in safe keeping.
- Inland Marine – If your business frequently ships products or equipment, you may want to consider purchasing inland marine insurance. This type of coverage is especially important if you ship high-value products or materials, which are often excluded from basic property coverage. Inland marine insurance can cover a wide range of specialty equipment and products, including:
- Computers, everything from servers to laptops.
- Communications and networking equipment.
- Construction and contracting equipment.
- Medical and scientific equipment.
- Photography equipment
- When weighing the need for inland marine insurance, consider the nature of your business and operations. Inland marine insurance isn’t just for companies that ship products to retailers and customers. For example, if you have a valuable tradeshow booth that is frequently shipped around the country and stored offsite by a vendor, you may want the protection provided by inland marine insurance. In addition, if someone else’s property is temporarily in your possession, inland marine insurance can provide coverage against the loss of this property. Special inland marine coverages include:
- Bailee’s Customer Coverage—Protects clients’ property that is left in the care of your business; e.g., if you operate a warehouse or repair shop.
- Builder’s Risk—Protects structures and materials during new construction projects or renovations.
- Exhibition and Fine Art Coverage—Keeps valuable items protected while on exhibit, in transit or on loan.Blanket installation policy for trade contractors with residential and commercial projects.
- Installation Floater—Covers materials from the moment they are loaded onto a truck until they are put to use or installed.
- Motor Truck Cargo Coverage—Keeps clients’ goods protected while your business transports and delivers them and provides insurance on the freight or commodity hauled by a For-hire trucker. It covers your liability for cargo that is lost or damaged due to causes such as fire, collision, or striking of a load.
ARE THERE WAYS TO LOWER YOUR AUTO INSURANCE PREMIUM?
In any profession, here are some ways to get your commercial auto or trucking policy premium lower:4
- Hire drivers with flawless driving records. Verify at https://www.dmvnv.com
- Always keep your payments current. Most carriers add late fees to late payments.
- Think safe driving first – a speeding ticket can be expensive for several years
- Implement and require safe driving classes for yourself and employees
- Once you have had you CDL for a certain period of time, you may be able to get a discount
Protecting your trucking business or your business that has employees who drive to customers locations or for-hire trucker means insuring yourself properly. Whether you need primary truck insurance or need to add general liability, insurance doesn’t have to be an extraordinary expenditure — and adding it to your business costs could help you survive the financial burden of an accident or disaster.
Call (702) 541-0882 for An Business Auto Insurance Quote Today!
Garage Liability
Garage Liability Insurance provides coverage for accidental third-party bodily injury and property damage resulting from your garage operations. This coverage applies to bodily injury involving non-employees, including customers, vendors, and partners, and to damage involving third-party property, like a customer’s laptop. Call (702) 541-0882 for a quote.
AUTO DEALERS ERRORS & OMISSIONS
A selection of insurances, called generally “Statute and Title Errors and Omissions” is recommended for auto dealers as they face certain risks not present to other businesses. These products provide coverage for economic damages not based on bodily injury, personal or advertising injury, or property damage.
Simply put, Auto Dealers Errors & Omissions covers economic damages for negligent violations of truth in lending laws, odometer statutes and lemon laws.
Everyone should read their policies carefully. In the case of statutory title E&O coverage, the typical form covers liability for an “act, error or omission” as a defined term. The term is usually defined to cover only negligent acts, not intentional ones. Moreover, coverage would not be provided for liability assumed under contract.
- Truth in Lending E & O coverage: covers for damages due to an error or omission causing a breach in the Truth in Lending Act portions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act. The federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA) requires lenders to give you specific disclosures about important terms, including the APR, before you are legally obligated on the loan.
- Odometer Statute E & O coverage: covers damages arising from a failure to comply with Title IV Odometer Requirements of the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act, and local state laws on the same subject. The law was passed to address shady practices from certain dealers who would ‘roll back’ high mileage vehicles to make those vehicles more attractive to buyers. Although these practices are not common today, this coverage is still available.
- Lemon Law coverage: Lemon laws are United States state laws that provide a remedy for purchasers of cars and other consumer goods in order to compensate for products that repeatedly fail to meet standards of quality and performance. Although many types of products can be defective, the term “lemon” is mostly used to describe defective motor vehicles, such as cars, trucks, and motorcycles.
- The lemon law covers damages arising out of a buyer’s statutory right to return a vehicle for failure to perform adequately.
- Prior Damage Disclosure coverage: covers damages for negligent acts, errors or omissions resulting from non-compliance with federal or state statutes requiring disclosure of prior damage to a sold vehicle. The insurer’s obligation is limited, however, to the difference between (1) the vehicle’s market value as represented when sold to the purchaser, and (2) the actual market value of the vehicle accounting for the prior damage.
- False Pretense — refers to an exclusion in the physical damage coverage portion of a garage coverage form eliminating coverage for losses the insured suffers due to the fraudulent acts of others. Examples of false pretense include a customer absconding with an automobile on the pretense of test-driving it, the insured selling an automobile and receiving a bad check for it, and the insured selling an automobile and being instructed to deliver it to the wrong party because of fraudulent instructions. The exclusion can be negated by adding false pretense coverage on the garage liability policy. This endorsement covers the insured when a covered automobile is taken in a fraudulent manner. It also covers losses caused by the insured’s acquiring an automobile from a person who did not have legal title. Coverage is most needed by automobile dealers but may also be desired for banks that sell repossessed autos to the public.
- One way this endorsement will help protect you is in adding coverage for loss to a covered auto that you possess, caused by the fact that someone dishonestly sold you a car that they don’t really own. Imagine your loss if you purchase a car with a bad title. The true owner tracks the car to your lot and demands that you return it to them. Or worse, if you have already sold the car, then your customer comes back to you to collect the value of the car that you sold to them with a bad title and that they had to return to the true owner.
- Drive Other Car Endorsement — a commercial auto endorsement designed to provide nonowned auto coverage under a commercial auto policy similar to that which would be provided under a personal auto policy (PAP). The drive other car coverage—broadened coverage for named individuals (CA 99 10) endorsement is commonly used when an executive officer, for example, does not carry personal auto insurance because he or she is furnished a company auto. Coverage under the endorsement would come into play in the event the individual designated in the endorsement (including his or her resident spouse) is driving a nonowned auto for personal use. Coverage under the endorsement does not apply if the auto in question is owned by that individual or by any member of his or her household; or the auto is used by either of these individuals while working in a business of selling, servicing, repairing, or parking autos.
- Hired Automobile — term used (“hired autos”) in the Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), business auto, garage, and motor carrier coverage forms to denote a particular type of auto included as a covered auto under the policy. With certain exceptions, the term refers to autos the named insured leases, hires, rents, or borrows. As respects both the business auto and the garage policy, the term does not include any auto the named insured leases, hires, rents, or borrows from any of its employees, partners, limited liability members, or members of their households. As respects the motor carrier, the exception applies as respects private passenger type autos only.
- Nonowned Automobile — described in commercial auto policies as an auto that is used in connection with the named insured’s business but that is not owned, leased, hired, rented, or borrowed by the named insured. As used in the business auto policy (BAP), the term specifically applies to vehicles owned by employees and used for company business; as used in the truckers and motor carrier policies, it applies only if such autos are private passenger type autos. (Autos other than private passenger type owned by employees are classified as hired autos in the truckers and motor carrier policies.)
- Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) — an agreement with an auto rental company in which the renter is released from liability for collision damage to the vehicle in exchange for a fee, subject to the terms of the rental agreement or a state statute if one exists. It is not insurance but a contractual obligation subject to many restrictions.
- Fire Legal Liability Coverage — coverage of a tenant’s liability for damage by fire to the rented premises (including garages) the tenant occupies; such coverage is usually provided as an exception to policy exclusions applicable to property in the insured’s care, custody, or control (CCC). Under the standard commercial general liability (CGL) policy, fire legal liability of the named insured is covered subject to the “damage to premises rented to you” limit.
commercial auto symbols
The Business Owner Policy contains extensive declaration pages that permit the insured to select from a series of coverage types and vehicles that are to be insured. A set of symbols is provided, and coverage for vehicles is afforded only for those listed symbols. The symbols define coverage as follows:
- Symbol 1–Any auto. When this symbol is used, no others are needed.
- Symbol 2–Owned autos only. This covers autos owned by the insured and liability arising out of trailers of others while attached to owned autos.
- Symbol 3–Owned private passenger auto only.
- Symbol 4–Owned autos other than private passenger autos, and liability coverage for trailers of others while attached to such vehicles.
- Symbol 5–Owned autos subject to no-fault benefits in the state where they are licensed or principally garaged.
- Symbol 6–Owned autos subject to a compulsory uninsured motorist law in the state where they are licensed or principally garaged.
- Symbol 7–Specified autos only.
- Symbol 8–Hired auto only. This excludes autos borrowed or leased from the insured’s employees or members of their households.
- Symbol 9–Non-owned autos only.
- Symbol 19–Mobile Equipment Subject To Compulsory or Financial Responsibility or Other Motor Vehicle Insurance Law Only
The coverages and the types of vehicles insured are triggered by the symbols, and all vehicles of a similar type are covered automatically until the end of the policy period without having to notify the company.
When symbol 7 (Specified Autos Only) is entered, a newly acquired vehicle is covered only when: the new vehicle is replacing a specified vehicle; the company insures all the vehicles owned by the insured; and the company is notified within 30 days of the purchase. Protection is limited to the coverages that apply to all insured vehicles.
discounts
Safety Discounts are applied if you take good care of your property:
- Is your landscaping taken care of?
- Is the paint not peeling?
- Do you have special features that keep your property safe?
- Items such as a monitored burglar alarm, sprinklers in the ceiling, video surveillance or high quality roof work well to drive insurance rates down.
GROUP DISCOUNTS
Are you a Member of a Restaurant Association, Builder Association, etc. Some Insurance companies specialize in a specific sector. Let your insurance agent know your affiliations.
MULTI-POLICY DISCOUNT
When you insure your General Liability, your Worker’s Compensation, your Commercial Auto policy together, these policies can receive a bundling discount.
HYRECAR AND TURO CAR RENTAL INSURANCE
Do you want to start a car rental business?
A car rental agency is a company that rents automobiles for short periods of time, generally ranging from a few hours to a few weeks. The two biggest companies in the car sharing space are Hyrecar and Turo. In short, carsharing is very similar to Airbnb (sharing spare rooms or homes/apartments), in the sense that car owners allow their personal vehicles to be shared with other drivers for a rental fee.
Unlike traditional car-rental services, Turo or Hyrecar does not own or maintain any cars. People who wish to rent their cars can register their cars online to be rented by other Turo members. The car owner states when and where the car will be available. A Turo member who wants to rent a car reserves a specific time slot for the car online.
Business owners can earn more when they get their own insurance. Ten cars is the minimum. Ask us about Turo or HyrecarRental Car Insurance.
For more info, Turo — Commercial Host program. For Terms of Service with Turo go here — Terms of service | Turo.
Then call our agency to get insured to run your own car rental company.
See Rideshare Insurance to know what kind of insurance you need to be a Rideshare Driver.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMMERCIAL AUTO AND TRUCKING
Commercial auto insurance is quite different than Commercial Trucking. Primary liability truck insurance and general liability truck insurance are the basic requirements needed to drive and follow the rules set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
Nearly every company with a commercial motor vehicle (powered units of more than 10,001 lbs Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) or combined powered units and trailers of more than 10,001 lbs Gross Combined Weight (GCW)) that crosses state lines must have the MCS-90 Endorsement added to its commercial vehicle insurance policy.
Commercial auto coverage is often needed by occupations such as:
- Electricians, plumbers, and HVAC professionals
- Carpenters, painters, and other contractors
- Landscapers and plow services
- Caterers and food vendors
- Other business types, like real estate and sales
COMMERCIAL BUSINESS CLAIM SAMPLES
CAR COLLIDES WITH AND BADLY INJURES A BICYCLIST
A man riding his bicycle to work in Baton Rouge one spring day executed a left turn and was struck by a car from behind. The man was propelled onto the car’s hood and then fell onto the road injuring his back, head, hip, leg, lung, ribs and shoulders requiring considerable treatment, surgery and rehabilitation. The driver was found negligent.
Because the driver was driving on company time when the accident occurred, the plaintiff sued the driver’s employer and their primary insurer. After the insurance company tendered its $1 million policy, the driver’s employer remained liable for over $10 million more.
$11,929,722
This material does not imply that coverage exists for any particular claim or loss under any insurance policy or bond. Coverage depends on the facts and circumstances involved in the claim or loss, all applicable policy or bond provisions, and any applicable law. Source: National Law Journal/ALM Reprints & Content Licensing. Top 100 Verdicts of 2020.
FATHER AND SON KILLED IN ROLLOVER CRASH
A 22-year-old man, driving his pickup truck with his father beside him in the passenger seat, crossed through an intersection in northern Illinois. The driver of another pickup truck failed to heed the intersection’s stop sign. He struck the pickup at 50 mph, causing both trucks to rollover. The father and son were pronounced dead at the scene.
The operator of the vehicle that ran the stop sign was found to be driving under the influence of marijuana and was charged with reckless homicide. The deceased’s family sued him and his employer for $9 million.
$9,000,000
This material does not imply that coverage exists for any particular claim or loss under any insurance policy or bond. Coverage depends on the facts and circumstances involved in the claim or loss, all applicable policy or bond provisions, and any applicable law. Source: National Law Journal/ALM Reprints & Content Licensing. Top 100 Verdicts of 2020.
This is intended as a general description of certain types of insurance and services available to qualified customers. Any description of policy provisions is meant to give a broad overview of coverages and does not revise or amend a policy. Refer to the policy coverage form for a complete representation of the scope of coverage, terms, conditions, exclusions and more. The policy is the contract that specifically and fully describes your coverage. Some products may not be available in all states and may only be offered on a non admitted basis. Product availability is subject to change.
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