What Does a Commercial Auto Insurance Policy Cover?
Commercial auto insurance offers valuable coverage for any business that owns and operates its own vehicles. It is one of several essential commercial insurance policies that most businesses need. So what is a commercial auto insurance policy and what does it cover?
If any of your company-owned vehicles are involved in an auto accident, commercial auto insurance can help pay for the damages, including vehicle repair costs and legal expenses that may arise.
To help you better understand what this policy covers and why businesses need it, here’s everything you need to know about commercial auto insurance.
What is Commercial Auto Insurance?
Commercial auto insurance provides coverage for business-owned vehicles much like standard auto insurance does for your personal vehicle. To find the best commercial auto insurance in Charleston, SC you can read here.
Commercial auto insurance can help cover damages caused by auto accidents, theft, vandalism, and more. It can also help cover legal expenses that may arise if another driver sues you after a collision.
What Does it Cover?
Commercial auto insurance includes several coverages to protect your company-owned vehicles and employees while on the road, including liability, medical payments, collision, comprehensive, and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. To find out more about the benefits of commercial auto insurance you can read here.
Liability coverage
Commercial auto insurance typically includes both bodily injury and property damage liability coverage. The former provides coverage in the event that you or an employee causes injury to another driver while using a company vehicle, while the latter covers you when your or an employee causes property damage to another driver while using a company-owned vehicle.
Medical payments coverage
Most commercial auto insurance policies include medical payments coverage. This coverage can help you pay for your medical expenses and your passengers’ medical expenses after a car accident. Typically, this coverage applies regardless of who caused the accident.
Collision coverage
Collision coverage can help you pay to repair your company-owned vehicles after a collision, regardless of who was at fault.
Comprehensive coverage
Comprehensive coverage covers your vehicle against damages caused by nearly anything other than a collision. This may include theft, vandalism, falling objects, or extreme weather (e.g. hail or windstorms).
Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage
If you or an employee gets into an accident with an uninsured or underinsured driver and the other party is at fault, they may not be able to pay for damages to your vehicle due to a lack of coverage. Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage can help pay for damages in these situations.
What’s Not Covered?
In general, commercial auto insurance does not cover personal vehicles or leased vehicles. However, it may cover personal vehicles while they are being used for business purposes.
Commercial auto insurance may also include hired and non-owned vehicle coverage, which provides coverage for vehicles that your business uses but does not own.
Who Needs Commercial Auto Insurance?
If you own a business that uses company-owned vehicles, you need commercial auto insurance for every vehicle that you own. If your business owns and uses vehicles in any capacity, commercial auto insurance is necessary to cover damages that may result from collisions and other accidents.
Contractors and self-employed individuals that use their personal vehicle for work may need commercial auto insurance in addition to their personal car insurance policy to cover their vehicle while using it for work-related purposes.
How Much Does it Cost?
The cost of commercial auto insurance varies depending on several factors, including:
- The number of vehicles your business owns and operates
- Vehicle type
- Vehicle/fleet value
- Claims history
- Vehicle usage (e.g. employee transport, food delivery, etc)
- Employee driving records
- Policy deductible
- Coverage limits
These are the main factors that will be used to determine your commercial auto insurance rates. Insurers will also consider your industry and its unique risks when determining your auto insurance rates. Make sure to ask your insurance provider about potential discounts and other ways to save on auto insurance.
Request a Quote
Commercial auto insurance can help you pay for vehicle repairs, medical expenses, and legal expenses if you or your employees are involved in an auto accident while driving a company-owned vehicle. Any business that owns and operates vehicles needs commercial auto insurance to protect themselves, their business assets, and their employees while on and off the road.
At KSA Insurance, we work with small businesses in South Carolina and across the southeastern United States to help them find affordable commercial auto insurance policies that protect them, their employees, and their company-owned vehicles.
Contact us today to request a quote and learn more about what a commercial auto insurance policy is and what it covers in South Carolina.
