Commercial Auto Insurance: Compare Quotes & Learn

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Commercial Auto Insurance

Introduction

According to the World Health Organization, around 1.35 million deaths are caused every year due to road accidents, and approximately 20-50 million people suffer non-fatal injuries and disability worldwide. In addition to that, road traffic crashes cause economic losses to individuals, families, businesses, and even nations. These losses arise from the treatment cost, lost productivity for those slain or disabled by injuries, and household members who have to take time off work or school to care for the injured. It eventually cost most countries 3% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While our governments have responded to protect our nation from these risks, we, too, on our end must keep up and protect ourselves, properties, and businesses from this loss, including financial losses. Thanks to the old insurance concept, personal vehicles are insurable through car insurance.  But what this page discuss is commercial auto insurance, commercial insurance for vehicles that are used for business purposes, rather than personal use. This kind of coverage covers commercial vehicles' damage.

Although commercial vehicle auto insurance and personal auto insurance may seem similar, there are significant differences between them in essence. Here are the essential elements to better understand commercial auto insurance, from definition to decision making.

Terms Defined 

It always pays to understand before making an informed choice. So, what is a commercial auto policy? Also known as commercial vehicle insurance, it is a protection policy from possible financial losses resulting from vehicular accidents and various perils such as property damage, legal bills, hospitalization, medical expenses, etc. Commercial auto insurance covers company-owned vehicles, used car dealer insurance for business operations such as taxi fleets, commercial van insurance for rents, hauling trucks, personal cars for errands, and so on.

It mitigates the high expenses that arise with getting into a vehicle accident. Vehicle or business owners pay premiums to an auto insurance firm. Depending on the agreed terms in the policy acquired, the insurance firm then agrees to pay for the costs associated with car accidents or other vehicle damage rather than paying out-of-pocket.

Does My Business Need Commercial Vehicle Insurance?

If your company uses a vehicle to attend to business operations tasks other than commuting, a commercial car policy is necessary. Why? Income protection is the reason. All businesses, regardless of size and location, are exposed to all the risks of driving a commercial vehicle. Business auto insurance protects your business, you, and your employees from that danger. Here are some of the risks.   

• Driving itself is a risky activity. Most drivers may be defensive, but there are uncontrollable outside factors in the road that increases the chance of getting into an accident. Examples are slippery and unmaintained roads, bad weather conditions, other drivers who are not following traffic rules, etc.

• Transporting goods and people face risks such as but not limited to, loss and theft of goods, the fatal fire and explosion in transporting flammable goods, and chemical burns. You may also include environmental accidents like spillages and leaks and employees' health and safety during loading and unloading goods.

• Public drivers and operators are at risk of passenger violence, robbery, or aggression, and are prone to health hazards.

• Vehicle rental companies, especially those who allow self-drive, are prone to car damages and, worse, carnapping. 

• Accidents happen, as to when and how we don't know. 

These risks will lead to rescue expenses, hospitalization and medical bills, legal fees, funeral outlay, and so on, which may eventually drain company funds and assets. Therefore, commercial auto insurance is necessary. Read on to know more about business auto insurance.

 Coverage 

Who is Insured?

According to Section II of the Business Auto Policy, three parties are pronounced as insured in business car insurance.  

• You or the insured: The name of the person or company registered in the declarations or documents.

• Permissive Users: The drivers you allowed to drive your insured vehicle, lease, or borrow are also insured and are called permissive users. For example, an employee driving their covered company vehicle to make delivery.

• Vicariously Liable Parties or Omnibus Insureds: Anyone who is liable or may be held legally responsible for the named insured's conduct, including the permissive user, is also insured. For example, the taxi operator may be vicariously liable for a vehicular accident caused by his negligent taxi driver. In this case, the taxi operator is also insured.

With that, commercial vehicle insurance is intended to ensure both businesses and employees in many industries, including:

• Trucking and delivery companies

• Construction, landscaping, and contractors

• Car hire, car dealer insurance/auto dealer insurance or rental companies

• Other private companies

• Self-employment

• Roadside assistance companies

• Public and nonprofit groups

• Wholesaling, distribution, and manufacturing

• Agriculture & food industry 

Business use of personal vehicle insurance

Driving is a hazardous activity. That’s why you are required to get personal vehicle insurance if you will. But driving for business purposes poses you to a higher risk since you will spend more time on the road. In this regard, protection experts recommend that you get commercial auto insurance for your sure protection, your vehicle, and third parties if you're driving your personal car for business purposes regularly. 

What kind of vehicles are covered by a commercial auto insurance policy?

Commercial vehicle insurance is usually associated with trucks or more recognized work vehicles such as dump trucks, but sedans and vans used for business tenacities also need a commercial auto policy. A few examples of larger commercial vehicles that will require a commercial auto insurance policy, including coverage for personnel operating the automobile and perhaps the equipment inside, are box trucks, food trucks, work vans, and service utility trucks. You may have overheard this coverage mentioned as commercial fleet insurance, commercial auto insurance, truck insurance, or commercial car insurance.

What does commercial auto insurance cover?

Now that we have established the need for all your company vehicles designated for business use to carry protection against property damage and liability in case of an accident, here are what commercial auto insurance policies can offer. 

• Bodily injury liability coverage: Bodily injury liability insurance coverage will pay for the damages, including medical expenses, lost wages, up to the costs of a legal protection if your business or its employees cause damage, bodily injury, or even death to another person.

• Property damage liability coverage: Property damage liability car insurance is your protection if your business vehicle causes physical damage to others' property. This coverage will pay for its repair or replacement. Physical damage or property damage liability coverage comes in three forms: 

• Collision coverage pays for damages to your automobile due to a collision, whether it hits or another object hit it. 

• Comprehensive coverage pays for indemnities from any cause other than what is protected by collision coverage. Some examples are theft, mechanical breakdown, wear and tear, and acts of war. This may also include collisions with wild animals, earthquakes, fire, or floods.

• Specified or named perils coverage covers damages instigated by specific threats itemized in the policy.

• No-fault medical or personal injury coverage: This type of auto commercial insurance coverage, named either Personal Injury Protection (PIP) or no-fault insurance coverage, will pay for the medical bills of the driver or passengers in your covered vehicle as a result of an accident, regardless of who was at fault.

• Uninsured motorist's coverage: Uninsured motorist coverage is the protection that pays for reparations caused by either an uninsured driver or a hit-and-run incident. A policy owner may add underinsured motorist coverage against the insufficiently insured at-fault driver.

• GAP insurance: GAP insurance is the protection often offered by vehicle financing companies like banks every time a vehicle is acquired through their funding. This will cover the difference when the car they financed is stated as a total loss, and the market value is less than the amount that is still owed to them. However, not all auto insurance policies contain GAP insurance. 

• Optional Add-ons: Available depending on the insurance provider.

Disclaimer: Policies are tailored to fit the needs of each business. The conditions stipulated in each policy may not necessarily be the same with others as each item or coverage may not apply to another business. 

Key Takeaway: Commercial auto insurance, also known as company car insurance, provides the coverage that the business needs to protect it from the potential financial fallouts caused by life's uncertainties.

Cost of Commercial Auto Insurance

Like any other insurance policy sold in the market, determining if you are getting the best valued commercial auto insurance is hard. There is no average fixed commercial auto insurance cost for these protection products because every company is different; every business has different needs. Your policy’s price is determined by how much coverage you need and some influencing factors below, especially when looking for cheap commercial auto insurance.

• Insurance provider and advisors

• Vehicle owner

• Type of vehicle: make, model, and year

• Brand new cost or purchase cost

• Gross vehicle weight for big vehicles

• Drivers driving records 

• Company's claim history 

• Number of commercial autos being insured

• Coverage options and add-ons

• How is the vehicle being used?
  

Those mentioned above are just a few. Business owners should evaluate their business and their needs before requesting a quotation.

Commercial Auto Insurance Quote 

Are you convinced now that you and your business need commercial auto insurance? If that is the case, you should contact a licensed (in your state) independent insurance agent specializing in commercial vehicle insurance. They can help you identify the risks you are exposed to and the coverages you need, walk you through different commercial vehicle insurance types, request proposals from several insurers, and give you the best recommendations and a commercial auto insurance quote. They have the proficiency to compare the protection packages that each insurance provider offers. They can help you get protected swiftly and reasonably so you can start rolling safely.

Commercial Auto Insurance according to Vehicle Type

Now that you learned the basics of commercial auto insurance, some commercial auto insurance is written explicitly according to vehicle type.

Commercial truck insurance

Trucks are more massive and more challenging to maneuver, which increases the risk of being involved in a much expensive accident; thus, experts designed a protection product specially for it, the commercial truck insurance, or known as semi truck insurance. The government even required all trucking companies to file proof of enough trucks’ coverage, including semi-trucks and the cargo. That is how important it is. It has no set of pricing, too, since being an insurance product, some factors influence its value, such as traffic tickets, type of cargo, operating radius, etc. Its coverage is almost the same with regular commercial auto insurance but with more options for add ons.

Here’s a comparison of the four of the top 10 commercial truck insurance companies for your reference. Choose the one that best fits your needs.

Food truck insurance

Your food truck may be your dream business that came true or the beginning of your goal of having your restaurant someday. You probably know that you are driving around a 5-ton truck carrying propane tanks and other flammables, and with one wrong move, your vehicle can blow up like a missile. That is how exposed your food truck is to the risk of explosion and even other accidents. Before that happens, consider getting you and your business protected from this and other unfortunate life qualms with a food truck insurance or food trailer insurance. Don't worry. Its annual premium is much lesser than the trouble you have to face when accidents arise. There are only several factors that affect the cost of food truck insurance: the type of food you sell, the value of your truck and equipment inside, and the add-ons you wish to avail. Familiarize yourself, too, with the necessary coverage you might need to address the most risk you are exposed to, such as General liability, your protection from financial liabilities that arise from accidents that as an employer, and a business owner, you are legally liable.

Dump truck insurance

Another type of commercial vehicle insurance explicitly written for a kind of vehicle is a dump truck insurance. Probably because dump trucks are highly specialized hauling vehicles, they require specialized insurance. Dump truck insurance protects businesses that own dump trucks from many of the risks that come with operating these trucks, which may include its cargo that may not be material in small quantities. These policies offer a mixture of property and liability coverages, which may include the following: Auto Liability, General Liability, Physical Damage, Downtime, Environmental, Motor Truck Freight, or Cargo. 

When underwriting policies and pricing is conducted, brokers consider the dump truck route, how they’re used, and the hazards that operate them. Hence, if you are running a for-hire dump truck, take your step now to get you, your trucks, and business insured.

Hotshot trucking insurance

The hot shot trucking insurance is a commercial auto policy specializing in time-sensitive cargo transport in small loads to accessible locations with a pickup truck using a trailer. Frequently hotshot trucking encompasses delivering goods in a short time frame; thus, goods must be delivered on time. Usually, they pull construction materials, heavy equipment, machinery, or farm materials that are material in amount. Hauling for hire companies is a high reward business but also high-risk. Accordingly, hotshot insurance is necessary. This will protect the company from third-party liability claims such as bodily injury or injury to your people and physical damage to your vehicle or physical impairment that you caused.  

Box truck insurance

Many businesses rely on box-type trucks to transport goods such as retail stores, moving companies, couriers, household goods movers, and many more. Although box-type trucks come in various sizes and are lightweight, they usually transport expensive goods such as furniture and appliances. Hence, a box truck insurance is required. Typically, the protection it offers is similar to the commercial auto insurance but with additions. First is cargo insurance, which will provide a safety net to your company if, in the case during transportation, the cargo is damaged. Second is a non trucking liability, which will cover liability-related costs if you cause an accident with your box type truck while it is not in dispatch.

Commercial Auto Insurance Companies

Listed below are the top seven commercial truck insurance companies and their links for easy access.