Insurance for Car Rental Business: Cost & Quotes From $11

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The car rental industry generates a staggering $58.34 billion and is projected to grow to $144.21 billion by 2027. While highly lucrative, there's no doubt that the business comes with its share of risks.

Most of the risks associated with car rental businesses include business property damage and third-party claims of bodily injury or property damage.

To realize the full financial potential of the business, it's imperative to invest in commercial insurance for rental cars. Today, let’s talk about what this is, how much it costs, and more.

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Liability Insurance for Car Rental

Liability insurance insurance for car rental takes care of claims filed against your car rental business. General liability insurance, employment practices liability insurance, cyber liability insurance, and employer’s liability insurance are the most common liability policies included in the insurance for car rental companies. 

General Liability Insurance for Car Rental Business

General liability insurance (CGL) is the most common insurance for car rental business and is often included in business auto rental insurance programs.  

This insurance for car rental business provides protection when your business is liable for the damages incurred by third parties. Specific perils covered are:

• Third-party property damage claims-Third parties, such as vendors or customers, might be hit by an object or trip over something and have their property damaged. General liability insurance covers expenses and sees to it that your car rental business doesn’t use its own funds to refund the damaged property 

• Third-party personal injury claims-Accidents happening within the premises of your car rental business might leave third parties injured.  Of course, your business has to cover costs. General liability insurance helps with this. This insurance provides the money you can use to cover the medical treatment of injured third parties 

• Legal expenses- In personal injury claims and property damage claims, this auto rental liability insurance covers administrative costs, settlements, attorney fees, and other legal expenses 

Insurance companies underwriting general liability coverage for car rentals will allow you to avail the following optional inclusions in the policy:

• Advertising injury coverage-General liability insurance has an optional advertising injury coverage. Advertising injury coverage will cover compensatory payments, administrative costs, attorney fees, and other legal expenses when third parties sue your car rental business for copyright infringement, false advertising, slander, libel, and other similar offenses 

• Rented premises liability coverage-This optional coverage in general liability insurance is useful if your car rental business is renting a space. When the rented space becomes damaged due to fire, rented premises liability coverage will reimburse the losses of the property owner on your behalf 

• Products and completed operations coverage-Products and completed operations coverage is the optional inclusion in general liability insurance that will cover expenses if the car rental service you completely delivered to a client caused personal injuries or property damage

This car rental liability insurance is your primary defense against third-party claims. To sum things up, this insurance for rental car company is useful when:

• You said - in good faith - that a car is in good condition, the client rented the car, then it turned out the car is defective

• The car is poorly maintained and caused injuries to the client

• An accident happened on the premises of your car rental business and the client got injured or damaged their property

• You accused the client of stealing or damaging the rented car, and the client wants you to pay for such a blatant accusation

Employer’s Liability Insurance for Auto Rental Business

Your car rental business won’t run without employees - mechanics, car rental dealers, and more. The law mandates you compensate employees for any work-related injuries. There’s no excuse for this. 

If ever you can’t provide compensation on time, then employees can file a lawsuit and demand payment amounting $300,000 to $1 million. In this situation, if you have it, then employer’s liability insurance can help. Employer's liability is the car rental business liability insurance  that will pay:

• The settlement for the employee

• Defense costs

Car Rental Employment Practices Liability Insurance

Let’s be clear that employer’s liability insurance won’t cover wrongful termination, workplace discrimination, sexual harassment, and other related incidents. To protect yourself from hefty financial responsibility if any of these happens, decide to include employment practices liability policy in your commercial insurance for car rental business. 

Auto Rental Cyber Liability Insurance

A website makes it easier for you to track rental schedules, collect payments, and find leads. Did you know that you have financial responsibility if your website gets hacked and clients get their personal data exposed? 

This is true. And if it ever does happen, you’ll have to spend at least $200,000. 

So don’t forget to include cyber liability insurance in your rental car fleet insurance plan. With this policy, you can recoup extra expenses incurred by:

• The cost of containing the breach

• The cost of informing clients about the breach

• The cost of compensating the losses of clients as a result of the breach

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Commercial Auto Insurance for Car Rental Businesses

Insurance companies offer commercial auto insurance as a stand-alone policy or as an inclusion in the specialized insurance for car rental businesses. Usually, this commercial insurance for rental cars will provide the following coverages:

• Auto liability coverage-The cars you’re renting to customers will cause an accident. Those who get involved will sustain injuries or property damage. Auto liability coverage will help you cover the medical expenses of those injured. Also, it will reimburse the losses of individuals who had their property damaged due to the accident your car rental business’s vehicle caused. Last but not least, auto liability coverage will take care of attorney fees, administrative costs, settlements, and other legal expenses on your behalf

• Physical damage coverage-Physical damage coverage covers the parts repair or replacement costs of your business’s commercial vehicle. Note that physical damage coverage is underwritten as either a collision coverage or comprehensive coverage. When a covered vehicle of your car rental business incurs damage due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils, comprehensive physical damage coverage will shoulder the resulting expenses. Collision physical damage coverage, on the other hand, will cover parts repair or replacement if the covered vehicle of your car rental business sustained damage due to a collision with another vehicle or an object 

• Medical payments/personal injury protection coverage-You need medical payments or personal injury protection coverage to protect the driver and passengers of your car rental business’s vehicle. If your commercial vehicle causes an accident or gets involved in an accident and the passengers or the driver sustains injuries, medical payments coverage will cover funeral or medical expenses. Personal injury protection does the same but will also shoulder after-hospital visits, compensation for lost wages, medication, and more 

• Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage-Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage will cover expenses if your car rental business's commercial vehicle got involved in a vehicular accident and the driver at fault isn’t covered by insurance or doesn’t have insurance, to begin with 

All states require commercial vehicles to be covered by commercial auto insurance having auto liability coverage. Some businesses consider additional liability coverage options like commercial umbrella insurance to supplement their auto liability insurance. 

The same is true for medical payments coverage and physical damage coverage. However, you don’t have to get both. Personal injury protection is what you need if your car rental business is operating in a no-fault state. On the other hand, medical payments coverage is what you need if your car rental business is located in a fault state. 

Fleet Insurance for Rental Cars 

Typically, commercial car rental insurance protects against losses and is already useful for covering your rental cars. However, the best way to protect all of the cars comprehensively and cost-efficiently is through rental car fleet insurance. 

Car rental fleet insurance covers rental companies with more than 10 cars used for rental services.

Commercial fleet insurance for car rental companies is largely specialized and only few offer this type of coverage. Fleet insurance for rental cars is a requirement in some states. The state requirements dictate the coverage you must include in your auto rental fleet insurance. 

Commercial Property Insurance for Car Rental Businesses 

Get commercial property insurance if you’re worried about possible losses when your car rental business’s building and other assets become damaged or destroyed. Commercial auto insurance is an inclusion in the specialized policy for car rental businesses. But still, this is also available as a separate coverage. Commercial property insurance primarily covers these exposures:

• Building damage-When your car rental business’s garage or office becomes damaged due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils, commercial property insurance provides the money you can use to cover repair expenses. The amount you’ll receive will be equal to a percentage of or the total value of the damage incurred 

• Building destruction-Commercial property insurance will cover reconstruction costs if your car rental business’s building is destroyed by fire or extreme weather. The amount of coverage you’ll receive is equal to the depreciated value or original value of the destroyed building 

Car rental business commercial property insurance can be added with business equipment and tools coverage. This will recoup losses if the equipment and tools essential for business operations becomes damaged or lost due to fire, theft, vandalism, and other covered perils. The rental cars might be covered too as long as they become damaged or lost while in the premises of your business due to the aforementioned perils. 

Workers Compensation Insurance for Car Rental Businesses 

Your auto rental business will need workers' compensation insurance to cover employees who sustain a work-related injury or disease. Failure to get workers' compensation insurance will result in fines and penalties. But disregarding this fact, having workers' compensation insurance is crucial because it will help you cover the following without using personal funds or business funds:

• Medical treatment/procedure

• Hospitalization

• Medication

• Rehabilitation

• Lost wages

• Death benefits 

Van Rental Insurance

Commercial rental car insurance is generally available for businesses that rent pickups, sedans, and other related medium-to-light vehicles. For those who rent vans, it’s better to get covered through tailored van rental insurance. Companies that sell this include the following policies:

• General liability insurance

• Commercial property insurance

• Commercial auto insurance

Commercial Truck Rental Insurance 

Truck rental businesses can’t enjoy comprehensive coverage with car rental insurance.  This is because trucks are more costly to maintain. Furthermore, unlike cars, trucks are rented to be used for transporting various goods between locations. 

Carriers offer tailored commercial truck rental insurance. This consists of the following policies.

• Contingent auto liability insurance

• General liability insurance

• Commercial auto insurance

• Commercial property insurance

Contingent auto liability is the policy in truck rental insurance, which is not included in car rental insurance. So what does it do? Contingent auto liability insurance will help shoulder costs if your client causes an accident while using your truck, and you’re pulled into their mess. 

Commercial Car Rental Insurance Cost 

On average, car rental insurance cost is $50 a month or $600 a year for a $1 million general liability coverage. The price you pay for your commercial car rental insurance cost varies based on various factors. Typically, these factors rely heavily on the makeup of your fleet like:  

• The number of cars in your fleet 

• The types of vehicles you have in the fleet. Generally, insuring trucks will be more expensive than small cars

• The age and condition of the cars 

• Additional equipment or accessories on the vehicles 

The car rental business insurance cost also depends on the extent of your coverage, the limits, the policies you have, and the carrier. 

Below is a generalized breakdown of commercial car rental insurance cost estimates:  

For further reference, here’s a table showing the pricing of the best commercial hire car insurance company:

Commercial Truck Rental Insurance Cost

For commercial trucks, insurance is $87 per month or $1,044 a year for a $1 million general liability insurance. Like other rental businesses, the premiums depend on location, the number of units, revenue, and claim history. 

Van Rental Insurance Cost

Van rental businesses pay $75 a month or $900 a year for a $1 million general liability insurance. Like other rental businesses, the premiums depend on location, the number of units, revenue, and claim history.