Understanding Commercial Auto Insurance: What’s Covered and What’s Not 

You own a business. It involves picking up people and dropping them off. Or delivering packages. Or occasionally running errands. You’ve got a single older vehicle. Or a fleet of modern trucks. Or a parking area with a handful of delivery vans. 

Whatever the situation, you have transportation of some kind, whether it’s the main function of your business or almost an afterthought. But at what point do you need commercial auto insurance? With a full fleet or just one or two errand-running vehicles? 

The correct answer is: all of the above. Your company needs business vehicle insurance whether you deliver packages or people, or only occasionally send an employee out to pick up lunches or to take an order to the local hardware store. 

What Is Commercial Auto Insurance and Why Do You Need It? 

In some ways, commercial auto coverage is much like the policy you have on the family cars. You have deductibles and coverage limits, premiums, and a degree of financial protection against accidents or other causes of loss or damage. Your policy is protection against the unexpected and the expensive. 

But in other ways, this policy is quite different, including how it protects you – and your business.  

How Commercial Auto Insurance Protects Your Business Vehicles 

It doesn’t matter if you have one vehicle or one hundred. Doesn’t matter if that one beat-up vehicle is only taken out on occasion or if those delivery vans are at the core of your business. You might work in an office, work in construction, deliver packages, or run a multi-state salesforce. 

Regardless of how often or seldom you use a vehicle to conduct business, or how many of those vehicles you own, you need a commercial vehicle insurance policy on it (or them). 

That policy protects your vehicle from damage, loss, or liability when your driver is at fault for an accident. Your company is also financially protected against the potentially high cost of wildlife collisions, theft, vandalism, fire, weather calamity, court cases and a multitude of other ways your ride — or entire fleet — can be lost or damaged in an instant, whether parked in the company garage or on the road. 

When covered events happen, simply file a claim, just as you would for your own car. 

The Risks of Not Having Commercial Auto Insurance for Your Fleet 

In most ways, the risk of not having business auto insurance protection is just like not having coverage for your personal vehicles. If you’re in an accident for which you’re at fault, your insurer will help pay a covered claim for injuries and property damage for all affected parties if you have liability coverage. If you’re not insured, you can be held responsible, and all of those costs must come out of your pocket or from seized assets. 

In the business environment, you also have a few additional risks. First of all, it might be one of your workers behind the wheel, not just you. You know you’re a responsible driver, but what do you really know about those employees when they’re out of your sight? How carefully will they drive the company ride? 

You might also be at additional risk for liability. For more on this costly risk, read on to learn the importance of commercial vehicle insurance. 

What Does Commercial Auto Insurance Cover? 

Here are some commercial insurance coverage details pertaining to the benefits you’ll receive through your policy. You might recognize most from similar benefits on your personal car policy. 

Liability Coverage: Protecting Your Business From Legal Claims 

Some lawyers tend to think that all businesses have endless wealth. So if a client is even tapped by a commercial vehicle, they might be more likely to sue. That’s why your fleet insurance plan probably has a higher liability coverage maximum than your personal vehicle policy. 

Liability helps pay for your legal costs. This would include hiring an attorney and paying for lawsuits and court costs. This benefit can be especially beneficial if you have a lot of different drivers — some no doubt better behind the wheel than others — taking out your commercial vehicles. 

Collision Coverage: When Your Business Vehicle Is Damaged in an Accident 

If you live in an at-fault state, the insurance company of the driver at fault for the accident pays for all damages to others under their liability policy – up to their policy limit. (Assuming, of course, that the at-fault driver is insured.) If you’re in a no-fault state, your insurer helps pays for your own covered damages under your liability policy, regardless of which driver is responsible for the crash. 

Collision coverage helps pay for repairs – or replacement – to your own vehicle when you are at fault. The collision benefit in your commercial auto coverage is just what it sounds like. It pays for the damages (or replacement) of your vehicle if you or one of your employees is involved in an accident with a company car during work hours and is held legally responsible. 

Comprehensive Coverage: Protection Against Non-Collision Damage 

As noted, not all losses or damages happen while your company vehicle is on the road. Comprehensive coverage kicks in when fire or flooding hits your garage, a vehicle is stolen or vandalized, some criminal outright steals your van, or a tree limb falls on the work van where it’s parked during a windstorm — these are just a few of countless examples of how you might have to assume high out-of-pocket costs for a vehicle if your company isn’t adequately insured. 

If a company driver hits a deer, moose, or whatever beast might unexpectedly be in the road, your car or truck could be totaled. Luckily, your comprehensive insurance will help you replace that van so business can continue uninterrupted. 

Another way to look at the comprehensive portion of your commercial auto insurance is that it covers the various ways your fleet vehicle might be lost or damaged without a driver being at fault (or even on the premises). 

Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Coverage: What to Do When the Other Driver is Not Covered 

All motorists in almost every U.S. state must be insured — and in a perfect world, they would be. But since the rules in the real world don’t always work like they should, there’s such a thing as uninsured/underinsured insurance, also known as UM/UIM coverage. 

As stated above, in most states, it’s the insurance company of the driver at fault that must pay for covered damages. But what if that responsible party either doesn’t have insurance, leaves the scene or doesn’t carry a high enough limit to pay for the actual damages? 

If you have UM/UIM on your company plan, you can file a claim with your own insurance company and expect to receive payment for damages up to your coverage limit. 

Keep in mind, the more commercial vehicles you have on the road, the likelier it is that you’ll run into (literally) such a situation. UM/UIM, therefore, is yet another layer of financial security for you and your company. 

Get the Right Commercial Auto Insurance Coverage for Your Business From Acceptance 

As a business owner, you’ve constantly got obstacles to overcome, challenges to untangle. Whether your “fleet” consists of one car for incidental errands or numerous vans for deliveries or pickups, you need commercial auto insurance. 

At Acceptance Insurance, our independent auto insurance brokers have delivered financial security to thousands of businesses of all sizes, providing all types of commercial auto insurance. What you pay, and the benefits you’ll receive, depend on multiple factors, including the size of your fleet and the scope of your business activities. 

It all starts with a chat. You’ve got questions, and we’ve got answers. Simply call us at (877) 405-7102, or get a quick online quote. You can also find an Acceptance Insurance office near you for a personal meeting. 

FAQs About Commercial Auto Insurance

Here are brief answers to some of the more commonly asked questions about commercial auto insurance. 

Do I Need Commercial Auto Insurance if I Only Use My Vehicle for Occasional Business Purposes? 

It depends on your meaning of “occasional,” and on your commercial vehicle insurance provider. Some insurers might stipulate that you can use your vehicle for personal reasons for up to 10% of its annual mileage — or a similar limit. Talk to your friendly neighborhood insurance agent to get definitive answers about your unique situation. 

Does Commercial Auto Insurance Cover Damages to Goods or Products Being Transported? 

Generally not. The purpose of your business vehicle insurance is to cover the vehicle through your collision and comprehensive benefits, and to protect your finances against damages and injuries to others through your liability coverage. 

If you frequently transport goods as a revenue source, you might consider freight or cargo insurance to cover theft or damages to this property. 

What Commercial Auto Insurance Exclusions Apply? 

Be most concerned with who’s driving your fleet vehicles. If your employee driver is unlicensed or has a license suspension, their accident won’t be covered. Same result if it’s a non-employee, such as one of your driving-age children taking the car out after business hours. 

Furthermore, if the claim is the result of taking the vehicle out for non-business reasons — such as a family vacation to another part of the country — you may not be covered.