Do I need Commercial Auto Insurance?
For small business, the line between what is considered a personal vehicle and a commercial vehicle is often blurry. Sometimes small business owners and employees use their personal vehicles for business purposes. For example, they might use their own car to travel to job sites, transport equipment, or deliver goods and services.
Personal auto insurance policies almost always exclude coverage for business use. That means you're not covered if you get into an accident while driving for work.
What is considered Commercial Use of A Vehicle?
Any vehicle used for business purposes should be covered under a commercial auto policy as commercial use of your vehicle will usually void your personal policy.
If you use a vehicle for your business in any of these ways, this is considered to be commercial use:
- Transporting Goods for A Fee - If your business requires a vehicle to make deliveries of any kind, the vehicle must be covered under a commercial auto policy.
- Employees Drive the Vehicle - If your employees drive the vehicle for any reason, this is also considered commercial use.
- Regularly Used for Other Business Needs - Vehicles used for other business purposes such as picking up supplies, driving clients around, or anything else pertaining to the business usually falls under commercial use.
- Need Special Coverage or Higher Liability Limits - If you need higher liability coverage to protect your company or need special riders on your policy for specific coverage related to your business, this definitely requires a commercial policy.
Do Your Vehicles Have the Right Auto Coverage?
As simple as it may seem to use your personal car or truck to do a few tasks for your business, doing so without commercial auto insurance could leave you footing the bill for a costly accident.
Be sure that any vehicles used by your business in any way, as well as your employees who drive them, are protected with the right commercial auto insurance.
Commercial Auto Insurance Texas
Commercial auto insurance is a flexible type of insurance that can cover multiple vehicle types and even some types of motorized equipment. It includes coverage for both bodily injury and property damage while operating a company vehicle. It also provides medical payments (also known as Personal Injury Protection, or PIP) for both the driver and passengers of the policyholder’s car.
Hired/Non-owned Auto Liability
If you’re renting cars or your employees are using their own vehicles, this type of coverage might be right for you. It protects against liabilities that can result from the use of a rented/leased vehicle, or a non-owned vehicle (for example, when an employee uses their own vehicle while on the job).
You can often add this type of coverage very affordably to a business auto insurance policy; you can also occasionally add it to a general liability policy.
Using Personal Vehicles
It’s important to know that personal insurance policies for privately-owned vehicles (such as your family car) may not cover damage to that vehicle when it’s used for business, regardless of the type of business. A commercial auto insurance policy can help ensure your business has the coverage it needs.
Looking for coverage that meets your commercial vehicle needs? We would love to help. Contact us today.
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