Commercial Auto Insurance
Commercial auto insurance provides coverage for legal expenses, medical bills, and property damage if a business vehicle is involved in an accident, helping protect your business from financial loss.
Choose the right coverage from trusted insurance providers.
Why is Commercial Auto Insurance Important for Small Businesses?
If your business owns a car or any type of road vehicle, commercial auto insurance is essential. Most states require businesses to have commercial auto insurance with minimum liability coverage for damages.
This insurance provides financial protection if you or an employee is involved in an accident, covering medical expenses and legal fees. Without it, your business would have to cover these costs, which can be expensive.
Businesses That Need Commercial Auto Insurance
- Travel to and from job sites
- Transport clients or employees
- Use delivery drivers or couriers
- Own vehicles registered under the business name
- Carry tools, equipment, or work-related products
Additional Coverages to Consider
Protect your business from unexpected risks with these essential coverages:
General Liability Insurance
fCovers customer injuries, property damage, and advertising claims. Helps with legal costs and is often required for leases and contracts.
Under this plan
Customer injuries
Business interruption incidents
Accidental damage to customer property
Business Owner’s Policy (BOP)
Bundles general liability and commercial property insurance for cost-effective protection against property damage and liability claims.
Under this plan
Customer injuries
Business interruption incidents
Accidental damage to customer property
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Covers medical expenses and lost wages for work-related injuries or illnesses. Required in most states for businesses with employees.
Under this plan
Employee medical expenses
Disability benefits
Workplace injury lawsuits
Cyber Liability Insurance
Covers expenses from cyberattacks, data breaches, and legal fees, ensuring your business stays secure online.
Under this plan
Data breach investigations
Customer notification expenses
Fraud monitoring services
Do You Need Commercial Vehicle Insurance?
If your business owns a car or any other business-owned vehicle, you may wonder whether commercial auto insurance is required. The truth is that most states have mandates for coverage, making it a necessity rather than a choice.
In fact, every state except New Hampshire requires some form of protection. This means if an accident occurs and an employee is at fault, the insurance helps compensate for the medical bills, costs, and potential legal expenses. Without this protection, your business could be left paying thousands of dollars out of pocket, which can be financially damaging.
Even if state laws don’t always require commercial auto insurance, it’s a smart move to have it. Your private policy won’t cover incidents that happen during a work-related event, leaving you vulnerable to major expenses.
Having the ability to handle unexpected accidents ensures your business stays secure. Whether you drive for deliveries or transport someone, the right coverage protects you and your assets from unnecessary risks.
What Does Commercial Auto Insurance Cover?
Commercial auto insurance helps pay for medical expenses and property damage if your business-owned vehicle is involved in an accident. It also covers legal costs if you’re sued. In addition, it may protect against theft, vandalism, and other types of vehicle damage.
Coverage Includes
Auto Accident Liability
This part of commercial auto insurance helps cover property damage liability if you cause an accident. It can pay for:
- Repair costs for the other driver’s vehicle or property
- Legal expenses if the injured party takes you to court
Medical Payments
If you or your passengers get hurt in a car accident, your policy can help cover:
- Your medical expenses for bodily injuries
- Medical bills for your passengers, no matter who caused the accident
Physical Damage and Collision
This protection covers vehicle theft, physical damage, and non-collision events like:
- Vandalism
- Fire or severe weather
- Crashes involving objects
Uninsured Motorist Protection
Since about one in eight drivers in the United States are uninsured, this coverage ensures your business isn’t left paying thousands of dollars for medical bills or vehicle repairs when the at-fault driver can’t compensate for damages.
How Much Does Commercial Auto Insurance Cost?
The cost of commercial auto insurance averages around $147 per month, but 37% of small businesses insured by Eagle Nation pay less than $100 monthly for their premiums.
Your insurance cost depends on several factors, including:
- Number of vehicles covered under the policy
- Type of vehicle and its value
- Level of risk associated with your business operations
- Claims history and past insurance records
- Employee driving records and safety track record
- Policy deductible, limits, and exclusions
- Additional endorsements, such as bobtail coverage
Who Needs Commercial Auto Insurance?
Commercial auto insurance is essential for businesses and independent contractors who use company vehicles such as cars, trucks, and SUVs. Many industries rely on business-owned vehicles, but some professions need this coverage more often than others.
Construction and Installation
If an HVAC employee accidentally rear-ends a sports car while driving the company’s truck, the accident would be considered the employee’s fault. In this case, the commercial auto insurance policy can help cover repair costs for the damaged sports car and medical expenses for the injured driver.
Consulting
If a consultant at an IT consulting firm is on the way to a client’s home, and an uninsured driver runs a stop sign and crashes into the company car, the policy can pay for the repairs since the other driver lacks insurance coverage.
Cleaning
If a janitor is driving a cleaning company’s van to a client’s office and gets into an accident, they might need X-rays and an ambulance ride. The commercial auto policy can help cover medical bills and transportation costs.
Landscaping
If a windstorm uproots a tree and it falls on a lawn care company’s truck, breaking the windshield, the insurance policy will pay for a replacement windshield to get the vehicle back in service.
What Does Commercial Auto Insurance Not Cover?
Personal or Leased Vehicles
Commercial auto insurance doesn’t cover personal or leased vehicles used for business purposes. However, if an employee gets into an accident while driving a personal or leased car, the business could still be held responsible.
To handle this, businesses can get hired and non-owned auto (HNOA) insurance, which provides coverage for vehicles the company doesn’t own but employees use for work. Additionally, lease gap insurance can be added to a policy to cover the total loss of a financed or leased vehicle.
Another useful endorsement is driving other car insurance, which protects non-owned vehicles that executives or employees may borrow or rent.
Recently Purchased Vehicles
If a business buys a vehicle but hasn’t added it to its commercial auto policy, it won’t have coverage in case of damage or liability issues. To avoid this, businesses should consider any auto liability insurance, which provides temporary coverage for newly purchased and hired or non-owned vehicles.
Customers’ Vehicles
A commercial auto policy doesn’t cover customers’ vehicles stored or serviced by a business. If a break-in or damage occurs while the vehicle is in the company’s care, the business would be responsible for repair costs. For this reason, garage keepers liability insurance is recommended to protect customers’ automobiles while in custody.
Garage Business Risks
If a company runs an auto service or garage-based business, its commercial auto insurance policy won’t cover common garage risks, such as a customer slipping on leaked motor oil. Businesses need garage liability insurance, a general liability policy that protects against legal expenses and customer injuries related to garage operations.
Two ways to start your coverage
Quotes online
Enter your information through a simple application to get personalized insurance quotes from multiple A-rated companies. Eagle Nation uses an easy system that lets you compare options online and choose the top coverage for your business in minutes.
Talk to an agent
Verified Commercial Auto Insurance Reviews
Hear from customers like you who purchased insurance.
FAQs about Commercial Auto Insurance
Commercial auto insurance and personal auto insurance both provide protection in case of an accident, but they serve different purposes. Commercial car insurance is designed for business-owned vehicles that travel frequently for work, offering higher coverage limits due to the increased risk. On the other hand, personal auto insurance covers personal use, like commuting or traveling unrelated to work, and has lower limits with typically lower costs.
If you use a personal car for business purposes, your insurance company might deny a claim if an accident happens. That’s why independent contractors or sole proprietors who drive for work should consider commercial auto insurance or hire and non-owned auto (HNOA) insurance. If unsure about which policy suits you best, consult an insurance agent for guidance.
Collision coverage helps pay for damage to your vehicle if it hits an object, like a telephone pole or another car. It specifically covers accidents where your vehicle collides with something.
Comprehensive coverage, on the other hand, protects against non-collision damage, such as fire, natural disasters, falling tree limbs, or even hitting an animal. Your insurance policy may have different coverage limits for collision and comprehensive, so it’s important to check your plan details.
A commercial auto policy protects your business, you, and your employees when using a vehicle for work. Whether the vehicle is owned, leased, or rented, this coverage ensures protection in case of an accident.
This coverage typically applies to:
- Named drivers / additional insureds: People specifically listed on the policy who are allowed to drive the covered vehicle.
- Business owners: Owners who use the insured vehicle for business tasks.
- Employees: Staff members driving the vehicle for work-related purposes.
- Volunteers: Covers volunteers authorized to drive the business vehicle.
- Family members: Usually not covered, unless the policyholder explicitly permits them to use the vehicle.
If you want to understand commercial auto insurance better, you can explore our frequently asked questions for more details.
For any additional queries about auto coverage or other small business insurance options, you can also reach out to an Eagle Nation agent and request a free commercial auto insurance quote.
"Eagle Nation's commercial auto insurance gave me peace of mind. As a small business owner, I needed reliable coverage, and they delivered. The policy is affordable, and their customer service is top-notch!"