Commercial auto insurance for whatever drives your business

Commercial auto insurance works much like a personal auto insurance policy, except that the coverages are designed to protect your business vehicles and your liabilities associated with them. The policy can be customized with the coverages that are relevant and necessary for your business operations, and will help protect you if sued as a result of you or your employees actions on the road.

Great question! And the answer is, usually more than you think.

For most insurance companies, the maximum commercial auto insurance that can be purchased is $1,000,000. Unfortunately, with today’s litigious society in combination with the rising costs of vehicles and vehicle repairs, this might not be enough. 

Many business owners often choose to buy commercial umbrella insurance to protect against large claims that exceed the policy limits.

This one is tricky. 

Any auto policy, personal or commercial, provides coverage for damages to the vehicles insured, as well as provides liability protection for the policyholder. Therefore, a commercial auto insurance policy covers your business’ liability, not your personal liability. 

So, if you are driving a company-owned vehicle for business use, and are involved in an accident, your commercial auto insurance policy would cover any damages to the company vehicle, and any business liability associated with the accident. 

Now, if you drive a company-owned vehicle to the grocery store and cause an accident, your commercial auto insurance would cover damages to the vehicle, but you personally would not have liability coverage. For that you’d need a personal auto insurance policy. (Note: in this instance you’d either need to buy non-owner car insurance or, in some cases, you may be able to buy personal auto liability coverage on your business auto policy. Be sure to ask your agent about this.)

We wish we could give you a straight-forward answer to this, but we can’t. It’s not that we have anything to hide, but commercial auto insurance is complex, and the cost can vary significantly based on several factors including your vehicle, coverages and limits, what you use the vehicle for, how far you drive, what (if anything) you transport, who drives your vehicles and previous claims experience. 

For more information, read How Much Does Car Insurance Cost?

Commercial auto insurance is typically more expensive than a personal auto policy due to the extra risks your business assumes by using your vehicles to transport goods or services. In addition, a commercial auto policy offers much higher coverage limits, and will protect not only your business, but your employees while driving for your business.